D of E Society go to the Lake District

From the 18^th-21^st June 2024, Warwick’s DofE Society set out on their long-awaited trip to the Lake District, England’s largest national park home to Scafell Pike, its highest mountain.

Our journey began at Cannon Park Car Park where, once again, we were faced with the challenge of fitting everything into three cars…including Adam’s pillow. We succeeded, as we always do, and set off on our four-hour journey north.

With our stuff sorted, we set off on our first hike of the trip. Our destination…the pub

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. No traffic, no dangerous country roads, no hazardous weather conditions; it all seemed too good to be true for our drivers…until we reached the bunkhouse. With only one mile left to go on the satnav, our drivers were faced with the bumpiest, uneven, most damaging road known to man. On a normal road, we would’ve gotten to the bunkhouse in less than two minutes. However, this road made us take twice as long. The car I was in, Joe’s car, was clanging and rocking about like crazy, we were convinced something had broken. Luckily, everyone made it to the top of the road in one piece…barely.

The bunkhouse was well equipped with plenty of space to put our dozen pairs of shoes and bags. There was a boys’ room, girls’ room, and one room entirely for Ella. With our stuff sorted, we set off on our first hike of the trip. Our destination…the pub.

Though our end goal was only thirty minutes down the road, we decided to take a detour alongside the nearby mountain. The weather was great, so much so everyone had taken off their layers within the first five minutes, Alistair even braved the shorts. Though the path became non-existent at one point and Matty had to stamp out a new one, we made it to the Traveller’s Rest, a very fitting name for the pub. We all ate our well-deserved dinners, including a full English breakfast for Joe, and made our way back to the bunkhouse, ready for our next day of hiking.

We must have gone at a very good time because there was absolutely no one up there with us.

It was a slow start in the morning (especially for Matty), as we waited for the arrival of our latecomer, Holly, who also had to take the dangerous journey up the death road. In the meantime, Raymond showed us his very impressive skills at the card game ‘Speed,’ which Joe and Matty tried their best to keep up with.

At 11:00am we were all ready to set out on our hike up Helvellyn, the third-highest point both in England and in the Lake District. Helvellyn was one of the earliest fells to prove popular with walkers and explorers, beginning especially in the later 18th century. Among the early visitors to Helvellyn were the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, both of whom lived nearby at one period.

The hike was fairly simple, taking us past lakes, streams, and sheep – there were plenty of good photo opportunities, one of which included our group photo at the very top. We must have gone at a very good time because there was absolutely no one up there with us. Without a queue of people waiting to take pictures at the trig point, we took the opportunity to take a few extra ourselves, including Louisa sitting on top of it, Alistair posing with his beer, and Meghan getting a picture with Freddy Fazbear.

It all seemed to be going well until we hit a wall…and I mean that literally.

It was a tiring day, but we all enjoyed our group meal at the very end of it and finished the night with some games. We had ‘Jackbox’ on a computer in the corner, ‘Twister’ on the other side of the room, and ‘Cluedo’ on the main table (Maddy won both times). After a very enjoyable evening, we all went to bed, not knowing the difficult next day of hiking that awaited us.

It was a much earlier start on Thursday (Matty struggled again), but we were all ready to start our climb of the tallest mountain in England, Scafell Pike,  978 metres high. It was an ok start, with a gradual incline up to the mountain. It all seemed to be going well until we hit a wall…and I mean that literally.  The route that we had chosen up Scafell Pike involved a lot clambering, scrambling, sliding on bums, and crawling on hands and knees – it was definitely very demanding. At one point, when we were making our way up the last slope to the top, a dog came bounding past us as though it had been the easiest climb ever (it definitely wasn’t).

Finally, we made it to the top and, whilst it had been very difficult, it was well worth it. The views were stunning, and the height which we were at was breathtaking. After taking our traditional group photo we decided to descend a different way to the way we came up (I don’t think we would have survived going down that way).

Our group meal felt very deserved that day, during which we realised both Matty and James had become victims to quite bad sunburn and, Louisa and Raymond had also become victims of hayfever. Despite this, I think we all slept pretty well that night.

It all seemed to be going well until we hit a wall…and I mean that literally.

Our final day was fairly relaxed. We drove to Grasmere, explored Gingerbread shops, and visited William Wordsworth’s grave. Next up was a short hike to Rydall Caves, a famous Lakeland beauty spot which is actually man-made as a result of slate quarrying. And finally, we visited Ambleside, where we browsed some interesting shops and bought some ice creams. Our last meal in the pub saw us experiencing our first rain of the trip. We were very lucky with the weather, and we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

I have enjoyed every second of my time being a member of Warwick’s D of E society and I hope to return as soon as I can..

Once again, I am very pleased to have signed up for this trip and am very sad that my year abroad next year will stop me from continuing. I have enjoyed every second of my time being a member of Warwick’s D of E society and I hope to return as soon as I can. To all those who love a good hike, this is definitely the society for you, and I hope you have just as much fun as I have had.