Over a gruelling four days and three nights at the end of the Easter holiday, four teams of Sixth Form girls successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Expedition. For 22 of the girls this was their Qualifier Expedition and for a further 4 girls this counted as their Practice.

The walking conditions were challenging, with torrential rain making the ground very wet underfoot and difficult for camping. With snow still evident on the tops of the fells, the expedition took the girls from Pooley Bridge down the side of Ullswater and then over the fell into Ambleside and Langdale before returning back over the top of the fells into Glenridding and finally again over the top to finish at the tea shop at Threlkeld.

The girls walked as four separate teams, each planning and then navigating their own routes between the camp sites and the end point. All the girls showed real resilience and excellent team work, each of them in turns being involved with navigating the route, erecting the tents and cooking food and hot drinks using the ‘trangias’. They were able to maintain their enthusiasm and good humour throughout the expedition and both the WGS staff and the external assessors were very proud of their achievements.

I would like to thank Mr Eckersall and Miss Bruce for accompanying the girls and myself on the expedition, and to Tim, Alyn, Chris, Simon and Mira the external assessors.

Dr Sue Madden
Assistant Head