What’s it about?
Based at our ancient woodland camp in Kent, this 1 day course has been put together for anyone who would like to learn 2 of the most important, but often overlooked, skills in bushcraft – how to make bark containers and cordage from the materials supplied to us by mother nature, such as nettles, brambles and various inner barks.
You don’t have to be an avid bushcrafter to benefit from this course, anyone with an interest in the natural world or craft will leave with a new found respect for the versatility of many common plants and trees.
What will I do on this bark containers and cordage course?
This 1 day course looks at 2 different topics, bark containers and cordage, all made from natural materials that we can sustainably harvest from the woodland.
Containers
- You’ll harvest and prepare sweet chestnut inner bark to make a basket. We’ve got some that are now many years old and have seen us in good stead on our foraging trips.
- If time permits we’ll also make some shrink pots from birch bark, sewn together with some of the cordage that you made earlier and pinned using the thorns from hawthorn.
Cordage
- You’ll collect and prepare various plants and trees that can be used to make cordage, such as nettles, brambles, lime bast and the inner bark of sweet chestnut.
- With the materials prepared, we’ll show you how to make a simple 2 ply cord and then,
- How to plait them to make a more substantial piece of cordage.
All materials and tools are provided.
Book now
You can see our complete course schedule here.
Other information
Location: Westwell, Kent
Duration: 1 day
Start: 10am
End: 4pm
Course size: 8
Catering: We’ll provide tea & coffee, you’ll need to bring a packed lunch
Note: There is a short walk from the meeting point to the camp.
You might also find these Frequently Asked Questions useful.
What our customers say
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Great relaxed day at a beautiful woodland site. The course was interesting and informative with a nice, steady pace and teaching methods.
So satisfying to start with a log and end up with a functioning basket. Looks simple; takes a bit of practise weaving all the strands in and out, but with great teaching and clear, patient instruction, everyone succeeded. Fascinating to learn how to make something so essential as string from something as everyday as nettles. Gary, Nicola and Willow the dog are very welcoming, full of knowledge to share, and have a beautiful camp in the woods. Nice to be hands on and learn something new. Highly recommended.
Thank you so much Gary and Nicola for a lovely day. Great new skills to learn, which I will be using with my students in Forest School.
A Challenging and very rewarding course. Really happy with the way my cordage and basket turned out. Gary uses simple easy to understand techniques here to achieve amazing results. The pay off for the work you put into this is so worth it. I Highly recommended.
Beautiful camp, lovely helpful staff, learnt so much and thoroughly enjoyed. Cant wait to put my new skills to the test! Definitely going to be booking another class soon.