We've written this glossary to keep the site user-friendly and to explain strange words that you might find here!

The holiday descriptions sometimes include Cumbrian words like 'tarn' or 'fell', and the Past Holidays will sometimes mention 'tea shops' and 'faffing'. Read on if any of these are unfamiliar to you!

Cumbrian or northern terms

There is a strong, ancient Norse influence remaining in Cumbrian place names (Lake District region) and in some common terms for the landscape that you'll find on maps here:

Fells ..... these can be hills or mountains
We say 'fell walking', 'over the fells', 'coming down off the fell' etc. Lake District fells are often called something with 'fell' in it: eg. Loughrigg Fell, or Scafell.

Tarn ...... means small lake (or large pond in some cases!)
These are usually up into the fells a little way, and are often wonderful scenic places to stop at for lunch or go for a dip. So you'll find them mentioned on this site a lot! Sometimes there are more than one with the same name - eg. Angle tarn - of which there are several.

Gill, Ghyll or beck ..... means stream
And again, some names are common, notably Sour Milk Gill - of which there are a surprising number! Here's one Sour Milk Gill, near Seathwaite.

Force.... means waterfall eg. Scale Force near Buttermere.

Hause.... means saddle or pass ie. a dip between 2 hills which is often a meeting place of paths (eg. Esk Hause between Great End and Esk Pike)

Pike.... means rocky topped mountain eg. Scafell Pike, Red Pike, or Esk Pike.

thwaite.... means clearing and is the ending of many place names in the Lake District, eg Stonethwaite, Seathwaite, Rosthwaite.

-mere, -water.... means lake - usually quite a bit larger than a 'tarn', and is the ending of many lakes in the Lake District, eg Windermere, Grasmere, Elterwater, Wastwater. This can be confusing as we'd also say Grasmere to refer to Grasmere village nearby.

-dale.... means valley and is the ending of many valley names in the north of England generally, eg Borrowdale, Wasdale, Ennerdale, Great Langdale.

Different US & UK uses of English?

Hiking....in the UK we say walking or trekking
But don't be deceived: 'walking' is anything on foot - from gentle ambles to the most strenuous hikes! Trekking means walking to a new place each night.

Vacations ..... we say holidays
and these are usually at least 5/6 days long, and not purely religious or national occasions.

Vacations/trips ..... we might also say short break, rather than holiday, if the trip is only a few nights. This might be in the week or over a weekend.

Tours .... Mmm.. to many women in the UK, tours would mean large groups of people getting in and out of coaches a lot, with a guide (probably uniformed) who has a microphone, clip board, and a very full and organised agenda of places that have to be visited that day.

So, on this site we say special interest or activity breaks, which implies an altogether more 'hands on' and involved experience in a small intimate group.

Trails.... we tend to say track, path/footpath or bridleway
A bridleway is usually a very old 'right of way' where you can also take a horse!

Words frequently mentioned in Past Holidays

Cookies .... we say biscuits & cakes
or we look forward to cream cakes, cream and jam scones, tea cakes, muffins, sticky toffee pudding, crumpets with melting butter on..... especially after a long walk!

We also say tea shops and tea rooms - a lot! And sometimes even tea gardens! For example, if you sit by the side of a track towards the end of an afternoon, you'll hear passing groups of women walkers wondering "where the nearest tea shop will be, and much further is it?"

Tea shops are small cafes where you can stop and eat cake or scones, and have a cup of tea on your way home. You might also hear keen walking women complaining that their friends "only want to sit in tea shops all day and hardly ever walk anywhere!!"

Faffing.... means taking time to do last minute things that have suddenly come to mind just as the group is about to leave. There is not enough space to give you the full dictionary of faffing here, but here is a taster written by Diana Cantor:

Faffing from the verb To Faff, of which there are 3 main types.
- (I was reliably informed this is the correct spelling although there may be regional variations)

1. Pre-walk faffing
This is probably the longest faff. Lasts approx 30 mins before the start of a walk - consists of :- returning to rooms for things forgotten, changing original clothes due to the 'surprise' of the weather, when one woman appears another disappears, sudden need for the toilet, aimlessly taking things in and out of rucksacks, wandering off to look at something due to boredom with faffing. All good walk leaders know to give a start time at least 30 mins earlier than the intended start time to allow for this daily ritual. It must be some sort of group bonding thing!

2. During walk faffing
Not as frantic as above and mainly consists of stripping off clothes, putting on clothes, searching meticulously for suitable places to wee and women disappearing just as you think you are ready to leave.

3. Post walk faffing
Consists generally of women who are tired and who just mill around bumping into one another until someone has made a pot of tea and found cake or chocolate!

Any more Glossary suggestions are welcome!!