5K residential 2026 – Day 3

Almost everyone got a very good night’s sleep on Thursday night. They went to sleep very easily: the dormitory with AA, AH and EB had its light out and was silent before we even went up again to tell them it was time to sleep – unheard of in 30 years of doing residentials! (I feel guilty for suspecting it might be a ‘pillows under the bedclothes’ trick and they were really in the Games Room, but they really were asleep!)

On Friday morning, we did a river study walk. Mrs Du Preez’s son Matthew very kindly came up for the morning to help with staffing capacity (as it is a big job cleaning the lodge before we leave).

Once again, the weather was cool and damp. This river is usually mainly dry in the ‘summer’, which is why we study it. This week, it has been mostly full and flowing which means we changed the walk a little. Nevertheless, we saw erosion and deposition, tributaries and confluences. We also saw lots of sand martins exploding out of their holes in the riverbank. The children know about their migrations to and from Africa. We clambered down into Haws Gill Wheel and used stepping stones to access what we have now called ‘Frog Island’.

The final video shows that wet weather in May/June is not unprecedented. It was much worse in mid May 2012!

The other half of the walk was an easier stroll, including Ribblehead Viaduct. For some reason, the second group did an unintended detour… More map work for them next week!

I must say that 5K were a terrific group who were a pleasure to go away with. They were positive and enthusiastic and showed some good resilience in difficult conditions. If this is my final Y5 residential after nearly 20 years at Gearstones, I couldn’t have wished for a better group to share it with.

Special thanks to all the staff for their very hard work and commitment. Special mention must go to Mrs Hawkhead, Mrs Du Preez and Mrs Cave, who were there all week. (Mrs Hawkhead and Mrs Du Preez, along with Mr Beevers, were also there on Sunday, setting up.) This is a very DIY residential and we are able to keep costs to families to a minimum. Mrs Kroon, Mr Beevers and all the support staff have certainly gone way above and beyond and I am very grateful to them.

Mr Harris