“The woods... It’s a great set up - remote enough to feel wild but close enough to make it workable for all. Luxury toilet and loads of spots to pitch up!
Great food and a real mix of quick and easy campfire cooking and some fun challenges.
just an amazing mix of knowledge and info with great fun and a sense of humour. With it being such a long and packed schedule it must be difficult to know how much to teach and when to hold back but they knew when everyone just wanted to relax around the fire and when to add an extra lesson.
Each day and activity was brilliant. The amount of time spent navigating was invaluable for practice and building knowledge. The water activities were great fun and a bit of a bonding experience for the group whilst being really instructive. Rope sessions were really detailed and facilitated something that you rarely get to practice. It’s really great to chat and relax with new and different people of an evening after a really tough day. Always the best bits of any trip!
Absolutely do it. I could have stayed out there for another week.”

“The pre course information was extensive and well laid out.
The kit list was comprehensive but not intimidating in its scope.
A varied and picturesque area of hilly woodland, spread over an area wide enough to really feel like you’re out on your own without it being remote or hard to access.
The food was varied, interesting and was always up to the task of keeping the students energy levels up.

When students cooked for themselves, JD and Max were always on hand to guide and advise if needed.
JD and Max were always there to encourage and support the students.
Even when I was struggling with certain elements, I never felt like I was unsupported or slowing down the rest of the group.
With a longer course, there’s more time for more learning but given the time constraints I honestly can’t see how it could be improved.
I think the best thing was the feeling of achievement at the end. The knowledge that I now possessed the skills and attitude to truly feel comfortable out in the woods.
The Peregrine isn’t easy, it pushed me both physically and mentally but the rewards are well worth it.

You’ll not find a better pair of bushcraft instructors than JD and Max at Howl Bushcraft.”

“The woodlands are stunning, surprisingly quiet considering how beautiful it is. A real beauty spot.
Im a pescatarian, the food provided on the course was more than varied and enjoyable, I also learnt some new ideas/recipes and gained some useful information as for how to cook in the wild without compromising.
All the team members were exceptional and professional and nothing was too much trouble for any of them. Most of our time was spent with JD and Max and I felt like I was out with close friends as opposed instructors. Both of them are very easy going, nothing is too much trouble, they have a wealth of knowledge between them and share it freely. I really can’t find fault with anything at Howl Bushcraft. I had such an amazing time and its easy to see why they are one of, if not the most prolific company offering these services in the UK. If this was my company, I would be very proud of what I was providing.
I was expecting this to be an informative, pleasant experience, but I found myself having an amazing time, experiencing so many new things, learning loads and making friends with people from all different walks of life. During this course it felt like we all really were part of a small tribe. There to support each other at every turn, pick each other up when we fell, share laughs around the campfire. One of the best experiences of my life.

There’s absolutely no reason to hesitate, Howl Bushcraft are the only choice I look forward to the next experience I do with them.”

“The pre-course information was comprehensive and answered all my questions without having to get in touch with the instructors. It looked professional and well put together.
Wharncliffe woods is a real gem. I had no idea it was so vast, diverse and all within 15 minutes of my house. The Howl Basecamp felt secluded almost all of the time yet we were surrounded by public trails and a short walk from the main road. It was good that there was the option to camp beyond the base camp itself which would have given the feeling of being in the woods on your own at night if but there was also the option of pitching in the centre and being part of the group. The toilet and cleaning facilities were better than expected, never has a “call of nature” been so apt!
The food really surprised me. I read reviews talking about how good the food was but I don’t think I was prepared for the quality and variety. I never thought I’d have burger and chips or rice pudding cooked on an open fire! I liked having to work together to prepare the meals, despite the stress at times.
I think the balance was just right. An initial demonstration from either JD or Max then it was hands off and let you have a go with the instructors always on hand to help if required. I’m sure there is a temptation from the instructors to jump in if something is taking longer than it should (as frequently happened!) but it was nice that you sat back to watch it unfold and guided rather than take over.

I found knot tying one of the hardest bits to master. Putting the tarp up and down daily was a help in getting the practice in. Not sure how you could develop this without it feeling like a lesson or potentially becoming stale.
I had been looking forward to sourcing water myself but there isn’t much you can do about the weather. In hindsight considering how wiped out we all were at the end of the day the Jerry cans were probably a blessing in disguise.
The lack of structure at times was really refreshing. Often as a group we would spend longer than we should on a particular activity which are into the allocated time for the next one. Normally I’d get anxious if I was behind schedule and missing planned activities but I really liked how even when we were behind JD would just stop and talk about a plant, tree or aspect of the landscape as we were walking along. He never seemed in a rush, perhaps that’s just another benefit of spending so much time outdoors, but I found it contagious and was extremely glad of it and hope it continues beyond the course.

Likewise in the evenings the teaching just seemed to spring out of general group chat like when JD just whipped out his cleaning kit in the teepee and talked about it.

The level of activities was spot on. I was tired but not exhausted at the end of the every day. I don’t think anything extra needs adding as we struggled for time as it was.
I attended the Peregrine with only a very basic understanding of bushcraft and navigation but had no trouble quickly getting up to a level where by the end of the course I’d be confident hiking out into the woods by myself tomorrow and spending several nights living and sleeping very comfortably. Whatever your experience with camping I would whole heartedly recommend any of the Howl bushcraft courses as a way to experience the outdoors is one of its purest forms.

For the Peregrine specifically it had the added benefit of incorporating loads of great outdoor activities like abseiling and river work. If you have any preconceptions that bushcrafters are all old men dressed in camo carving spoons by a smoky fire then think again! Be prepared to go home tired!”

“Several weeks ago I took the opportunity to take a last minute place on the Peregrin course run by Howl Bushcraft as a paying client. This is my review.

I have know Jamie (founder of Howl Bushcraft ) for a few years and remember him coming up with the Idea for a course like the Peregrin a couple of years back.
So given current circumstances in the world I thought I would take this opportunity to get away from it all and take part in the inaugural Peregrin course.

As some of you may know I have worked in the Bushcraft Industry for several years with one of the bigger companies in the UK. My experience from the inside witnessing behind the scenes, taking some of their courses as a client and helping deliver had left me completely disillusioned with Bushcraft courses, to the point where I was so dissatisfied with the quality of service that I left the company and now could not be able to honestly recommend taking a course to anyone, and certainly not pay for them myself.

On contacting Jamie he sent me over his course info and itinerary, which was well put together, clear and professional so I decided to take the chance and was cautiously optimistic about it.
If nothing else it was going to be 4 full days away from normal life and if I picked up 1 or 2 things, I would consider it not a total waste of time.

Having been practicing (and working in) Bushcraft for a fair few years I consider myself perfectly competent at your basic camp-craft, fire-making and outdoor cooking skill, however the Peregrin course was unique (to my knowledge) in that it combined the traditional Bushcraft skills with adventure travel skills such as navigation combined with rope and river work. This was what ultimately interested me about the course and convinced me to attend.

On arrive on the first evening we were greeted by Lead instructor Jamie, who took us through the woods to set up for the night where instructor Max had the evening meal ready and were given a tour of the camp. The toilet and hand-washing facilities deserve a special mention as they where a much better set up that I have seen on previous courses.

On the morning of the first day of the Peregrine course by Howl we where provided with a decent breakfast, we packed the camp and set out for the days navigation exercises. I have previously been taught the basics of map and compass navigation whilst doing my Duke of Edinburgh training however it is a skill I barely use so was happy enough to touch up on the basics.

Once Navigation was finished we headed back to camp with a foraging walk, this was the first part of the course where I was genuinely impressed with the Instructors knowledge.
My own wild plants knowledge has been sorely neglected so I found this part of the course very fascinating, learning common plants with medicinal, edible and hygienic uses, their lore, Identification and look a-likes.

Potentially these are things I could have taught myself, however I found that I lacked the inclination to pick up forging book and spend time self teaching from over practising things like carving or fire-making (which is my favourite if you cant guess from the title of this page.)
So I am grateful this was included on the course as I feel more confident and interested to take that that learning further.

The afternoon of the course was spent back in camp going through various basic skills. Before cooking our evening meals in pairs.

I very much enjoyed the cooking layout as we where assigned in pairs to a cook fire, which we shared to cook our meal and boil drinking water, (with Covid precautions).
Myself and another client are on 100% plant based diets and I believe both of us felt well catered for which Is a testament to the excellent menu planning of JD. Including Tofu Scramble and Jackfruit Burgers was surprising to me but certainly appreciated. We did not eat the same meal twice and personally I felt good value for money in the catering arrangements of this course, and honestly if I did not enjoy the rest of the course so much I would list the food as one of the top aspects of the course.

But overall the good food and clean toilet facilities helped make the 4 days stay in the woods (combined with the amazing weather) a very pleasant stay indeed.

Day 2 of the Howl Peregrine course was where the fun really started for me, again after a good breakfast, taking a mini nav ex down to the river we began the day.
This included a mini tunnel scramble, which was entirely optional but I think it was a very good addition as it got everyone in the right mindset to go for it and get wet.

Here we were introduced to Instructor Robin who led the adventure training part of the course. Throughout the day we were shown and given the opportunity to try a variety of river crossings and rescuing skills. Luckily the weather was good which certainly made getting wet more pleasant but it was genuinely a fun and educational day. If the day had ended by early afternoon I would not have been disappointed.

Jamie then explained he was going to show us how to make a raft, I was assuming that this was going to just be a basic talk and demo of typing a couple of logs together, however over the space of the next hour he had instructed the group on how to build a fully function raft that sits you completely out of the water, using only local materials and some basic kit. Again this exceeded my expectations of what I was going to learn and made this day a truly valuable experience.

After the successes of the previous day I was really looking forward to the third day in which we packed up camp once again and journeyed on foot to meet Robin at the crags where we would learn rappelling techniques.

These techniques where designed to be used with only a single piece of climbing rope, (which I will be adding to my kit now Ive seen how useful it can be).
The morning was spent on lower slopes practising before we moved up to the top of cliff to practise improvised belay and finally a 15 metre abseil (with a safety line) down a sheer face.
This was the big achievement of the course for me,(I’m normally known for not liking heights).

After that experience if the course had ended there, I would not have disappointed at all, I had experienced more than I expected too and achieved things I would not have expected I could do a mere week prior. Over all an excellent couple of days.

After the Abseiling on the Peregrin course from Howl everything else was just a bonus for me.
Saying our farewells to Robin we headed back to set up camp, and cook our meals.

That same evening we also had the options to build natural shelters to sleep in, or practise other skills with the Instructors Jamie and Max.

The morning of the penultimate day was spent with cooking elaborate breakfasts, knife and fire skills lessons and taking down the camp. Then followed more in-depth navigation exercises to practice the skills we had been using throughout the previous days, closing out mid afternoon at the carpark to depart.

In conclusion I set out with a pessimistic view on Bushcraft courses and the Bushcraft industry as a whole and I expected my previous experiences to be the representative of all providers.

However the professionalism seen on this course really impressed me, the knowledge each member of the team has on their specific expertise (and I mean expertise, not just competence) , their accommodating attitude to the different clients needs and desired learning outcomes and the unique curriculum this course offers, really made it a wholly worthwhile experience. At no point did I feel that “i could do this better” or “this could be done a better way” which has been my feelings on other courses so I certainly would recommend you taking a course but the Peregrin in particular with Howl Bushcraft.

Thanks to the team, JD, Robin Heath and Max Barnes.”

“I just came back from a brilliant bushcraft course nr Peak District and I wanted to say a big thank you to Jamie Dakota and Max from HowlBushcraft for teaching me so much useful stuff (tarp set up for sleeping outside, water purification, fire-making, map navigation, river crossing) and also being such inspirational models of how to engage deeply with the forest. I’ve just done my first solo camp and hike and have you guys to thank for it”