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AROUND THE COMPASS :  N. E. W. S.  STORIES  FROM ROCK LEA ACTIVITY CENTRE     

  


Here in the lovely Peak National Park it is  the perfect time to be considering booking 
your weekends away on your own or with friends and family.   We welcome people 
coming on their own or with family &  friends on our public "open" weekends.... and you 
can also book instruction for private, exclusive bookings such as stag groups & hen parties. 
Close personal 1:1 tuition and private tuition for small parties can be booked through our 
guiding service for cavers, climbers, potholers and  abseilers too.


Rock Lea's staff have always welcomed private groups from commerce and manufacturing 
industry coming to Hathersage to take advantage of our superb team building facilities &
opportunities.    It has been a tough time recently for people in many forms of businesses
and it's not surprising some firms have cut right back on their teambuilding and other forms
of staff training and development as a consequence of squeezed cash flows and the air of 
uncertainty that has gripped the UK for many months now.  However, we have CIPD audits 
here that prove that we can help boost morale and improve bottom line results during such 
trying times using our tried and proven tailored team development courses, so cutting back 
on worthwhile team events may be less wise than people might imagine.  With accommodation
as cheap as it was over 5 years ago - you can grab some great bargains right now if you're
wanting some worthwhile and enjoyable team building events organising for you.

Please call us on 01433-650345 if you are a decision maker and wish to discuss your needs 
and see if we can help improve and develop the performance of your teams of people at work.  
Firms are going to need a sharp competitive edge as they come out of recession and they'll 
need confidence and trust building to make the most of the challenging opportunities they are 
facing.   Well planned, quality training WILL make a difference in the months ahead.


Other NEWS stories on this news page include : -

NEW !    LOW COST WALKING WEEKENDS in the Peak District National Park 
                   now available for individuals - listed on our OPEN  WEEKENDS PAGE.


Sunday Times Travel Publishes another complimentary article about Rock Lea's "Open" courses.
Health & Safety Executive's AALA Inspection Service awards Rock Lea another 3-year license.

Dutch Firefighters enjoy their Team Building Event in Hathersage.
French Power Company's First Aiders Team Building & Training Residential.

Polish team members join Avon's UK Colleagues for team build in Derbyshire.
Telegraph's travel section reports on a family caving trip using our Guiding Service.

BBC tv crew filming at Rock Lea for Ian Wright's TV show with Mohammed Ali.
Prestigious National Award presented to our Director Tony Kendall at the House of Commons   

Our crossword challenge - Only if you think you're hard enough ?
James, our youngest instructor,  attains his European Flying License

Pudsey Bear visits Rock Lea for charity abseiling event.   
News from Austria   
Name changes at one of our favourite Sheffield 4 star hotels    

AALA INSPECTION SERVICE AWARDS US ANOTHER 3 YR LICENSE

We are pleased to report that early in 2010 we were routinely inspected 
by the AALA inspection services and we were given a clean bill of health 
and recommended we will be issued with another 3 year licence by the 
Licensing Authority.   

An AALA License is required to take students and young people under-18 yrs
on adventurous activities in remote places when they are not accompanied by 
their parents or legal guardians /carers.  For example when Police Cadets or
apprentices from Volvo or Babcocks have been here it has been necessary for
us to hold a valid AALA License for the activities involved.

Peak Activities t/a Rock Lea Activity Centre and T/A Iain Jennings Associates 
is licensed to take out youngsters undertaking rock climbing, abseiling, caving, 
potholing, mine exploration, ice-climbing, coasteering orienteering, trekking 
and mountain biking in remote areas. Click here for more details.

click on logo for more information on the AALA scheme






SPRING CROSSWORD CHALLENGE :  

Our tough 2010 Competition for all our website readers & customers is a nice 
little teamwork task.  We doubt if many people will complete it working alone.

IS YOUR TEAM UP TO COMPLETING OUR TOUGH 2010 CROSSWORD COMPETITION ?

EVERY SINGLE CORRECT ENTRY WE RECEIVE BEFORE 
THE END OF NEXT MONTH WILL WIN A £100 VOUCHER !

Click here please for full set of details, clues,
& your crossword challenge team entry form...

More dates released listing this year's public weekend courses : 

Now is the time when our open courses are being offered at up 
to 50% off their normal RRP - so it's the ideal time to be booking 
some great value weekends for the Spring, Summer and Autumn.
     

 Click here for dates & prices of Days and Weekends on offer this year...

We are again offering weekend courses such as "Beginners Caving & Potholing",
"Abseiling & Rock Climbing", and our very popular "Multisports" multi-activity
weekends for individual adults, couples and small parties.   In addition there 
are now some mid-week dates on offer, which if demand is sufficient, will be 
run throughout 2010 and 2011.  We have a great set of deals on offer in 2010
with firms supplying really great value local accommodation. For example for 
many dates in 2010 a couple can share a four star en suite Twin Room at the 
Kenwood Hall Hotel  for as little as £25 per night each for 2 night stays...including 
lavish full English Breakfasts designed for outdoor appetites !

HENS & STAGS WEEKENDS & AWAY DAYS

Hen Party Members after a caving session



Stag Groups and Hen Group Visits in 2010 :


We already have a number of private group bookings 
for 2010 & 2011, including a number of hen parties 
and stag groups coming to our outdoor base in
Hathersage for half days, full days and two & three 
-day programmes of outdoor sports and outdoor 
pursuits in the lovely Peak National Park.  Prices of
sessions for groups of 12 or more people vary from
£69 to £199 per person, including VAT.  Please call
our office on 01433-650345 for more informastion or
to firm up a booking.  We take Visa, Maestro, Solo 
and MasterCard payments over the phone.  Free places
can be arranged for the group organisers.
          

Tom's jolly Stag Party prior to setting off on a caving trip !

Click here for lots more information for Stag Group Organisers.
Click here for lots more information for Hen Group Organisers.

      We can cater for hen and stag groups large or small, fit or unfit !
      No prior experience and no special equipment is needed to join us !

      Enjoy a choice of half day activities such as rock climbing, abseiling,
      orienteering, easy caving, tough potholing or treasure hunts on
      foot or on bikes or in minibuses.  Talk to us to see what combination
     of activities at Rock Lea will suit your budget, mood and group size.


Click to see wide range of more activities available to private groups.
    Call Iain & Caroline on 01433-650345 to discuss your needs & interests. 

Charity Fund Raising Events this year :

Our company directors have renewed their commitment
to helping people who want to have fun raising funds 
for good causes -  and we are particularly keen to
help folks who are wanting to organise sponsored 
abseiling or caving events to support the work of charities 
working on disaster relief in Haiti such as Medecins Sans 
Frontieres, Oxfam, UNICEF,  Save the Children Fund and
the DEC. 

Click here for more info. on how we can help you have
 fun charity fund raising on your own or with friends.





News from Austria :


Our dear friend and associate Ingrid is having a great season over 
in Tyrol.  However, she has been affected by the UK£ : Euro exchange
rate this year and for once she is not fully booked up - so she has some 
rooms free if anyone wants to book skiing or snowboarding over there 
this season.  For last minute bargain ski holidays e-mail Ingrid and please
mention Iain & Caroline at Rock Lea.   www.hotel-hochfilzer.com/en/contact-us.html

Click here to explore skiing possibilities with Ingrid's team...
Older new stories from Austria ( staff visits & filming )   
Weddings in Ellmau !



Employment opportunities with Peak Activities Ltd.    :-(

We regret that we do not have any paid employment vacancies 
at the present time, so please do not sent us any unsolicited
CV's or job application letters or e-mails.  A lot of other centres 
must have made some of their key staff redundant recently - we seem 
to be getting loys of employment requests which we haven't asked 
for - and all too often the people who have been working elsewhere
don't even have the basic qualifications and experience that our 
volunteers working here at Rock Lea have achieved.  


    N

W  +  E
S
  

N. E. W. S.  STORIES  FROM ALL AROUND THE COMPASS !

OLDER STORIES FROM ROCK LEA

 |    Dutch Firefighters get into some tight spots !   |    King of the Air !  |
|   Visitors from Switzerland fill their lungs with fresh Derbyshire Air |
|   Low cost four star hotel rooms for Rock Lea's groups   |    
|   Booking Weekends & Days |  Back in the National Travel News again ! |

DUTCH FIREFIGHTERS GET THEMSELVES
INTO A PARTICULARLY TIGHT SPOT...

     
Members of Frigwillige Brandweer, Gemeente Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands caving during their
team building event and social gathering in Derbyshire with caving staff from Peak Activities Ltd.

TEAM BUILDING UNDERGROUND WITH DUTCH & BELGIAN FIREFIGHTERS....

Recently we enjoyed running a busy weekend looking after a very 
jolly party of 28  men and women Volunteer Firefighters from the 
Dutch Fire Service ( Frigwillige Brandweer ) who are stationed close 
to the Belgian-Netherlands border.  They came across to Hathersage
with a coach on the excellent overnight ferry from Zeebrugges to Hull.
They then spent a full day caving and potholing in three working 
syndicates of  9 or 10 people under the aegis of three of our Sports 
Division's experienced caving leaders & several caving safety assistants.  

The gathering followed a pre-trip planning meeting at our offices
at Rock Lea held a couple of months before with their Brandweer
Kommandant, Heer Jac Haagen. Iain Jennings our centre manager
said " Although this assignment could have been arranged over
the phone, it was great to meet Jac and show him the many options
on offer using video and other resources."  Iain added " I think it
was useful for Jac to come and visit us for a pre-event meeting to
put faces and names together and for reassurance that we could
handle his specific needs in a bespoke manner.  We often say
that time invested on such visits is seldom wasted."


The Diutch Firefighters approaching the entrance of one of the three 
caves being explored.  This the deepest in England - but sadly the
group did not have time to get all the way around. Maybe next time ?



A lady firefighter showing the boys how to wriggle out of a tight spot !
Don't forget they'd asked for some really tough tight bits..and to be fair
they seemed to really enjoy this trip !  It takes all sorts !


The Dutch group came here to have some fun and expressed a 
keen interest when booking to get used to working in tight, very
confined spaces.  The women in the party were extremely fit and 
agile & our staff reported they had a job keeping up with some of 
them when exploring some fairly low passages in caves such as 
Giants, Carlswark and Devonshire Cavern.


Where the tough get going !

Having fun and working as a team exploring the secrets of the 
Derbyshire underworld...

The firefighters climb up the electron ladder up the waterfall in 
Garland's Pot, with our experienced Caving Director Tony Kendall 
looking after the safety line. This is a pothole with a strong vertical
element.  You are glad when you have a tight safety line on this
section of the trip.

Iain Jennings added "A lot of people from the Netherlands are 
coming to see us in the Peak District at the moment - making 
the most of the very favourable Euro - Pound exchange rate."
Several of the firefighters said it was their first time in England 
- but said they hoped they'd be back soon. We hope they 
enjoyed themselves sampling the delights deep beneath this 
lovely upland area.   

We even managed to arrange for one our friends in the village's
fire fighting team to kindly show some of the firefighters around 
our retained ( volunteer ) fire station in Hathersage. They were 
very intrigued to learn that most English fire engines are called 
"Dennis" !

Danke Welle !    Bedankt  !

Photos in this article were kindly provided by Frigwillige Branweer, 
Gemeente Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands.

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Back in the Nation's Travel News again !

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 
LIKES OUR GUIDING SERVICES


Bella & Sebastion :  Picture by Offical Telegraph Photographer RII SCHROER

Our guiding service and the activities which we organise at 
Rock Lea for families from time to time such as caving and 
climbing and abseiling were highly acclaimed in the Sunday 
Telegraph earlier this season. The newspaper sent us a very
young family and a reporter and accompanying photographer 
who went off for a day of various activities under the safe
aegis of  senior instructor Dr. Andy McLean.

They seemed to enjoy a good time - we certainly enjoyed a 
good write up by Gary King, who concluded that even young
children can enjoy caving if sensitively led.  

We were one of the very first firms in the Peak District to offer
our guiding services for small groups - largely because we
only had several small 6-passenger minibuses in our fleet at 
the time - which lended themselves to such a service.  Nowadays
all sorts of firms that have just arrived on the local scene are
claiming to be the innovators of guiding.  We're not bothered as 
long as people who write for the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday 
Times keep writing that we're the best !

See www.telegraph.co.uk/outdoors



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Our own king of the Air  !

We're delighted to report that James Jennings 
(19) our youngest instructor at Rock Lea has just 
passed his final flying skills exam & his emergency 
procedures tests at Leicester Aero Club and has now 
been awarded his JAA European pilots licence for 
a single engined piston aircraft flying under VFR.

James is pictured with one of the eight Cessna 152 aircraft 
that he has been flying in recent weeks to hone and practise 
his cross country flying skills.  James started to fly in a 152 at 
the age of 10 as a birthday present... and later went on to log 
many hours flying larger and more powerful Piper Cherokees 
out of Llandwrog at the seaside near Caernarfon, where he flew 
solo at the age of 16.  Sadly, numerous sessions of waiting for 
weather to clear at Caernarfon and the long driving distances 
involved in getting to Wales meant that getting sufficient hours 
at Caernarfon became a slow, long term project.  Accordingly 
James and his dad joined Leicester Aero Club a few weeks ago 
in the hope the weather there would be more chances to fly there
...and they were right. Under the aegis of two qualified flying 
instructresses Joe and Jessa, James has made rapid progress.
We're very grateful to Joe and Jessa and their senior colleagues 
Paul and John for getting James through his training & skills 
tests.   












James said "The sky's your limit ! " 
"It's simply amazing what you can achieve with 
just a bit of the right sort of help and encouragement ! "



     

Above, left : About 15 years ago a very keen little four year old James explored the controls of the helicopter his 
dad had just been flying around in during a R-22 helicopter flying experience Caroline had purchased for Iain.
James' keen interest in aereoplanes and things that fly meant that it was no surprise that within a few years, 
James first flew solo at Caernarfon Airfield in Piper Cherokees "Hotel Mike"  ( pictured ) and "Charlie Alpha".


James' cross country solo flights included trips from Leicester to visit aerodromes as far away as 
Nottingham, Cambridge, Peterborough, Marwell and Northampton.  His next target is to have some 
fun enjoying more basic flying and then to study for an instrument flight rating and also to learn to
fly a larger Cessna 172 high lift "Skyhawk"  so he can fly off with his dad.  Fellow instructors Tony, 
Glenn, John and Peter Daughtrey have all said they'd love to get airborne with James as soon as 
possible for him to fly with passengers.  We wish James a long, safe and successful career flying.
If anybody fancies learning to fly we strongly recommend Leicester Aero Club. Their staff are 
excellent. It 's a really friendly and professional, long established & well equipped flying centre.

James is a student studying for an MSc in Aeronautical Engineering at the Department of Aerospace 
and Motor Engineering at the University of Loughborough.  He worked at Rock Lea again all through
the Summer months now he has passed his PPL exams.  James is a Black Belt Second Dan in Tae Kwon 
Do and his growing string of qualifications includes a Wilderness Outdoor Pursuits Instructors First Aid
Certificate.  James is currently looking for one or more sponsors who may wish to help him fund his further
training in the air. He wants to learn to fly fast multi-engined aircrsaft using avionics instruments. Please

call Iain on 01433-650345 if you can assist James.

OTHER NEWS STORIES.... 
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Visitors from as far afield as Sheffield and Switzerland
    come to Hathersage to enjoy getting fresh air into their lungs !


Message from our Centre Manager...

 
    Iain Jennings


  


Open Weekend Beginners' Caving Group Safety Briefing at Rock Lea


If you are looking for a great bargain which won't break the 
bank - now really is the perfect time to be booking group and
individual events with us if you can afford it.  You'll be warmly 
welcomed and you should be in line for some generous offers.

Our friends and suppliers such as The Kenwood Hall, for 
example, are currently offering our customers some great 
exclusive deals. We can arrange Bed & Breakfast rates in an 
executive 4 star hotel room at the Kenwood Hall ( complete with 
gymn and a swimming pool ) for just £75 mid week and for as little 
as £29 per person for Friday to Sunday stays. Two or three
years ago clients staying at the Kenwood Hall would be paying 
£150 each per overnight stay....so we feel we are offering our
customers some really good reliable deals at the moment.

Click for a pdf file on the services offered by the Kenwood Hall

Click for pdf file on what sort of outdoor activities we can 
    offer Kenwood Hall's visitors.

Some of the stag groups we have been looking after recently have 
been staying at places such as the Kenwood Hall at very low prices.
This is how I see we can work smartly during what is a recession to
actually improve our brand and our reputation for offering good deals.
However, it requires close working relationship with partner organisations
and we're lucky we've built up such good offices over the years.

 

Kenwood Hall Hotel

Why not try one of our popular open weekends such
as caving weekends for beginners ....or maybe book
an abseiling & roped scrambling weekend  ?

Typically these groups comprise 12 people who 
have come alone or with a friend or partner.
No special gear or experience is needed !
Some weekends offer two days of tuition for as
little as £99 per person. Prices range from £89 to 
£199 per person per weekend.


Click for detailed dates and prices of events open to the public...

          


If you've been to Rock Lea before - ask about 
our follow up weekends including intermediate 
and advanced skills weekend courses. 



Having fun cimbing up a potholing ladder with safety rope during 
one of our popular Beginners' Open Caving Weekends at Rock Lea. 

OPEN EVENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS & COUPLES 
WANTING REALLY SAFE, RELIABLE & ENJOYABLE 
OUTDOOR EXPERIENCES IN THE ACCESSIBLE 
PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK !

The dates of Peak Activities popular "open courses " for this year
are  published elsewhere on our website and these weekends 
are open to individuals and couples.   Please click here to go to
our dates and prices page and grab yourselves some bargains !

Group leaders wanting other dates or group deals on the 
weekends or mid week dates of their choice should call 
us on 01433-650345 please to check group prices and 
dates availability.

Adventure Racing Page now open on www.iain.co.uk



A team from Robert Bosch GmbH.


We have often run Adventure Racing events in the past few
years as part of tailored, made to measure events for Charity 
Fund Raising Purposes.   However, for this year we have decided 
to widen the scope of these increasingly popular events to 
include two day events with overnight camps and much more.
You can choose to arrange your adventure race in the Peak 
District or in the Wilderkaisergebirge Mountains of the Austrian 
Alps.  

Group Organisers wanting a more challenging and strenuous 
team building event for fairly fit and motivated people may well
find our Adventure Racing possibilities interesting !

Please click here for more details of Adventure Racing organised
by Peak Activities in the Peak District.

Not for the faint hearted !  Combine an orienteering competition, 
a night hike, a high level moorland trek, a kayaking race, problem-
-solving experiences, freefall abseiling experience and a potholing
challenge with an overnight camp and lots more !

Prices on application.

Carry on Camping :   Union Pub Story  :   Open Course Dates for 2008 :

Older Stories :  Pudsey Bear's Sponsored Abseiling Visit   : Tae Kwon Do Black Belt for James :

        
    CHARITY FUND RAISING AT ROCK LEA

       The staff at Rock Lea are committed to raising even more money for worthy 
       charities in 2010.  Below are examples of previous charity events we have
       been involved with planning and running for two registered charities.

     ALZHEIMER'S SOCIETY SPONSORED ABSEILING EVENT...

....

Three plucky ladies Debbie, Debbie and Helen pictured above raised lots of money for 
the Alzheimer's Society during Alzheimers Awareness Week. They'd asked us to arrange  
a sponsored abseiling session with James and Andy ( right ) from Rock Lea Centre.  
Alzheimer’s Awareness Week aimed to reach out and make contact with all those thousands
of carers and people with dementia who need our support and who are not in touch with the 
Alzheimer's Society. Please click on the Alzheimer's Logo ( above ) to and learn more about 
this charity's excellent work. For more information about organising charity events with 
Peak Activities please click here or visit www.iain.co.uk/charity.htm


PUDSEY BEAR ABSEILS IN FOR CHARITY... 

..
    
PUDSEY BEAR DROPS IN TO ROCK LEA TO SUPPORT HIS CHARITY ABSEIL !

      Staff from our clients Castle Estates pictured above at Rock Lea with BBC Children in Need's "Pudsey"
            - all working together on a team project to raise funds for Pudsey's Charity.  If you are interested in working with our
             staff to raise funds for your organisation's chosen good cause please see our special charity fund raising page. 

             We can run charity fund raising events for groups or for individuals.

                          ..Click to return to top of this NEWS page

        


This year we've had lots more bookings for our"Open Events" than we'd expected.

WEEKENDS for INDIVIDUAL ... Click here to see dates and prices of our wide 
choice of weekend events open to the public. There are some great bargains to be had 
including 2 full days of qualified friendly instruction for under £100 eachin the low season !  
These are our adults events that have often been featured on national radio and TV and 
much higher prices, so grab a bargain while they're still on offer.

       Phone Iain or Caroline on 01433-650345 for details ! 

......

BBC Sports Presenter Damion Johnson  abseiling 
with Peak Activities Ltd's staff during one of our
"Breakaway" open weekend featured on Damion's 
BBC2 television's "Breakout" holiday programme.

Congratulations to James on flying solo !

Those of you who have been following his progress in learning to fly will be pleased 
to read that our junior instructor James Jennings (above) very successfully flew solo 
at Caernarfon Air Parc in early August in his favourite Piper Cherokee aircraft G-CGHM 
"Hotel Mike" ( left ) after approx. 11 hours flying tuition from his excellent flying instructor 
Paul.  James now has lots more flying practise hours to do in "Hotel Mike" and 
"Charlie Alpha" ( right ). In July James took two weeks over at Caernarfon and 
passed no less than 6 PPL exams.  These included the JAA  Air Navigation, Air Law,
 Human Factors in Flight Safety, Engine & Power Management Systems plus 
Navigation and "Meteorology" which are all needed to gain a PPL licence.  

James is paying for his lessons by working at Rock Lea doing all sorts of jobs 
including washing helmets and cleaning up minibuses & caving suits and helping 
out as a qualified first aider on events such as our charity abseils.  He is now looking 
around for sponsors and cadetships.

If you would like more information on flying as part of a small group experience in
North Wales ( with more qualified pilots like Kristina who has over 25,000 hours in 
her log book - please click here or call Iain on 01433-650345.







Here at our outdoor activities & training centre in Hathersage 
we're looking forward to another busy Winter Season. 

Right now's an ideal time for you to be talking to Caroline in our 
bookings office if you want to book events for individuals or groups 
of people for this year. 

We are offering past customers and new clients some very good 
deals for return trips this season.

Check out dates of our open weekends.

and now a camping joke :

 

 

" Doctor, Doctor, can you help me ?

Sometimes I think I've turned into a Teepee

and at other times I feel like I'm a Wigwam."

 

Doctor : " I think you've probably become two tents !"

 

( Our apologies, but part of www.iain.co.uk's recycling policy

is to re-use Iain's old jokes as much as possible...Webmaster )

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

SOME OLDER NEWS STORIES from PEAK ACTIVITIES are below :

 

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

---

  UNION PUBS MANAGERS' VISIT

  

A very jolly party of managers from The Union Pub Company 
pictured having a very good time at our base in Hathersage 
Rock Lea. They were out enjoying an "Away Day"  team
building event including  easy caving and orienteering with our 
instructors Caroline, John and Andy.  This year Peak Activities Ltd. 
have welcomed more groups than ever before enjoying the excellent 
weather for such informal and enjoyable opportunities to relax and chill 
out together in a fun-filled way.

RELIABLE, TOP QUALITY EVENTS for QUALITY CONSCIOUS CLIENTS.....

Group Organisers considering events based in the Peak District
National Park and who want the BEST rather than second best 
should please call us today on 01433-650345 to discuss their 
specific needs and requirements.  If you would like to organise a 
safe, reliable low cost, fun-filled away day for your own private group 
we'll be pleased to hear from you.   Individuals should look our open 
fixtures listed on our special "deals" page.  This details events 
( mainly weekends ) which we hold for individuals and couples.

NEW - MOVIE CLIPS INTRODUCED TO WEBSITE 

Click here to see a short movie clip with commentary... 
( it's a 5 megabyte file - sorry ! ...suitable for broadband users only ).
                             P......

NEW GROUP OFFERS ON OUR NEW WEB SITE FROM OUR SPORTS DIVISION...

The New Year saw the launch of a new web site at www.peak-activities.co.uk
with special offers listed there for people who have brought groups of
people here before. See http://www.peak-activities.co.uk/g_offers.html

This web site is under development with Eclipse but is expected to have 
lots of cine films and interesting movies and lots more when it's developed.

......

NEW Fun Mixed Ability Corporate Challenges...

..

New for this year we're offering to visiting 
groups some exciting new mixed-ability trailquests 
involving ligh hearted physical and mental challenges.

If you are up to the challenge & want to book something 
that's a bit different, sporty and packed with fun for all ages 
& all abilities -  then please call us on 01433-650345 for 
more details.

Everybody's a winner but there's champagne & 
chocolates all round for the winning team too !


Click to return to top of this NEWS page

N
W  +  E
S
  

N. E. W. S.  STORIES  FROM ALL AROUND THE COMPASS !


 Poles travel all the way over 
 to Rock Lea for a teambuilding
weekend their UK colleagues !
  

Lucasz, Ewa, Tom, Stephen, Neil and Hania get ready to go caving with Andy.


People often travel a very long way to enjoy our activities and 
events in the Peak National Park but by anybody's standards flying 
in from Garwolin near Warsaw for the weekend to visit Peak Activities 
Ltd's base in Hathersage is a pretty impressive journey !   

Pictured above are procurement experts from Avon Cosmetics
 - three of whom travelled all the way from their new manufacturing 
plant in Poland just for a fun filled 3-day weekend of informal team 
building with their UK colleagues from Northampton.   The party 
enjoyed some abseiling and orienteering and some scrambling 
and some pretty impressive pub games and some serious 
socialising !  This jolly group stayed in a traditional local inn 
on the edge of Hathersage sharing the delights of top quality 
Peak District food and hospitality.   The visitors also entertained 
us  with their excellent guitar, accordian & concertina music.

.......
A man destined for higher things...Lucasz scored 9.8 
for this abseil attempt  AND we now know he can sing 
perfectly all of the verses to "Auld Langs Syne" too  !

Click here to see some kind endorsements from
Tom and other team leaders from Avon who have 
been here over the years.

Because the weather was fairly changeable during
their three days we were glad Tom trusted our tutors 
to pick out activities on the day that would best make 
the most of the team's time out here with us.

The other kind of walking where 
we supply the Poles for you is our 
new Nordic Walking activity option !

  

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

Peak Activities' director TONY KENDALL receives a prestigious
National Community Award at the House of Commons for his work 
setting up & running an inclusive Cub Pack in inner city Leicester...

..
Tony working in our caving lamp store.


Our busy Director Tony Kendall is the co-Founder of a Cub Scout  Pack held on a 
Saturday so Muslim children  can be included and attend has just received another 
prestigious award "Investors in the Community Award" held at a ceremony at 
the House of Commons recently. Tony's pack is part of the 12th/74th group in 
Mere Road, Leicester, was set up to help replace failing youth clubs in the inner 
city of Leicester a couple of years ago. They wanted to help provide the youngsters 
of the Highfields area with something worthwhile to do. 

The pack is run by Tony and Alam Navsa and Bill Trewick. A Scout Leader 
of many years standing, Tony said the group was mixed and set up to run on 
Saturdays rather than mid week to enable kids of all faiths to take part.  Tony, 
who holds both the Scouts Medal of Merit and the Silver Acorn Awards said 
"This highlights the fact that Scouts welcome members of all faiths, colours 
and nationalities. We wanted our group to be as inclusive as possible."

Peak Activities Ltd's Company Directors Tony, Caroline and Iain 
have always been keen to help people of all ages, nationalities and 
creeds get out and about and enjoy the Great Outdoors.  We have 
recently been working on a new range of activities for people of all 
ages and levels of fitnesses to enjoy activities with us in the Peak 
District ..and we now have a range of new activities which can be 
enjoyed by folks in wheelchairs and other people with limited mobility
... including some new "wheelchair friendly" mixed fitness, radio 
controlled orienteering sessions, caving trips, kite flying, treasure 
hunts, trail quests, quizzes & lots more.

..........

    MORE NEWS HEADLINES

UK STAFF TRY OUT OUR NEW AUSTRIAN OPERATION FOR THEMSELVES
SUNDAY TIMES TRAVEL EDITOR SINGS OUR PRAISES (AGAIN ) !
POOLSIDE MAYHEM ! OUR TAILORED FIRST AID COURSES GET THE THUMBS UP FROM ELECTRICITY DE FRANCE

BBC1 TV CREW & IAN WRIGHT FILM & BROADCAST AT ROCK LEA.

SEASONAL OFFERS - ALL ENCOMPASSING ORIENTEERING SESSIONS ! 
LIABILITY INSURANCE PREMIUMS SKY-ROCKET & CAUSE PRICE INCREASES !
UK ASSOCIATES UNIFORMS ON THE TELLY !
SEASONAL TREASURE HUNTS FOR MIXED ABILITY GROUPS.

Ian Wright with Caroline during filming at our base in Hathersage - Rock Lea Centre.

N
W  +  E
S

N. E. W. S.  STORIES  FROM ALL AROUND THE COMPASS !

" Ein Prosit, ein Prosit - der Gemutlichkeit ! "



BLUE SKY STAFF DISCUSSIONS IN TYROL...

Numerous directors, staff and volunteers and family members 
recently flew out to Salzberg and enjoyed a fabulous residential 
discussing and trying out some of our new products and
experiencing first hand the delights of the Wilderkaisergebirge....
our new "home from home".  It was tough out there slaving over
all those new concepts but somebody had to do it !  We also
took the opportunity whilst we were there in such glorious
weather to start making our new promotional video. 


Pictured above are tutors John T., Tony Kendall, Caroline, Iain,
Steve Charles and Elizabeth. Although she's our youngest 
apprentice ski instructor, Elizabeth is now skiing down 
black runs and leaving all the rest of us behind !   

....Pete Brookes

Caroline, our Finance Director, over in our base in Ellmau enjoying the scenery & apres ski.
We will be publishing fairly soon some new itineries involving skiing, snow shoe walking (above ) 
and lots more in the fabulous mountain of Tirol !  

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

EDF DELEGATES'  PRAISE ON THE SUCCESS OF PEAK ACTIVITIES LTD's
BESPOKE RESCUE TRAINING TAILORED FOR EDF ( Electricitee de France ).



Some very complimentary feedback notes on the success of the decision making 
& leadership and teamwork training events Iain's team arranged for the Health 
& Safety experts at Cottam Power Station were published a while ago by EDF.  

One of their reports is reproduced in full below as two .jpg's below in the hope 
it may be of interest to anybody interested in the effectiveness of carefully 
designed and planned outdoor training exercises with Peak Activities Ltd's 
Development Training experts.

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

    

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED  STORIES AT FOOT OF THIS PAGE : -

Tony now holds both the Medal of Merit & Silver Acorn.
Training Case Study - TXU's CEO's Team & Management Development Event
 Heart of England Tourist Board's Chief Exec's Residential Team Build with Peak Activities Ltd.

........       ......................................................................

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

MORE NEWS 

 BBC TV films at Rock Lea again...

BBC Television Presenter & former England international 
footballer Ian Wright pictured with our centre's director 
Caroline during a BBC tv film shoot for first of Ian's series of
top Saturday evening BBC1 television show "I'D DO ANYTHING ". 
This filming asignment  was a special three day contract featuring our 
 popular potholing & caving underground treasure hunt & challenge activities.

NEWS   +    NEWS   +    NEWS   +    NEWS

..........

This latest of a series of successful filming projects with the BBC involved a large film crew working very closely in local 
caves with our senior instructors Caroline, John Thomas, Andy McLean and Iain Jennings.  Peak Activities Ltd senior 
associates were all responsible for selection of suitable filming locations and the Health & Safety of the crew working in 
various tricky situations to get unusual points of view shots.

Caroline and Andy also had special responsibility for looking after a rather nervous first-time novice lady who was 
undertaking the special trail quest we'd been asked to design underground in parts of England's deepest pothole.  
The programme was screened at 6-00 pm Saturday April  26th on BBC1 television and part of the filming was shown 
again a week later when the successful participant flew across to te USA to meet world champion boxer Mohammed Ali.

Training and sports activities at Rock Lea have often been featured in the press and on a large number of television
and radio programmes. Peak Activities Ltd welcomes enquiries from commercial film crews wanting professional 
help with safety assurance and filming in confined and difficult access areas.  Click here for more information.

 Click here to go back up to the top of this NEWS page.




SUNDAY TIMES' TRAVEL MAGAZINE'S
TRAVEL WRITER STEVE BLEACH ENJOYS 
AN ADVENTUROUS TRIP DOWN ENGLAND'S 
DEEPEST CAVE WITH PEAK ACTIVITIES' 
EXPERT INSTRUCTORS.

MEDIA COVERAGE NEWS

...

We have recently enjoyed another rave review in the Travel Section 
of the Sunday Times from their travel specialist Steve Bleach..who 
was out here enjoying one of our very popular "friendly-face"
introductory caving weekends last month. 

The people who read Steve's excellent article all agreed that his 
writing had really captured the spirit  of one of our popular "Friendly Face" 
weekends. These events are open to any member of the public aged 18 and 
over and are held monthly at our Hathersage base.  

In his article Steve's imagination  seemed particularly taken with all the geology 
he'd learned about whilst he was here working alongside our enthusiastic leaders.
Click here please for lots more details of these weekends (including prices
and dates of our open events ) and to read  Steve's very kind article including 
Steve's his comments on the fun of  feeling like a piece of meat in a rock sandwich !tl
aary enjoyr.
To see lots of other kind press and media comments, including previous
editorials about our caving and otrher outdoor activities in the Telegraph and 
Sunday Times and other media please click here.

Click here to see details of other television and radio features on our events.

We are always willing to offer facilities for press visits to bone fide reporters and journalists.
Travel media writers should please contact our press and publicity officer via 01433-650345.

Click here to go back up to the top of this NEWS page....




 

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Click here to go back up to the top of this NEWS page.

 

 

 

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NEWS of our new Treasure Hunts

Our tailored treasure Hunts are ideal for all ages, shapes and sizes and fitnesses !

 

 

NEWS Seasonal Treasure Hunts

 

 

Peak Activities Ltd are now running a wide range of fun-filled inter-team treasure hunt challenges

designed to make the best of the seasonal weather. Some of the various options on offer include : -

 

 

VILLAGE BASED TREASURE HUNTS USING MINIBUSES IN THE HOPE VALLEY.

MOUNTAIN BIKE TREASURE HUNT AROUND THE DERWENT VALLEY.

HELICOPTER BASED TREASURE HUNTS AROUND THE PEAK DISTRICT & NORTH WALES

Watersports based treasure hunt.

BAKEWELL TOWN CENTRE TREASURE HUNT - A scenic busy town with lots of shops and cafes.

SCENIC "CITY CENTRE" TREASURE HUNTS IN YORK (afloat), LONDON & CHESTER.

SPECIAL ATTRACTION-BASED TREASURE HUNTS (e.g. around a popular railway museum,

or around a major aircraft museum, etc. Our brand new zoo based treasure hunts are

also available again now.

 

Helicopter based treasure hunts....using real helicopters.

Scalextric and Flight Simulator based treasure hunts.

Treasure Hunt around one of the largest shopping malls in Europe. Retail therapy & madness combined !

 

 

 

NEWS Click here to go back up to the top of this NEWS page.

....

 

 

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We hope we'll welcome you here soon !

 

Come and enjoy visiting the lovely Peak National Park.

 

 

.........

Peak Activities Associate Frank Kent loads up a load of bikes for a party from Orange

enjoying a mountain bike treasure hunt around the scenic Hope Valley. Mountain biking

from our popular base in Hathersage is a great activity for all ages and fitnesses and

allows you to set your own pace and have fund working together as a team.

CClick to return to top of this NEWS page

 BELOW ARE SOME HEADLINE STORIES PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ON THIS WEB PAGE.

 



NEWS ABOUT OUR ASSOCIATES & DIRECTORS

 

ANOTHER TOP AWARD

FOR OUR DIRECTOR TONY !

 

Congratulations to Peak Activities' senior director Tony Kendall for his recently being awarded the prestigious "SILVER ACORN" Medal by the Chief Scout. Tony received his medal at a ceremony at Windor Castle's

St. George's Chapel. The Silver Acorn is the second highest honour awarded by the scout movement.

This is a further international award in addition to Tony's existing "MEDAL OF MERIT" and is a very well deserved accolade for all the work Tony has put in over the years to boost safety for Scouts and others using the outdoors for personal development and education. Here Tony (left) wearing his Yellow Medal Ribbon is being congratulated by his District Commisioner on his return to his own scout troop in inner city Leicester.

 

 

Click here to go back up to the top of this NEWS page.

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ACCOMMODATION NEWS

BELOW IS NEWS OF A GREAT PLACE TO STAY WHILST YOU'RE OUT WITH US !

 

 

LUXURY FOUR STAR HOTEL AVAILABLE

TO GROUP CLIENTS AT REDUCED RATES...

 

Kenwood Pool

LET US TAKE THE CONFUSION OUT OF BOOKING A REALLY NICE FOUR STAR HOTEL FOR YOUR STAY......

After a £4 million modernisation, rebuilding and refurbishment project, the former 
Swallow Hotel just across the hill on the edge of Sheffield was purchased by
Whitbread and then started trading as Sheffield Marriott Hotel. This is proved to be a
very popular venue with our customers running training courses with us... and to add 
to their delight we've recently managed to negotiate some very attractive exclusive 
deals for groups staying there as part of packages organised by Peak Activities Ltd. 

The hotel was purchased two years ago by Principal-Hayley and is now trading
as the Kenwood Hall Hotel.  

Click here to see more photos and for further information about the Kenwood Hall Hotel.
Click to return to top of this NEWS page

Marriott Dining Room

Just imagine ! You can now enjoy muddy caving
with us and be back in your executive suite at the 
Kenwood Hall Hotel within 15 mins. of  leaving Rock Lea 
in one of our minibuses.  You can combine "roughing 
it" with being smooth and sophisticated !

The Kenwood Hotel. ).....

..................

 

 

 

Click to return to top of this NEWS page

 

 

The activities we are offering groups over the coming  months include : -

Treasure Hunts ; Caving & Mine Exploration, Cycling, Abseiling,
Gliding, Centre Based Problem Solving Tasks, High Ropes Course

Team Challenges ; Helicopter Flying ; Led-walks

Sailing, Rock Climbing Windsurfing, Canoeing and Rafting

and lots more !

 

Click here for a full list of what we can offer

 

 

PHONE US ON 01433-650345


 

 

 

 

...............

 

Rock Lea, Station Road, Hathersage, Hope Valley,

Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, S32 1DD.

 

Tel. 07771-855105

Fax. 01433-650342

 

 

This is one of numerous pages on our websites http://www.iain.co.uk

& http://www.peakactivities.co.uk & www.peakactivities.com