True tales of adventure

Recently, on the outdoor research discussion group, two people signing themselves off as ‘grumpy old men’ had ‘a go’ at Forest Schools. Their complaint boiled down to the fact that the traditional notion of adventure education was off the front pages of websites and magazines displaced by this upstart of Forest Schools ‘whatever they were!’ They bemoaned what they considered to be the death of ‘proper’ adventures. What it seems to me that these two have not noticed is that their kind of adventure is doing fine if not burgeoning with expeditions to far flung corners of the world, scouting and guiding and Duke of Edinburgh award trips, not to mention overflowing outdoor centres. They also seem to have forgotten what it is to be 5 years old, for this is the age group Forest Schools are aimed at, not as competition for teenage daring do. As I remember it my fifth year was full of climbing trees, riding bikes, exploring further and further afield, building dens and lighting fires. Ponies kicked us, nettles stung us; and bumps and bruises from falling out of those trees were soothed with Nivea® cream. All this sounds pretty adventurous to me.