Talking about health & safety might get old but we want you to also....
Ahead of Storm Kathleen this weekend I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the weather & how this can affect some of our planned activities.
We strive to #goexplore in all conditions but sometimes the environment can become dangerous for our participants & staff alike when the weather is against you.
Working exclusively outdoors is wonderful & we're privileged to do so, but sometimes the weather has other ideas & it's out of our hands. Over Winter we experienced dangerously high wind speeds up at Fox Covert, with constant wind speeds hovering around 40mph at times & gusts exceeding 60.
High winds & lightning are the only reasons we would ever get weathered off, we're far from fair weather woodsmen but your safety & wellbeing is our priority & in such weather conditions we cannot guarantee this. This is why on occasion we must make the decision to make alterations to, postpone or cancel planned events, sometimes at short notice.
I understand this can be inconvenient or disappointing but we'd rather you go home disappointed instead of going home via the hospital or, not to be dramatic, but not go home at all.
I realise this may sound overly catastrophic but the reality of extremely high winds in a woodland environment poses a risk to life. When the wind reaches a constant high speed there is a significant risk of dead fall. In a nutshell, this means there is a chance dead standing trees or bows may come down & we're not willing to chance they do not fall on you.
The weather also impacts some of our planned activities, most commonly fire. If wind speeds reach a certain mph the chance of an open fire spreading can become unmanageable, especially during the Autumn months with so much debris of the field layer such as fallen leaves.
It is for these reasons, on occasion, we must postpone or cancel certain planned activities or events. I would like to say this is a difficult decision to make but honestly it's pretty cut & dry. If conditions may compromise your safety we aren't taking any chances.
I hope this post sheds a little light on the situation & gives you a little more insight into our decision making process. As I'm writing this the forecast is changing hour by hour so lets keep our fingers crossed.
Sincerely
JG
