Totally Wild UK Reviews 76

Had an absolutely awesome time foraging at Horsenden Hill! Cameron was super friendly, engaging and knowledgeable. Especially grateful to him for coming down from the lake district!

My husband, daughter and I had a great time foraging around Rufford Abbey. Our experts (and they really were. Definitely knew their stuff), Fez and Ian were brilliant, so informative and gave us such a good insight into a totally different world.
Would highly recommend. A real opportunity to get close to nature and take time away from the rat race.
We were part of a group of 15 like minded people who at the end were treated to a foraged picked delight.
Many thanks for such a lovely day.

I was due to attend a Totally Wild event with my partner in early November. In the week before she was extremely ill & it would be unsuitable to attend a public food event with others.
Despite numerous attempts to contact TW via all recommended channels I received no response until 2 hours prior to the event (8am Saturday) suggesting that we transfer the vouchers to others & no other option was available.
This is despite the message from Dougie the Chatbot on their website that clearly indicated that a voucher for a future event would be available if a late cancellation due to illness was necessary.
On following up I was grudgingly offered a single voucher as recompense, hardly suitable for an experience purchased for 2!
I can offer no insight to the events themselves but based on the pathetic contact and communication from TW I would have very low expectations.
So far £140 has been foraged from my bank account, I've received nothing in return and am left feeling Totally Disappointed 😞

We did the foraging event at Grizedale Forest with our leader Chris. From the first emails the event was well organised with excellent directions and communication. We met up in the visitor centre and went through introductions then set off on a walk round the forest. Chris pointed out edible plants and showed how to identify them, importantly also, what they might be confused with. We harvested some to use later. He was quick to answer any questions and explain how the plants could be used (making flavoured alcohol was a high point for me!!). Having collected several baskets of “produce” we returned to the centre where Chris set up a field kitchen and cooked us a delicious lunch, plenty of it and really filling. Highly recommended!! Couple of minor bits of information if you go to the Grizedale location (which is excellent), the last 5 miles are along narrow and partially single track roads so might take a bit longer in high season and if you’re coming from the North ignore any siren calls from the Sat Nav to use the Hawkshead Ferry and use the Barrow road to Newby Bridge.

Ridiculously long intro. My feet were starting to ache from standing still listening for 30 minutes. Seemed like a time-wasting tactic.
Guide seemed bored of himself throughout.
Food was sad with few foraged elements. Only saving grace was the beautiful forest.

Booked my experience via a third party using an ‘eco experience’ voucher I’d received as a gift. All very easy to arrange using a code etc. Totally Wild were in touch via email to keep me updated on the arrangements. Prior to the day we were also given a contact number for our event leader, just in case we were delayed etc. This was really helpful.
The event was led by Hazel, at Delamere Forest. There were 12 of us, plus Hazel. A mixture of ages, gender, localities and past experiences regarding foraging. Hazel was very knowledgeable and put this across in a very accessible way, she also made a point of including everyone and valuing their contributions. We were given plenty of opportunity to make decisions about the type of terrain/likely finds throughout the day. As with any activity of this nature nothing can be guaranteed, especially in light of the changeable weather we’ve had of late. With each find Hazel got us to use our observational skills, particularly our senses. She expanded on this with her knowledge and experience, linking in to any relevant science and research. The format she used was really helpful for comparing varieties with edible/deadible in mind. She also gave info on the possible food and medicinal properties of the finds and we were given frequent opportunities to look for items ourselves based on what we had learned. I also liked how she acknowledged the cultural associations and significance of a number of the items.This helped to give a more rounded knowledge, reminding us of the historical nature of foraging.
On the day we discovered; a range of fungi (though ironically the edible one was found after the cooking/eating session), a number of edible leaves, and elderberry, all in just one or two areas of this huge (and very beautiful) location.
When it came to preparing the meal - a risotto, mixed salad and fruit based dessert - we were all included in the various tasks. This reinforced the friendly, sociable element of the day, and it was a real bonus. Hazel provided reference material so that we could have a go at identifying the fungi we had found. Additional foods had been brought along by Hazel, some of which had been made using foraged items. I found these particularly useful and will definitely have a go at making the cordial and fruit vinegars.
All in all an excellent day and I’d thoroughly recommend it. In fact I’ve already passed detail on to a couple of friends.

Our guide Mike was fantastic and i would definitely contact him again for many more trips and private events, HOWEVER, i would do this independently and NOT via Totally Wild UK. Extremely poor customer service and no support with anything except a standardised email. They are simply middle men - Mike was the only element of the experience worth paying for - TOTALLLY WILD were irrelevant to the whole experience. The food box they provided was not pleasant and had nothing to do with native British food - we have pre-packaged Kimchi that wasn't even naturally fermented but instead full of additives that the idea of foraging is completely against. The rest of the food was extremely low quality and refreshments were ridiculous. Given we paid for a a full 4 course meal it was extremely disappointing. I won't be using them again.

We had a great experience with Al on the Friston Forest, Sussex, foraging course. He was friendly and entertaining and had a wealth of knowledge about wild edibles and how to eat and cook with them. His background chef knowledge made him very enthusiastic about specific tastes. We learnt a great deal about how many of the wild plants around us can be used in this way.

What a breath of fresh air! Didn't know quite what to expect other than something a bit different for an outdoorsy Saturday, but our foraging & cooking day with Totally Wild was fantastic. You get a good number of hours to take it all in and our guide, Alasdair, was an absolute encyclopedia of knowledge, with a great dry wit, who kept us all learning and laughing right til the end - couldn't recommended him highly enough. Fascinating array of facts and flavours, finishing with a delicious meal by the fire in beautiful scenery, topped off by the sunshine making a rare showing. We'd definitely go back and do it again! Thanks for a great day out.

Booked on the foraging course on Monday 10/04/2023. I had wanted to try foraging for ages so this was my birthday treat to me!
There were 15 in the class, not including the teacher. That was 10 people too many. The 'little' introduction took over half an hour. The rain obviously didn't help. We were standing around like soggy lemons. We each picked a leaf for teacher to identify. This took a ridiculous amount of time with 15 people. Most of the time you couldn't hear what teacher was saying. It was boring. Interest in foraging dead. We left after 2 hours. It was a highly disappointing experience. Get a foraging app, don't waste your money here, you'll enjoy the experience more and you'll probably learn more too!

Definitely a life enriching experience. It opened our eyes to the nutritional and medicinal properties of many common plants, and even garden "weeds", and warned us of some of the dangers of other plants. Our walks out and about will certainly be more interesting and rewarding in the future. The day was well structured but relaxed. Kelly was a brilliant forager guide who shared her immense knowledge and passion for foraging in a very engaging and interactive way. I guess she tailors her delivery according to her audience, and I found the level and balance just right. She let us sample foodstuffs she had "prepared earlier" to illustrate what could be done (with a little patience and culinary expertise) with the plants she was describing to us out in the field Then back to base for a delicious al-fresco three-course meal using "ingredients" we had all helped to forage. I couldn't recommend this event highly enough for anyone with an interest in plants, food or just walking in the countryside.

Went out with Fez on Saturday together with about 20 other people. Rv'd at Tegs Nose Country Park just East of Macclesfield. Fez was really knowlegable regarding 'Food for Free' both Wild food you can eat and those suitable for medicinal purposes as well. Expanded my basic knowledge of Wild food. Would have liked to see a bit more input on Wild Mushrooms and Fungi that you can eat. That was not Fez's fault as there was not much around. The tips on what you can add to alchol to enhance the flavour i.e. Gorse Flowers to White Rum. Little one took us for a foraging session today to practice his new learnt skills.

Excellent. Went to Birchden Wood near Tunbridge Wells with Alastair. Really knowledgeable and engaging speaker. Cooked Risotto with the mushrooms that we had found. Could not recommend enough. Awesome day.

What an absolutely fantastic, wonderful and educational day

We were met by Alistair in the car park for a quick and amusing do’s and don’ts

As we walked around the park Alistair introduced us to a number of plants, at first my appetite was whetted for the foraging life, but……. turns out not all plants are benign; some will hurt or even kill you! Sticking to the supermarket for my foraging

Amazingly most things you can forage also go well in alcoholic drink and Alistair had plenty of backhanded samples to prove it! (go on a foraging day and that will make perfect sense)

After a break it was all out foraging for our late lunch. Well, not me, I went for a sleep in the car, one thing is for sure, Alistair totally understands we are there for fun not as a punishment

Alistair prepared the food on a tree stump and cooked over an open fire. It was worth the price just to watch him do that and listen to his stories

This is a great day out – do it!

My husband and I were given a voucher for a Foraging Day for Two with this company. Our booking process (first choosing our venue/dates online from the many available) then contact by email. Information and updates before the day, was excellent, and even an update the day before about the closure of the public loos at the venue for a portion of the day!
On arrival (suitably clothed and equipped) at the Delamere Forest in Cheshire we were met by our foraging expert, Sam. She gave us an introductory talk, then we were off: there were, I think 15 on the course. We had a marvellous walk through the Delamere Forest, with regular stops to pick and taste the many edible plants, plus syrups and alcoholic drinks made from foraged plants, again with very helpful info from Sam - she definitely knew her stuff! A few hours later we arrived back at The Forest Centre to help prepare our three course lunch - agreed by all to be delicious!
This Foraging Day turned out to be one of our best ever Christmas gifts and we can thoroughly recommend this company, and in particular the expert, Sam. Thank you!

Really poor booking experience so far - site doesn't take voucher, nobody answers the Phone

Really frustrating !!