Meet Winter on the Farm bushcraft expert who runs a wilderness cookery business in the Yorkshire Dales

“It all started with those good friends. I cooked for them with no barbecue or anything remotely modern, no pans and it was they who said I should do this for a living. My initial reaction was simple. I said nobody’s ever going to pay for this.

“But I began thinking that this was perhaps where I needed to be, to become that educator that helps and guides people, gives them the encouragement. That’s what I’ve done ever since. What I find is that many people want to try the outdoor life but are quite nervous about doing it on their own and it helps if myself and my team are able to go on that journey with them.

Jonny’s Wilderness Cookery Days have become one of his most popular courses and he explains why these and all of his Yorkshire Dales Bushcraft courses are now in huge demand.

“I think people are looking for that disconnect for what has become the rat race and depression of normal life.

“We’ve all got one thing in common. The Earth is our home. We need to educate one another. There’s so much out there at the moment about how badly we’re doing, how much we are contributing to the Earth’s problems. I see myself in a position where I’m able to educate people and I’m passionate about what I do.

“There has been a huge increase in people wanting to get back out into the wild. That’s partly the connection with adventure, but we also focus heavily on health and wellbeing.

“Foraging is one things that makes people gasp and go ‘Wow! I didn’t know that I could get this from a tree or that this was growing here, or that a nettle is edible or the willow tree provides a natural pain relief through chewing the bark.’

“It’s connecting people with the wilderness and showing that we’re not separate from nature and that we all need to live together.

Jonny believes that bushcraft days or longer periods allow him to deliver messages about the natural world that can be understood far clearer from having had that first-hand experience of being outdoors in the wild.

“Out there foraging we can show what you can pick up to make a lotion or a potion, face pack or a dressing for a wound.

“It’s by dropping in those educational foraging lessons that you really start to open people’s eyes about how we need to look after that birch tree or pine tree because it is actually doing something for us all and helping the environment.

“It’s what I call smokescreen education. Everyone’s having a really good time and we drop in key words about information on working the land a little better and why we need to preserve it for future generations.

And it’s fish on the menu at Jonny’s outdoor version of Saturday Kitchen with no personalities pushing their latest books or tours in sight.

“During our Wilderness Cookery Days each person gets the opportunity to cook their locally caught rainbow trout using the Canadian Fish Flag method. It’s a method of cookery that doesn’t require a pan, just a stick. We split the stick, we butterfly the fish putting some twigs through it and it slides beautifully down in between the sticks. We are then able to cook it over the fire.

“We then put a spike on the end of it, tap it into the ground where we can leave it for around 4-5 hours or just 20 minutes dependent on how busy we are at the camp.

Jonny says his interest in the outdoor life started when he was just 11 years old.

“That’s when my grandpa, who was a former soldier sent me off into the hills of Rombalds Moor to discover and learn some vital skills. Next I headed up on to the Three Peaks. Pen-y- Ghent was the first proper hill I climbed when I was about 11-12 and from thereon I had a great respect for the wilderness and wanted to learn more.

“In my teenage years I started to read books about foraging and shelter and fire. I had that connection. I also took an interest in the military and learned my field craft skills through joining up with the Corps of the Royal Engineers. You’re taught those as a soldier. Then I travelled extensively all over the world practising those skills in different parts of the world on extended leave periods.

“I’d head off and travel. I’d jump on a plane, hire a motorcycle and just headed out with no plan at all. I’ve been in some beautiful situations, in some lovely little villages all around the world. I loved India, the Middle East and Canada, spending time there talking with local people and cooking outside in wilderness scenarios.

Jonny’s Yorkshire Dales Bushcraft runs courses in different locations and recently held another successful weekend course at Camp Katur near Bedale that he has used for the past six years. The team is now also involved with Top o’ the Hill Farm at Storiths on the Bolton Abbey Estate.

“The farm is run by my good friend and business partner Peter Vernon and it offers wonderful bothy style accommodation, from converted barns, that our visitors unique places to stay, as they don’t necessarily sleep in the wild.

“I’ve brought my experiences to the farm. That’s where our relationship links up.

Jonny’s team now runs a whole range of courses and experiences that range from work with schools to corporate days and those open to everybody.

“We offer a whole range of great ways for people of all ages to connect or reconnect their soul with nature and the outdoor world. We started operating in schools and teach bushcraft and some arts skills. We ensure it fits with the curriculum. We also take groups out, we have team building days where we include wilderness cookery, baking, fire making, blacksmith’s days.

“We also work with a school on the Isle of Rum in Scotland where we are running a coastal summer expedition this year. Personally, I am excited so much by the continuing growth in the numbers of people from all backgrounds and all ages who are looking to explore that reconnect.

http://www.yorkshiredalesbushcraft.co.uk