NaturalBushcraft is a personal, non-commercial project of Ashley Cawley.
It began in 2007 when Ashley created this website as a way of sharing his bushcraft knowledge with like-minded people, demonstrating these skills first through articles on the website and then through the use of videos on his YouTube channel. The website quickly became popular, with a very simple, no-fuss delivery of content. Soon people from around the world were using the website and some local visitors (from Cornwall) were keen to meet one another in person, this lead Ashley to organise the first NaturalBushcraft gathering in 2009 where he met some new friends who are now some of his strongest friends today, little did he know that creating this website would alter the path of his life in such a positive way.
At one of the early NaturalBushcraft gatherings Ashley met Justin Telfod, it was obvious they both had mutual love for Bushcraft. After much discussion they decided to join forces, the mutual aim was to create a huge (and more importantly; free) resource of skills and information for anyone interested in bushcraft to enjoy. In December 2009 Justin and Ashley began producing videos and articles together, they worked together for around 10 months producing new content and collaborating to re-design the website. However the partnership did not last, Ashley felt that Justin was starting to stray from the original objective and was taking NaturalBushcraft in a negative direction and therefore the partnership was broken and again it became Ashley's personal project.
About Ashley Cawley
Ashley Cawley’s early enthusiasm for the Great Outdoors stemmed from a childhood playing in the beautiful Cornish countryside. As a young teenager, Ashley was inspired by the books and television shows of Ray Mears, to a greater appreciation of wildlife and the natural world. Probably the most pivotal book at that time, was ‘Ray Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook’ (first published in 1992).
Ashley began wild-camping at an early age, enjoying the freedom and self-reliance that came with it. Being away from society, taught him a great deal about nature and helped forge his deep love of the wilderness. Ashley completed the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver awards while at school. Here he gained further skills including teamwork, leadership, and navigation which added to his already extensive outdoor knowledge.
Since then, Ashley has pursued an active involvement in bushcraft and the outdoors, honing his skills to a high level of competence. Part of that journey was the creation of NaturalBushcraft, a way for Ashley to share his skills, inspiring others to appreciate the wilderness as he did. He used NaturalBushcraft to bring together local people with similar interests at ‘NaturalBushcraft Meets’.
Ashley has further honed his skills, through teaching others and continual practice. His particular expertise is in fire-lighting techniques, an area that seems to interest new bushcrafters more than any other. His abilities include both modern and ancient fire-lighting methods, and he is well known for being able to demonstrate an ember from a fire-bow in less than ten seconds (with a current record of seven seconds!). However, Ashley’s skills go well beyond this, and his proficiency extends to all areas of bushcraft.
