Description
Late August is high fungi season in northern England and this event is designed to make the most of it. Over the course of about 1.5 miles of easy walking over 3.5 hours we will explore the fascinating world of fungi. Our focus is on understanding, learning to identify and appreciating the incredible diversity of fungi, including, but not restricted to, edible wild mushrooms.
Your host for the day will be Mark Williams of Galloway Wild Foods. Mark is a passionate mycophile, wild gastronomer and professional wild food educator, who has been teaching about wild mushroom identification for over 30 years. Mark is a font of knowledge and enthusiasm on wild fungi, specialising in making this often daunting subject fun and accessible to novices, while providing solid foundations for a lifetime of discovery, enjoyment, worry-free wild eating and a wider appreciation of the crucial role fungi play in the environment. Mark writes widely on this subject and works closely with leading mycologists, landowner/conservation organisations such as The National Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage.
Mark Williams.
Image ©Mindy Coe Photography
Check out Mark’s free online wild fungi guide here.
Read, listen, watch more about Mark Williams and Galloway Wild Foods.
Please note that while this date and location will be selected to maximise the potential range of fungi we encounter, fungi can be fickle and it is not possible to guarantee what we will find.
Location: Within 30 minutes drive of Grasmere. Full details of our meeting place will be supplied by email to ticket holders in the week prior to the event.
Start time: Arrive in time for a 1pm start
Finish time: Around 6.00pm
Expect: Up to 1.5 miles gentle walking on well made paths over 3 hours followed by and informal al-fresco cook-in of our finds. There will be wild treats and tasters to enjoy throughout. Our focus will be on learning about all fungi, not just edible species.
Learn:
- The important roles fungi play in nature
- Key terminology
- The feeding strategies of fungi
- How to go about identifying important families and species of fungi
- How to home in on the most rewarding edible species
- How to recognise dangerously poisonous species
- Medicinal and utilitarian uses
- Sustainable harvesting practices
- Preservation and cooking techniques
- Key resources for taking your personal learning forward
- Other autumn woodland wild foods
When time and weather allow, we lay out and label our finds to serve as a souvenir and aide-memoire of the afternoon’s discoveries.
Eat/drink: I think it is important to bring the wild foods we encounter to life by not just talking about them, but by eating and drinking them. To this end, in addition to the wild food picnic after the walk, I carry a very hefty bagful of lovingly prepared treats, tasters and tipples to share during the walk. These are both delicious and educational, and the walk is more like guided grazing, a gentle imbibing of the landscape, than a route march! All dietary requirements can be catered for, provided you let me know when you book.
Wild mushroom themed bento box, served on Galloway Wild Foods fungi events. Typically these include 30 to 40 different locally foraged ingredients that illuminate what we have explored on the guided walk, plus other seasonal wild treats. Expect wild mushroom tart, pickles, ferments, paté, salads, wild seed cake and lots more!
Foraging Gift Vouchers
Bring:
Essential: Stout footwear, weather-appropriate clothing, drinking water
Optional: A small basket or cloth bag, notebook, camera, fungi field guide if you have one. If you make any foraged delights at home and would like to share them with the group, please bring them along!
Please read the IMPORTANT INFORMATION tab on this page before booking and again before setting off for the event.
Please note: I do not recommend this event for children under 12 years old. Dogs by prior arrangement only.
Please read the following information before booking a Galloway Wild Foods event.
EVENT LOCATION
The general event location is provided in the event description, and in your booking confirmation. This location is usually an approximate location (eg. “Within 30 minutes drive of XXX”), so that you can consider and plan the area you need to get to prior to booking.
For general information on visiting Galloway for events, including recommended accommodation, see here.
Detailed event information, including exact meeting place, will be sent to the email address you provide on booking in the week prior to the event. This allows me to account for the often fickle nature of wild plants and fungi and select the optimum location for our walk – which can be especially important for fungi forays.
It is important that you add mark@gallowaywildfoods.com and markleewilliams@googlemail.com to your email contacts/whitelist or the information email may get caught in your spam filters. This is extremely important if you have a .hotmail email account as they are notorious for having very sensitive spam filters.
The detailed event information email will be sent in the week before the event – sometimes as little as 3 days prior to the event. There is no need to badger me for it – I will send it! If you haven’t received it by within 3 days of the event, check your spam folders. If it isn’t there drop me an email – mark@gallowaywildfoods.com.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Any cancellation must be sent by email to mark@gallowaywildfoods.com, quoting the event title, date and order number (viewable on your booking confirmation.
Galloway Wild Foods is under no obligation to refund, rebook or reinstate vouchers for no-shows or cancellations within 14 days of the event. If I can refill the place at short notice, I will pay a full refund less 10% to cover admin & PayPal fees, or send a voucher to the full value of the tickets. Please state your preference in your cancellation email.
If you cancel or amend a booking giving 14 days or more notice, you will receive a full refund less 5% to cover Paypal fees, or a Gift Voucher to the full value of your booking.Please state your preference in your cancellation email. Information on using gift vouchers is here.
In the unlikely event that an event is cancelled by GWF you will receive full refund, exchange or voucher.
Galloway Wild Foods is not liable for any travel, accommodation or other costs you might incur if an event has to be cancelled. We recommend that you take out travel insurance if your financial commitment to travel/accommodation is substantial.
The only weather that causes events to be cancelled is dangerous wind. In these instances you will be notified as early as possible.
INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE ON BOOKING
Please provide the following information for all members of your party in the “Additional Information” box on the payment page :
- Relevant medical conditions
- Mobility issues
- Eating restrictions – differentiating between preferences (e.g. vegetarian), intolerances (e.g. gluten intolerance) and serious allergies (e.g. peanut allergy), and clearly stating if an allergy is potentially life-threatening. All requirements can usually be catered for, but these differentiations are required for risk assessments.
It is your responsibility to provide accurate information about all members of your party. If you write “None” in the additional information box, I will assume all attendees are omnivorous and have no relevant medical conditions or mobility issues.
All information is kept private, securely, and in line with GDPR – more information on this here.
WHAT TO BRING ON A WALK
Please ensure that all members of your party come suitably dressed for the weather, season and event.
On all walks, for your comfort and safety, walking boots/wellies, waterproofs and spare clothes are necessary. I always recommend wellies for coastal foraging events – you are likely to get wet feet if you don’t have them!
Please bring your own drinking water.
Your learning and enjoyment may also benefit from bringing a camera, notebook, field guide, small basket/cloth bag. Feel free to bring along any of your own wild food preparations to share and talk about.
DOGS
Most GWF events are suitable for one dog on a lead.
Even on walks that are suitable for dogs on leads, because we tend to move very slowly as we learn and forage, dogs often get bored/agitated/cold by the slow pace. One thing we absolutely can’t have is an unhappy noisy dog on an event.
Where events are suitable for dogs, I restrict it to one per event as there is no way of knowing whether dogs will get on with one another. Dog places are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.
With all this in mind, if you would like to bring a dog, please note this on the booking form in the “Additional Information” box (along with human dietary, mobility, medical info) and I will get contact you to let you know suitability and availability.
If being able to bring your dog is a deal-breaker for you, please email me before you book.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information on Galloway Wild Foods Terms and Conditions can be found here.
If you have specific questions that are not answered here, please contact mark on mark@gallowaywildfoods.com, or if you are running late on the day.
