The 3,000-acre Cornbury Park estate, near Charlbury, was once home to the ‘secret forest’ — Wychwood. Until the early 1990s it was only open to the public on one day a year: Palm Sunday.

But during the Easter holidays dozens of children will be roaming the park, rubbing sticks together to build fires, cooking food they have ‘foraged’ from the grounds, and even camping in the woods.

They will be on a so-called bushcraft camp, run by a company set up by 25-year-old Alex McBarnet to teach survival skills to youngsters. He became hooked on the wild when, as a pupil at Cheltenham College, he went on a holiday course run by TV presenter Ray Mears.

He enjoyed himself so much that he started doing work experience with Mears, eventually becoming an instructor and travelling the world in the school holidays, doing what he describes as ‘applied bushcraft’ in Borneo and the Arctic.

When he returned to study anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, he approached schools to offer holiday courses.

“Most of them rejected the idea, but some of them said yes. Then I dropped out of university.”

Living above a nightclub in East Oxford, he ran the company from a room with a bed, sink and three desks: “When we interviewed people, we had to meet them at the Plain because you could see that from the window, and we couldn't take anyone up to the room,” he said.

“It was a disgusting place, but the music played until 3am so I could work all the time.”

From the start, he had a clear idea about the sort of people to recruit as ‘tribe leaders’ and field cooks.

“I wanted to build up our culture, our brand, one person at a time, so we had to find people who fitted in with what I was trying to create.”

The company's co-founder, Alice Hicks — who is still a key player — did finish her Oxford Brookes degree, but he has no regrets about abandoning his.

“When you actually start to run a business it is incredibly difficult. It becomes not just a passion, but an obsession, and it becomes hard to focus on something that seems so unimportant, like a degree.”

One of his missions was to gain as many official accreditations as possible, mostly relating to health and safety, to overcome the understandable fears of parents and teachers.

“We are the most accredited bushcraft company in the world, I think. It allows us to focus on the fun element.”

His philosophy is paying off. Children become entranced by the idea of having to find water, bake bread, coax sparks from wooden sticks and build shelters from branches, twigs and piles of green ferns.

And he is passionate about the value of the courses and camps.

“I think it's absolutely key to the development of these children.

It's an essential part of growing up. It's one of the best ways of engaging with children, and something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

One of the things they enjoy most, he says, is lighting a fire and cooking food.

“They learn to live off the land, finding edible roots and plants and catching fish. They love it. They might say no to food that's cooked for them, but when they cook it themselves in the wood, and we say 'it might taste a bit odd' they are really keen.”

He says the 900-year-old Wychwood Forest is the ideal location for the mock plane crash where children learn remote area first aid, a scenario that is set up with smoke and aeroplane noise.

“We cannot forcibly remove children from their TV or games console. Instead we need to offer them an alternative that draws them into a reality that can provide them with the same challenges, rewards, friendships and excitement they find on the screen.”

The company is based in one of Cornbury Park's industrial units, and he says owners Lord and Lady Rotherwick have been ‘immensely supportive’ since he phoned to ask if he could run courses there.

“Lady Rotherwick was so supportive of our business. She immediately grasped the idea, and she was willing to let the business grow.”

The phenomenal growth, and his drive, were rewarded when he was named Young Business Person of the Year at the West Oxfordshire Business Awards, which means he is automatically entered into the overall Oxfordshire Business Awards, now in the process of being judged.

As well as Cornbury, the company uses estates in Hampshire, Kent, Wales and Slovenia, as well as running courses in (mostly independent) schools. He is now looking for more sites, both in the UK and abroad, as well as recruiting for summer courses.

Tribe leaders range in age from 18-60 and include former lawyers and teachers, as well as mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts.

This year, he has introduced family camps, where parents can join the activities, including animal tracking, carving, mountain biking and orienteering. The final three-day residential Easter camp at Cornbury takes place from Monday to Wednesday next week.