HASLEMERE Prep School pupils went wild in the woods for two days at the Hatfield House Estate to acquire bushcraft skills.

The group of 14 began by learning about the ‘fire triangle’, and how to build and maintain a fire using the natural resources around them. Once all the teams had fires blazing, they were then able to cook lamb kebabs for their lunch.

In the afternoon, the boys, from years seven and eight, built basic shelters using only a sheet of tarpaulin and pieces of rope.

For the sides, they used wood and foliage from the forest and decided to test them out by spending the night in them, instead of in their tents.

On day two, they learned how to design and construct traps for catching prey and deliberated whether to build a mangle, dangle, strangle or tangle trap.

Lastly, the boys (pictured) were taught how to skin and gut a rabbit in preparation for cooking.

“In between, the workshops they played some exciting and challenging woodland evasion games to build up hunting teamwork, culminating in the Lantern Challenge after nightfall,” teacher Francis Gottesman said.

“By the end of the two days the boys had a good understanding of how to survive in a natural outdoor environment bereft of 21st-century luxury and technology.”