The Mushroom Identification Course from Wild Food People is a fun and intense 5 hour course based entirely outside where we will encounter and identify a variety of different fungi using keys and books.
To book on to one of our courses, select from date options below. If this is a gift, please select a Gift Voucher option and we shall be in touch about a personalised message.
From £90.00
This course is focused on mushrooms and other fungi which are found in abundance, with the right conditions and locations, in Autumn in North Wales. This isn’t a foraging walk, it is a one-day identification session which will teach you the skills that you need to further your knowledge and confidence in identifying the fungi you come across in life. Rather than talking about only edible species, we will be exploring all fungi we encounter and talking in depth about the identification of fungi.
Our one-day mushroom identification course takes place near the small rural town of Ruthin in Denbighshire, North Wales, and shows the incredible variety of fungi you can encounter in a relatively small area in the right conditions.
This course has evolved as a result of our previous autumnal Foraging and Wild Food Courses which were often heavily fungi based. As mushrooms are a fascinating and complex subject on their own, we have dedicated an entire course to their identification. We will discuss every species we come across, talking through the process of identification using a variety of guide books. We will also talk about the ecology of mushrooms and how best to target different species through habitat recognition and understanding about the different species requirements.
During the course we hope to come across about 20-30 different species of fungi, from the sought after to the notable toxic and potentially lethal species – and we will talk about how to identify each of them.
This course is dictated by the pace of nature. Mushrooms are very weather dependant and we cannot guarantee any particular species will be on display during any particular course. We will be examining some species that are not in prime condition but this is all part of mushroom hunting!
The leader for this course is a professional outdoor instructor with many years of experience delivering training with international brands, charities and conservation projects.
The course will start at 10am and last around five hours.
The Mushroom Identification Course from Wild Food People takes place at the edge of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB just north of the beautiful market town of Ruthin.
A mixed plantation site interspersed with trackways, settlements and glades is home to edible fungi.
Please note that the map below is only to show the general area – full joining instructions and meeting point will be sent out by email between you booking a place on the course and around 21 days before the course commences.
Please select from date options in the drop down menu above, or choose the ‘Gift Voucher’ option to allow the recipient to choose their own date.
You can read more about gift vouchers here.
There is no special equipment necessary for this identification skills course, however we ask that you are prepared for the weather of the day, standing and walking for 5 hours on an unprepared surface in a woodland.
Check the forecast before coming out and dress appropriately, we will be outside for the duration of this course.
We recommend that you bring with you:
We will provide several guides for the group to use on the day, but if you do already have an ID guide we recommend that you bring it along too.
This course involves walking off-the-beaten track in amongst forestry where there is a lot of uneven ground and no defined pathways. We will be on our feet for the majority of the 5 hour course aside from a stop for lunch. We won’t be bog-trotting or climbing any big hills but to get the most out of the day a decent level of fitness/agility will help.
You will need to be 18yrs old on the date of the course, or attending with your parent/s or legal guardian.
There is no strict lower age limit although it has been created with adults in mind. You can probably decide for yourself if your child will enjoy five hours of walking, learning and listening to our instructors talk about how to identify mushrooms with more confidence.
Yes, this course will take place in most weather conditions, including rain. We will contact participants directly if there is any need to postpone or alter the course.
During the course we are likely to find some edible species of fungi, however the focus of the course is on learning to identify different families of fungi and for participants to become more confident in the usage of identification guides and features.
No – this course isn’t suitable for dogs to attend as we will be walking quite slowly and stopping frequently for extended periods to look at books and identify species.
No, this course takes place in a woodland with plenty of trees, there are no facilities provided however there are public toilets in the nearby town.
The course starts at 10am and will last around 5 hours. We ask that participants are ready to depart from the parking area at the advertised time in the morning.
There is no cooking involved on this course.
The course lasts for 5 hours and we will be away from the cars for this time, we recommend that you bring a bottle of water and a quick lunch.
If you are interested in a day of learning more about fungi and trying to identify the different species which we encounter during our walk, then this course is for you!
If you have any concerns or questions then please contact us and we can discuss this with you. By booking a place on this course (for yourself or others) you/they are agreeing to our terms and conditions and that you/they are physically capable of safely attending this course which takes place on tracks, slopes and often unprepared ground.
The primary instructor for this course, Richard has spent the majority of his adult life working in the great outdoors. He specialises in foraging, wilderness skills and survival in remote areas.
Amongst other things he is a qualified mountain leader, spent several years as an active member of one of the North Wales mountain rescue teams and regularly appears on screen and in print talking about foraging, bushcraft and survival and other essential outdoor skills.
Richard lives near Ruthin in North Wales.
Amy Green grew up between Manchester and the Peak District and has always spent as much time as she can outside; walking, climbing trees, taking photos and studying the life around her.
Since moving to Wales over a decade ago, she has worked in wildlife conservation and developed her knowledge of foraging, ethnobotany and bushcraft. As well as being proficient in these subjects, Amy is interested in heritage skills and can scythe, build dry stone walls, lay hedges and undertake ecological surveys for a number of different protected and rare species. She also enjoys cooking with wild ingredients and makes amazing flavoured gins out of foraged edibles.
Amy lives near Ruthin in North Wales.
This course is available to buy as a gift voucher, simply select our gift voucher option in the drop down menu above and the recipient can choose from any of the available dates we have that year.
For more information please visit our dedicated Gift Voucher page or contact us for further information.
By booking a place on this course you are agreeing to our booking terms and conditions, to read these in full please see our dedicated page. If you have any specific questions you can contact us by email or phone.
| SELECT COURSE DATE | 2024 Digital Gift Voucher, 2024 Printed and Posted Gift Voucher, 2nd November 2024 |
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Running foraging and wild courses in North Wales and across the UK for over 15 years.
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