Riches on our doorsteps.

When I came to write this latest blog and reflected on what I had been doing, not for the first time, I realised what a fantastic place the UK is.  Here in the Lakes it would be easy to take it for granted but the visitors are a constant reminder of how lucky we are to live and work here.  We are part of a relatively small but accessible part of the globe where we can enjoy so many different experiences.

In a couple of weeks I have been climbing in snow on Skye and have also enjoyed walking Roman walls and the historic city of Chester in glorious sunshine – this with my Canadian friends Kirk & Jo who were keen to visit some ancient sites. 

We three also did some climbing in the Lake District. 

I then spent some time with a large number of our fantastic, ever-willing volunteers working on an access-for-all footpath with the Fix the Fells team.  That was followed by working with the Scouts, the Army Cadets and the Mountain Rescue Team to create the Jubilee Beacon on Catbells and the bonfire at Crowe Park on the lake shore.  Around 2000 people enjoyed the bonfire and about 80 made their way up to the beacon where there was a great atmosphere and we could see several beacons on other fell tops.

Soon after that, I was able to spend some time road-biking in Pitlochry, another fantastic area.  These islands are so compact that we can easily access an enormous range of experiences even if we have only one spare day.

It all led to thinking about the Trust’s project '50 things to do before you are 11¾'.  During the rest of the year we are all going to be building some of those into our visitor experiences so I’ll be reporting on those soon.  Meanwhile, why don’t you have a go at something near your home that you haven’t tried before?  You can tell us about it by writing a comment on the blog.