This evening I drove down to The Dales to assess a group of fifth year girls from George Watson's College on their D of E silver practice expedition. James and I drove down the M6 in convoy and were in Hawes for a spot of afternoon tea by mid afternoon. It was a gloriously hot sunny day and we had made good time driving down from Edinburgh.
Eventually the coach arrived in Hawes and half of the groups got settled into Hawes Hostel. After helping to unload all the gear, I headed over the hills to Grinton Lodge to get the others settled in. On the way there I had a fantastic view over the fells and, looking at the forecast, it was looking like it was going to hold for the next few days.
After sorting out rooms, kit, tents etc, it was time for the traditional English hostel three course meal - magic. I then sat down with the girls and talked them through the next few days. They all seemed a bit unsure about everything. As it turns out, none of them had done bronze before and this was to be their first expedition. It's certainly going to be an interesting few days...
