Everyone arrived in time for dinner which was up to Glenthorne's usual high standards.

The weather, however, was not so obliging, so instead of the planned short walk, Helen led us through a breathing contemplation exercise which set the weekend off to an excellent start.

One of Glenthorne's male guests was heard muttering after looking at a WW poster. "Walking Women, what do they do usually? CRAWL?!. We all thought it amusing anyway.

After pre-breakfast contemplation followed by a hearty breakfast we set off for our walk around Grasmere and Rydal Water.

We walked in silence along the edge of the lakes, stopping in the woods between the two for quiet contemplation.

The water level was so high after all the rain we had to do a little scrambling over a rocky outcrop to get along the Rydal Water shore path.

We reached Rydal for lunch and we split up to visit various places of interest such as Rydal Hall, Rydal church and Rydal Mount, the home of Wordsworth in his later years.

By the afternoon the sun began to show itself and we followed the Coffin trail back into Grasmere where the group split up to do a little shopping.

We had quiet contemplation before our evening meal and afterwards went for a short walk through Lancrigg woods and back via the Youth Hostel.

Much better weather to wake up to.

After contemplation and breakfast 7 of us started on our way to Easedale Tarn.

The rest of the group decided to go sightseeing locally.

We stopped frequently o the way up to admire the view and catch out breath and to marvel at the volume of water in the waterfall.

Easedale Tarn was serene when we got there - nestled in the surrounding hills. and a lovely spot for contemplation.

We practiced our river crossing techniques over the stepping stones at Easedale Tarn, and then after a lazy lunch we wandered back the same way stopping for afternoon tea at Lancrigg House.

The carrot and orange cake was enough for four but we somehow managed!.

In the evening we went for a short walk into Grasmere and along the river path to the church.

We had to say goodbye to 3 of our group after breakfast who had a long travelling day ahead of them.

The rest of us headed up past the Youth Hostel on a quiet country lane towards Greenburn.

We then continued up the lovely gently rising valley of Greenburn Beck until we came to a small waterfall.

Here we sat quietly taking in the last peaceful moments of our holiday, before returning in silence to Glenthorne.

We changed out of our boots and walked down to the village where we had a last chocolate fix before saying our goodbyes.

Who could resist sticky toffee pudding with LASHINGS OF CREAM? Well it certainly wasn't Helen, Kath or Sally!