This week I’ve been running a residential in the Lake District with a local school. We base ourselves in the lovely west Cumbria location of Nether Wasdale, which offers a great playground of activities on the doorstep. This is a regular fixture on the Peak Mountaineering calendar and I always look forward to it. Along with staff Andy, Louise, Alison, Lisa, Larry and Emma we’ve had a couple of large groups of children who’ve done a range of activities. The weather has been really good all week and we’ve had shorts and shades on most of the time.

A crisis was narrowly averted on Wednesday when we had to make special arrangements to view the England game. Luckily it’s the sort of rural community where anything is possible if you talk to the right people. A few conversations in the pub and villager David kindly offered us the use of his lounge for the match. It was the best atmosphere in the world with adults and kids enjoying the victory…..who needs outdoor activities!?