A group of Academic Staff and Doctoral students left Birmingham on a Friday afternoon to undertake an outward bound course at the University’s Priestley Centre on Lake Coniston. After a 3-hour drive, we arrived to a warm welcome from the centre staff and a hot meal. Discussions then moved to Coniston village for a night out. In the morning we planned the day, which consisted of a strenuous rock scramble with ropes and helmets over the Bell.
The party then split into two with the choice of either a walk to the summit of the Old Man of Coniston or a tour of Levers water. Then it was back to the Centre for a hot meal and an evening of TV watching Strictly and MOTD. We woke refreshed and after breakfast there were more choices. It was either mountain biking on local trails or canoeing on the Lake.
After lunch we boarded the sailing boat, the Hawk, and navigated the lake up to Peel Island made famous in the book “Swallows and Amazons” before heading back to the Centre. After we had drunk a swift cup of tea, it was the journey home to Birmingham. The Priestley Centre is the perfect venue for a team-building event and our doctoral students certainly had the opportunity to talk about their research and career aspirations against the backdrop of the Lake District fells. Thank you to the centre staff for looking after us so well and we will be exploring future visits by our undergraduate students.
More Pictures can be found here
