Year 8 students returned to Outward Bound Ullswater this January for the second year running. This time, the aim was to undertake the John Muir Award.

Year 8 students returned to  Outward Bound Ullswater this January for the second year running. This time, the aim was to undertake the John Muir Award.

The John Muir Award has four challenges for students:

• Discover a wild place
• Explore it
• Do something to conserve it
• Share your experiences

During the week students have participated in a different set of experiences from their visit in Year 7. At the heart of the week was a two day expedition with an overnight stay in either a walkers’ hut or, for some students a cave. In addition, students visited a Lake District slate mine to see why slate was such an important resource in the area.

Some students visited the Lowther bird of prey centre to meet the falconer and fly birds such as the magnificent Harris Hawk. Students were informed of the origins of falconry and heard about the life of falcons and hawks.

All students helped to conserve the area by taking part in a Forestry Commission project in Whinlatter Forest. An area of forest has been earmarked for Macmillan students to clear of non-native tree species such as Hemlock. The area was cleared using saws and tree loppers so that native hardwood species such as oak, beech and rowan can thrive. This in turn benefits plant and insect life and helps with the return of the red squirrel to the forest. Many students also participated in a canoe expedition on Ullswater Lake.

Week one was notable by the extreme weather conditions with gale force storms at the end of the week. As a result several students headed indoors to visit the National Everest Exhibition at the Rheged Centre followed by a showing of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition on the huge imex type cinema screen at the Rheged Centre.

JOHN MUIR was born in 1838 in the Scottish fishing town of Dunbar. As a child he developed a deep love of the natural world. This grew into a lifelong journey of discovering, exploring and conserving wild spaces and sharing his experiences with others.

At the age of 11 he emigrated with his family to America. There, in his adopted homeland, he became known as the founding father of the world conservation movement, and helped set up the first National Park. John Muir pioneered what is now known as Ecology – the idea that animals, plants and humans are all connected to each other and to their environment.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

Below is a selection of photos taken during the week.