Jonathan Ridgeon

I have lived in the countryside all my life with acres of land to roam free in. At a very early age I was interested in nature and spent most of my time exploring woodland and playing outside in the fresh air. I hated school because I always knew that I had much more interesting things to do back home amongst the trees.

Because I was outdoors for a lot of time I began to look at the natural resources around me and when i got my first knife I began to carve wood and explore materials further. Watching some of Ray's programs was also a great inspiration.

From a young age I was fascinated by the idea of making fire by 'rubbing sticks'. When I saw it on TV I was amazed and was excited to try this for myself. It became a personal mission to achieve fire in this way! After a hell of a lot of hard work I managed it and I still have these skills today.

Practicing my skills throughout most of my spare time over the years has paid off and now I am extremely pleased with the crafts that I make.

I also have a strong interest in photography. I mainly take photos of the natural world, in particular trees and macro shots of the miniature world around us.

At present I am studying Fine Art at University. In the future I hope to go on to live a primitive/ self-sustainable lifestyle.

I mainly practice the crafts part of 'bushcraft'. My interest and skills in Fine Art go hand in hand with my work as a bushcrafter.

I am always eager to learn more about bushcraft and primitive living skills. The subject is never ending and that is why I love it so much.

Picture of Ray, brother and me. 2005 (I'm on far left)