Woodland Ways Reviews 

Have just returned from amazing 10 day trip to Sweden. Canoeing and camping in hammocks in the beautiful Kloten National Park.

What an amazing experience. The course description and current photos do not really show how good this trip is.

You get to paddle on beautiful Swedish lakes and sleep under the amazing night sky in forests of Birch, Pine and other beautiful trees. The floor is carpeted with amazing mosses and lychens. The flora and fauna all around you is really fantastic and when you sit and look around it's intense. You get opportunity to be in this amazing landscape and environment and to smell, to hear and to experience it is hard to describe.

listening to the sound of "loons" at night from the solitude of a hammock whilst looking up through the most beautuful canopy of trees above you to the stars so bright is priceless.

Being able to make a knife in the woods and being able to participate in the forging and tempering process was unbelievable.

A 4am paddle by moonlight and seeing the sunrise from the canoe was awesome.

.....There was also so much more.

The instructors Patrick and Ian were excellent. Very passionate and full of knowledge and able to instruct and guide the group of very special people that took part in the trip. Both instructors were very different, but able to interact and teach and train in a way that encouraged the development of the group and enriched the trip. I would also say thank you to how diligent the instructors were and attentive to the people that took part on the trip. It was clear they wanted people to get the most out of the expedition but the safety and wellbeing of the individuals was always at the for front of their care and instruction. Thank you.

The trip was amazing. However it was, hard at times as although a beautiful environment, it could be harsh and you are in a environment that needs respect. I was mentally and physically exhausted
at times. This was not in a bad way, it was partly down to my fitness and your days being full with living in this environment. You get plenty of down time and able to enjoy and relax in Sweden but for me, I could have been bit fitter. That said the tiredness and what it took out of you was all part of the experience.

The food was also excellent. Had some really good dinners and breakfasts. Including best eggs ever had! You go to supermarket before you start trip and get your supplies for the trip. Although I had no idea how much things cost or half of what the things were. That said got lots of delicious saucicon and breads. Highly reccomend the panchetta! (We sliced this thickly like belly pork and cooked it on fire!)

A fantastic, highy rewarding and enriching experience.

Would highly recommended trip and Woodland Ways.

Thank you.

I went on Woodland Ways fundamentals 1 day course in Oxfordshire and had a fun and memorable day. They are professional and have a great set up so that you get to experience and learn a lot in one day. Everyone was knowledgeable and friendly and as a lover of the outdoors and regular camper, I still learned a lot of great tips. I would definitely recommend.

Jay - thank you so much for sharing your knowledge in such an engaging and considered way. Lauma and I really enjoyed the course and your company. It was a perfect day that's inspired us to get the tents out more. Professional and accomodating experience tailored to us. Cheers.

Had a great day Spoon Whittling with Jay and the team in the Oxfordshire woods. Learned loads about different types of trees, wood and the tools to use to carve with. The team were great and overall a really enjoyable day. Not my first Woodland Ways course and won't be my last.

I attended the Bushcraft Fundamentals course this weekend and was massively impressed by everything.

I was originally a little reluctant to go on my own but I needn't have worried as I didn't once feel left out or self conscious.

The course is well organised, the instructors are super knowledgeable and approachable and their passion for the outdoors is infectious. They managed to acheive a perfect balance of keeping us busy and interested but not rushing us.

It was a really friendly atmosphere with everyone engaged and keen to get involved. I particularly loved the preparation of the pigeon for lunch, which I found really fascinating. But every activity was excellent.

The whole experience was wonderful, interesting and enjoyable. I am already looking at what course I can book on next!

Thanks to all the instructors and fellow participants (and the weather!) for making the day such a positive experience. I can not recommend highly enough.

Brilliant.

Recently I went on a small game butchery course for rabbit and pigeon, I found it highly educating and interesting. Futhermore, the instructors and staff are very friendly and chatty!

Superbly organised course run by passionate and expert instructors. It's crammed but not rushed - they keep you very busy, covering everything from shelter building to foraging, game preparation to water purification. (And fire making, obviously.) You can tell you're only scratching the surface of what these guys can teach you, but they give you more than enough knowledge to start introducing bushcraft elements into your hiking / camping, or to hone your existing skills. Food was plentiful and delicious. Above all, the enthusiasm of the instructors was infectious - they seemed really happy that people wanted to learn from them. Strong recommend.

What an amazing weekend, totally enjoyed everything I experienced.
(Friday) The small trek to the camp area, processing dinner, and collecting firewood started the weekend off, this was all in the dark too which made it even better!
(Saturday) Waking the next morning and actually seeing the surroundings was great. A full day of learning, shelter building and topped off with learning to make fire (literally a "man made fire" moment for me).
(Sunday) After a night in my own built shelter, fueled up for another morning of learning, with a small trek back out the camp area back to civilisation.
The instructors were amazing (Jay & Michaela), sharing knowledge and amazing cooking.
A must do experience.
All is left to say is thank you!

This is a great place to shop both in store and online. Excellent service and advice. I went to get a decent knife for use around my allotment and the staff were very helpful and gave great advice on selecting strong well priced (cheap sounds tacky) knife. I will be back as they have amazing products for the outdoorsy person. I am also tempted to try some bonding with my son at one of there courses later in the year.

I had an amazing time on the sweeden trip with Patrick and David . I was a nervous traveller it was my first time I’ve been on an overnight trip away for many years. However, the two fantastic Bushcraft instructors, Patrick and David made this experience life, changing and thoroughly memorable. even though Patrick was a apprentice instructor, he was such a lovely down-to-earth individual who will, I’m sure become an amazing asset to the woodland ways team. And also David McRae who was leading the trip amazing guy with so much experience behind him army and forestry and many other area’s. They both speant time with each of us on the course and was often thier to guide assist and sometimes just be a calming presence Davie* was amazing I had a traumatic experience with water as a child and stayed in the canoe with me for the full trip and taught me about the canoe and helped me gain so much confidence in the water . It was an amazing trip and I will be booking into another trip sometimes soon ! Amazing individual and amazing company.

Excellent service and delivery. Very pleased with the product which was well wrapped and even more pleased with the quick delivery. 5+ stars. Thank you!

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. — Japanese proverb

I don't usually write reviews, but this time I feel compelled. I had the privilege of spending 5 days with one of the best teachers I've ever met. I believe the company has many other instructors with similar qualities, but I was fortunate enough to spend the 5 days Busch-craft course in Oxfordshire under Ian Nairn's supervision and I am extremely grateful for that opportunity.

It is difficult to write down everything I've learnt or how much I enjoyed myself...

If any of my course mates reads this thank you too, you are all amazing people and I'm so very happy we happened to be in those Woods together. :)

I can confidently recommend Woodland Ways and I'll definitely be going back for more.

I love Woodland Ways, I'm starting to lose track of how many courses I have been on. The staff are all friendly, very knowledgable and passionate about what they teach. The locations and facilities used are well thought out. I can't wait to book another course.

In September 2023 I have attended Wild food cooking weekend course in Oxfordshire. Our instructors Nicola and Barry were very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Nothing was too much trouble for them. The weekend run smoothly due to their enthusiasm and hard work.

Meeting everyone within the group for the first time, we all got one really well, helped each other, shared personal stories, laughed a lot and ate a lot. The food was delicious. The forest chosen for this occasion is in beautiful location and sunny warm weather was on our side. Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoying themselves and everyone was praising every single meal we were lucky to taste. All weekend experience was done up to very high standard.

Previously, I also attended Foraging day course and Bushcraft day course. I highly recommend Woodland Ways courses to anyone.

We did the bushcraft weekend up in Scotland recently and it was amazing! The guys are really knowledgeable and friendly. The food was beautiful, especially the rabbit stew! It was really difficult to leave on the Sunday afternoon, but it will not be the last time we do a course with these guys, couldn’t have asked for a better time, 5 stars doesn’t seem like enough really.

Just spent an absolutely fantastic few days in Scotland for a bushcraft weekend - cannot recommend enough! The friendly, patient, and obviously highly skilled and knowledgable instructor team taught us a whole range of invaluable skills, from foraging to animal prep, to shelter building, friction fire and water purification, and more! Amazing to be able to sleep in a shelter you’ve built. Also met some fabulous people along the way 😊 Highly recommend to anyone interested in starting to learn bushcraft, or even just those wanting to learn more about the UK woodland and what it can offer

Excited to return as soon as possible - thank you!

Had a great time doing the autumn foraging course. Learnt lots from really experienced and knowledge instructors. Would highly recommend.

Did the family bushcraft course with my 9 year old son in a group of 19. Ian and Dan were both excellent, patient and good humoured throughout. They really know their stuff and are good at passing that knowledge on. Absolutely worthwhile and something I feel really pleased at having had the opportunity to do with my son. Thank you guys !!

Just compleated the Northern forest year course and can honestly say, it was one of the best things I have done. They level of knowledge and instruction given by Davie and Andy was first class. Each of the modules brought something new and interesting for me to learn. I would thoroughly recommend them and their company to anyone how will listen (to me talk about it for hours)

Had a fantastic weekend, even with some adverse weather in the Derbyshire Woodland on the Woodland Ways Bushcraft Weekend. Learned a lot of helpful knowledge to apply to life and bushcraft from the knowledgeable instructors and apprentices, who were all approachable and friendly (with a good amount of humour as was needed in the weather we had). Prepared game for the first time and ate some delicious meals - Wood Pigeon stir fry being my personal highlight.
Lots of useful facts about laws applying to all areas of bushcraft to prevent getting into any bother.
Getting to sleep in my shelter in the rain and not get wet felt like an achievement along with making friction fire for the first time.
If you're on the fence about attending this course and love the outdoors, you won't regret a weekend spent here.