For this trip, we will be heading to the heart of the lake district. We have exclusively hired the YHA Coniston Coppermines with accommodation for 26 people over the August bank holiday. We have reserved the youth hostel from the 22nd (Thursday) through to Monday 26th August. The trip will be based near Coniston Water with lake Windermere, Ambleside and Scafell Pike within reasonable distance.

Walk details

The current intention is to have 2–3 walk leaders enabling a good range of hikes for most days. This should ensure that there is a suitable walk for everybody’s abilities. All participants are very welcome on the trip whatever your level of experience and however long you’ve been a member! Full details of the hiking/activities have yet to be confirmed but there are plenty of options available.

If you are thinking of attending, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Lake District will be considerably more strenuous than most normal Berkshire Walkers hikes. Previous mountain experience is not necessary as long as you bring suitable level of equipment (waterproof coat and walking shoes/boots with decent grips are mandatory) and have a reasonable level of fitness.

If you’d like to attend (especially if you’d like space in the hostel) please can you sign up, using the form linked here. As with all our trips away, you do need to be a Ramblers member to take part, but members of other groups are welcome to join us.

Accommodation

As we have reserved the whole hostel for the BWs, we have a total of 26 beds available. The split of these rooms has not yet been agreed and the intention is to keep them single sex rooms if possible. For reference we have one room of six on the ground floor and five rooms of four upstairs

You are also welcome to book your own accommodation – please do still complete the sign up form though, so that the organiser knows you’re coming.

The intention is to cook and eat together (volunteers will be very welcome for this!) and costs will be shared amongst those involved (likely to be no more than £15 each for a trip of this length). We may organize one evening meal out during the trip as well if we can find a suitable venue. Given that it is likely to be a large reservation on a bank holiday, I am not making any promises.

Travel

Despite the Lakes be closer to Berkshire than Scotland, travel by car can still be protracted, especially on a bank holiday. In addition, for those wishing to use public transport, getting to Kendal is relatively easy but getting from Kendal to Coniston may not be so simple. Nevertheless we should be able to manage all participants’ travel arrangements as necessary. (Please indicate on the form if you’ll need a lift or are able to provide lifts.)

Walks and other activities

As usual for trips of this nature, specific walks for each day will be decided nearer the time depending on the group’s preferences, available transport, the weather and the number of walk leaders (volunteers gratefully accepted!). For those who’d like to spend a day doing non-walking activities, there are a variety of activities and tourist attractions nearby, these include (but are not limited to):

• Boat trip on Lake Windermere
• Ambleside
• Grizeldale mountain bike trails (that might be just me on this one!)

Expected costs

We are aiming to fill all 26 places so we are expecting the cost for the full week to be approximately:

• Accommodation: £155 per person
• Shared food: £~15 per person

Note: if we have a lower response the cost could rise i.e. 16 people = £250 per person.

Deposit and timing

The trip is arranged for the bank holiday weekend. To avoid traffic on the Friday evening, I have started the reservation for the hostel from the Thursday evening. So the dates for the trip are:

• Check in Thursday 22nd August after 4pm.
• Check out Monday 26th August before 10am.

To confirm you place can you please fill in the form here. We will be needing to take a £35 deposit for all participants by the 28th February.