Blaithwaite - A Week in March

The Barn on a Busy Night at Blaithwaite

By the time we get to the end of summer   or maybe December or New Year and take out some time to reflect on events at Blaithwaite the month of March is invariably overlooked.
However, in our time here it has always been a month worthy of note: the weather is often surprisingly good as it has been over the last few days and the Centre really begins to come to life as visitor numbers increase sharply.
Since returning to the Centre last Sunday evening we have hosted our third Spring Retreat (fifth retreat overall in the last two years) it was well attended with a good mixture of regular visitors and newcomers to Blaithwaite. The retreat began on Monday afternoon and ended mid-morning on Thursday, it was held in the Main House, the main aim being simply to provide some space and time for folk to take time out away from their normal daily routines, the next one is in October & is already beginning to book up.
Also on Monday West Pelton school arrived for their annual outdoor activity residential, In2venture has been working with the staff and children of this school for twenty years and this event has been held at Blaithwaite for each year since Kay & I have been here - they enjoyed cool but dry weather for a full range of activities including: rock climbing; open canoeing; gorge walking; archery; fencing; night walks; night lines to name a few. 
So after a full Centre change-over on Monday it was another one on Friday in order to get ready for our Saturday arrivals - a large student conference which occupies the full site and spans a total of eight nights, this is one of our biggest events of the year and is always one of the true highlights of the Blaithwaite calendar so tonight sees a bustling and busy Centre under clear skies with spectacular views of the Jupiter - Venus conjunction still visible.
Considering the above & the rapid approach of our year end its been a busy week at Blaithwaite! Unsurprisingly not much opportunity for activity to the extent that I did something that has become very much a rarity - I went for a run, twice!! Not very far (just about 3 miles each time) & not all that quick, however, I enjoyed each time tremendously. Since damaging the remaining "good" knee fell running in Snowdonia last May I have avoided running totally in order to preclude further damage as much as possible - they won't ever recover to the point where long distances in the fells will be possible again but I reckon that the benefit to mind & soul of a couple of outings such as these outweighs the minor additional wear & tear on the joints. Not expecting much in the way of activity opportunities to arise in the coming week so its likely to be a couple of sessions in the gym with Alan!