Family adventures in the Lake District

Last week was half term and with the sun shining every day, we had a very busy and enjoyable week.  One popular activity we do is our Family Adventure Day.  There are various options depending on the ages of the children, the weather and what our clients want out of the day.   

Families who prefer less walking to the day can enjoy the valley option.  We spend the morning in Langdale where you are spoilt with views of this popular and beautiful valley; the dramatic skyline of the Langdale Pikes always drawing your eyes to it.  We do some fun rock-climbing, starting with easy climbs and testing yourselves on harder ones if you wish.  We then head over to Cathedral quarry for a picnic lunch at a place which never ceases to amaze people – you walk through a dark tunnel and appear in a huge cavern, lit up with rays of sun pouring through the ‘window’.  This man-made quarry gets its name ‘Cathedral’ from the huge pillar inside the cavern.  As well as the caverns there are long, dark tunnels to explore, always good fun - one is 120m long so we take a torch!  There is an abseil here too, just long enough for children but long enough to give a challenge.

Last week the weather was perfect for an adventurous day out in the mountains. So with two families – 3 adults and 5 children from 8 to 17 years old we drove up to the top of the Wrynose Pass and headed up Pike O’Blisco.  We stayed off path for most of the day, scrambling over small rocky outcrops – for anyone not familiar with scrambling, in this case it is very easy rock-climbing on low level rocks, for which you don’t need a rope.  Children of all ages love this and the joy of it is that you can choose your route, so it can be easy or a little harder, or you can simply walk around it.

We scrambled our way up the mountain until we reached the crag of Long Scar, seeing lots of interest on route - sheep and lambs (Herdwicks and Swaledales), plants including Sundew, one of only two insectivorous plants in the UK, and some fascinating rock formations. 

Long Scar is a lovely climbing crag about 12m tall and here everyone enjoyed some rock-climbing on the end of a rope on either the ‘easy’ climb or the ‘hard’ climb for those who wanted to challenge themselves, or both!   Here we enjoyed a well-earned picnic lunch whilst being treated to stunning of the Lake District fells including Wetherlam, Swirl How, Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags.

Everyone then fancied the idea of abseiling; some were worried because of previous experiences, however the slabs we use on Black Crag are not at all intimidating and perfect for ‘first timers’ and especially good for youngsters too. Everyone did it at least once and the children all came back for another turn.  You also get to do some more easy climbing as it is quicker and far more enjoyable to climb back up to the top than to walk around.

Time enjoyed always passes quickly and before we knew it was time to return to the cars.  Here I left them as the adults were keen to finish their day by testing their driving skills over the famous Hardknott Pass, a single track, twisty road with a gradient of 1 in 3, the steepest road in England (along with Rosedale Chimney in North Yorkshire). 

Thanks for a great day out Eric, Johnny, Sarah, Matt, Georgie, Tristan, Theo and Thomas!