THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

The cabin in the middle of the woods

Every adult remembers their fi rst residential school trip, however long ago it was. Mary meets Matthew Lea from Fenland Adventure who is running them

IT SEEMS TO be a rite of passage for virtually every child get towards the end of your primary school years and then the whole year goes off on a residential adventure where they try activities such as rock climbing, ip wires, go karting, orienteering, cooking over open res and even target shooting and axe throwing. remember going away to France when was in my nal year at unior school many, many years ago and my daughters heading off to orfolk and coming back full of it and even years later still reminiscing with friends about their trip. t my daughters school, the year trip to orfolk became a bit of a legend anticipated for months and then talked about for many more months afterwards with the younger years desperate for their turn to come round asap.

For many children it s their rst time away from their parents so de nitely a time to remember. ome are nervous about it but most are ust thoroughly excited and those that wobble soon get over it. nd for some parents it can be uite stressful for the same reasons. omeone who understands this very well is atthew Lea because he is running a similar business right on our doorstep. Fenland dventure off ers an aff ordable outdoor learning experience that encompasses the physical, educational and fun complete with a residential stay in an off grid cabin near to Rutland Water. atthew, along with his team, has over 0 years experience of outdoor education and is a great advocate of getting children outside to experience nature rst hand. They gain con dence, learn a lot including problem solving and resilience and, of course, for those on the residential courses gain and develop essential life skills.

Fenland dventure off er diff erent products mainly to schools but occasionally take their e uipment to large external events. They can bring their gear to a school and run an activity day so the children from a year group will have the day set aside to en oy orienteering, air rifl e shooting, archery, bushcraft and even climbing as they have a mobile climbing wall. nd something to note is that all their e uipment is child si ed so scaled down to suit up to 1 year olds. any schools start with a day s activity and then uickly book a residential course as well. The site that Fenland dventure use is an off grid cabin in the middle of woodland that can sleep up to 0 children plus teachers in dormitories. There is a kitchen, a mess hall and toilet facilities as well as plenty of land to run the activities on. ore children can be accommodated by using tents as well so there is space for 100 children at one time. s the site is off grid power is supplied by a generator which is turned off at night an adventure in

itself. The cabin is an old WWll hospital with a corrugated iron roof so can be pretty hot in the summer and chilly in the cooler months – resilience is the key but it makes it much more fun too. There are beams in the mess hall and the whole cabin creaks as it warms up in the sun and is pretty noisy when it rains. ‘The kids love it and it is certainly quirky,’ explains Matt. ur aim has always been to provide aff ordable outdoor activities and a residential option as well,’ says Matt. ‘And today this is vital as families face the cost of living crisis. We feel it’s important that children get the chance to try diff erent outdoor activities particularly at such a young age. Some children will never have been orienteering, many more won t have shot with an air rifl e or bow and arrow and many will have never lit a re or gone climbing. t s vital to push them out of their comfort zone particularly at this age. And this also includes spending a couple of nights away from their parents with the chance to enjoy a midnight feast along the way.’

Most of the children coming on these activity days are aged between seven and 12 but it is mainly the year 6s who experience the residential visits and love every minute of it. expect most of us can still remember the anticipation, sweets for the journey and goodies for after lights out as well as strong friendships made and adventures shared.

A typical day on a residential visit consists of four x 1 1/2 hour sessions followed by an evening session such as capture the fl ag, camp re with marshmallows, scavenger hunt and the very popular water slide.

Every child will be challenged and encouraged to have a go at everything but no one is forced. Matt and his team are very experienced in getting children to face their fear and participate. Challenging yourself is a great lesson to learn at a young age and that challenge might mean getting ust off the ground on the climbing wall. For some that will be much more of an achievement than the child who shimmies to the top without a care in the world. But, of course, that child might struggle with another activity that the unwilling climber excels at – all good life lessons.

Fenland Adventure had quietly got established and building a solid reputation before Covid hit. This scuppered things for a while obviously but now att is nding they are extremely busy. etting their name out there is what it’s all about and word of mouth has proved great for their reputation and business growth. Once a school has booked them once they are always booked again, which says it all really. And many more children are now able to look back with fond memories of their time staying in the off grid cabin in the middle of the woods.

WILL’S WALK

The Hambleton Peninsula

Great views of Rutland Water, a picture perfect village and a well-maintained path make this an ideal winter stroll, as Will Hetherington discovers

This walk offers great views all the way around.

Difficulty rating

The route

The reservoir known as Rutland Water was created in 1975 and, apart from supplying the East Midlands with the wet stuff, in the intervening years it has also become a leisure centre offering all sorts of different experiences. From sailing and shing to cycling and bird watching, there is a vast array of activities on offer, but one of the best ways to see it is to take a stroll around the Hambleton eninsula. f you go during the week you should be able to park on the road in the village but it does get busier at the weekends. Look for the footpath sign in a gateway on the left-hand side about 100 yards after the Finch s rms, turn right at the bottom and and head off. This will take you on the well signposted clockwise route around the peninsula, so the water will always be on your left hand side. t s mostly signposted as the cycling route but it makes for an excellent walk too. lthough it can be uite busy with cyclists at the weekends so another reason to do this walk during the week if you can. There are plenty of gates and cattle grids on the way round, as there are a lot of sheep. ust after you head inland briefly at Barnhill reek, at the halfway mark, you can take the shorter easier route back along the road to Hambleton village if you want. But the track back down to the waterside on the southern edge of the peninsula is much more interesting. There are lovely views across to the south shore and plenty of undulations and pleasant woodland. ust before you get back to the village you will have a great view of the stunning acobean ld Hall, which was built in 1 11 and sits right on the shores of the reservoir. This is the only remaining building from the village of iddle Hambleton, which was submerged on the creation of Rutland Water, and it serves as a poignant reminder of what lies beneath.

ACTIVE INFO ust after the ld Hall you will come to a The Anglian Water junction with a clear signpost to the steep hill region is one of the driest in the country, with just 600 millimetres of rain each year, back to the village. This is the only strenuous part of this walk but when you get to the top you on average a third less than can go to the pub. the rest of England. In fact, some areas have a lower annual rainfall than Jerusalem.

START/ FINISH

The path is like this all the way around so it’s a great winter option.

Essential information

WHERE TO PARK On the road in the village but it can be busy at weekends.

DISTANCE AND TIME Four and a half miles/hour and a half.

HIGHLIGHTS The views all the way round, the beautiful Jacobean Old Hall on the south side of the peninsula, and Hambleton village itself, and excellent underfoot conditions.

LOWLIGHTS You won’t feel much like an adventurer or even a rambler as this walk is part of the Rutland Water Cycle route so it’s a wide path all the way round. Also, it’s really not that great for dogs.

REFRESHMENTS The Finch’s Arms is a lovely country pub, which does excellent food. Former hunting lodge Hambleton Hall is one of the fi nest hotels in the area and boasts a Michelin-starred restaurant. But you would need to book and take a change of clothes if you are planning on eating here.

THE POOCH PERSPECTIVE Unfortunately there are a lot of sheep on this walk and consequently you will have to keep the dog on the lead pretty much the whole way around. Also dogs are not really allowed in the water and if you factor in a stream of cyclists I’m afraid this is not a great option for the dogs. You can take them but don’t expect them to be able to run wild.

DIFFICULTY RATING Two paws; a few more undulations than you may think and a steep hill to fi nish.

For your own safety and navigation make sure you have an OS map with you when you go out walking. You won’t regret it.