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






Information about some of Peak Activities team of staff & associates :




  
Peak Activities' team of tutors is a unique long-established community 
of friendly, patient, experienced & well-qualified non-macho specialists.








  
Without any doubt, the unique team of passionate enthusiasts and supporters
is the secret of Peak Activities success over the years! Our associates are very
patient, helpful & non-macho. They have a huge range of skills and all share the
same high safety standards and high expectations of all the activities and training 
projects we run.  The team has a wealth of years of experience as fully UK qualified 
instructors and trainers...with experience in the Alps and many expeditions further 
afield such as Iceland and Norway and the Himalaya. What's more most of our team
have interests and expertise outside the field of outdoor pursuits per se  which
means they have extensive experience of working in commerce, IT, manufacturing,
research, engineering, medicine and other fields.








  
Our full-time and part-time associates have been working really well 
together for many years - in most instances for nearly thirty years 
as a very cohesive team of very close friends. The team is highly 
skilled and sets itself some very high professional standards. This 
unusual group of specialists has proven again and again that they 
can very successfully run a wide range of safe, high quality training 
& sports activities to the highest possible safety and other ethical 
professional standards.


Please scroll down this page for more details on some of the 
key personnel in our organisation.

..
Left: John, Lyn, Ben, Cheryl, Jon, Lynn & Russell during an in house first aid course. Right: John and Ian ready a stretcher for lowering.


Tony Kendall belaying the Head of the British Tourist 
Authority during a familiarisation visit organised by 
the Chief Exec. of what was then the East Midlands 
Tourist Board.


Peak Activities' friendly team of full time & part-time colleagues
comprises Chartered Training Consultants,  NGB qualified tutors 
& outdoor pursuits instructors. The team runs our open events for 
individuals and can be hired to design & run a wide range of tailored 
training and corporate hospitality events for corporate customers
and for private parties such as stag groups or works outings.
We strive hard to match the staff we field with the parties they look
after.

Our team is one of our unique selling points. The team includes a
governor of a well known university, a forensic psychiatrist, a senior 
housing officer, a professional photo lab manager, several teachers
of subjects as diverse as physics, geology, geography and PE. 
We have two aerospace engineers, a supply chain management expert, 
a director of an aero-industry manufacturing organisation, a director of 
an electronics construction company,  a physiotherapist, a nurse, 
a skiing instructor, an IT manager and several senior training consultants 
with experience in the fields of engineering,manufacturing and HRD. 
In addition we have a research hydrologist, two teacher trainers and 
a few finance managers, a former coal mine manager, a former Health 
& Safety Inspector and a former Water Board Construction Site Safety 
Manager.

The variety of our professional's backgrounds means that as well 
as being able to discuss how to put up tents and tie knots with some 
degree of authority, our staff members can also discuss clients' work 
related issues with some degree of insight too.  When we are working 
on training and development contracts a common comment arising 
from clients is that they appreciated the insights and analytical skills
of our tutors, which helps make these courses relevant and useful.




   


However, we believe it's not always what you say your team can do that 
matters, it is much more important that they are SEEN to deliver what they 
say they can do to support our customers.  See some of our customers' 
comments and thank you comments to see what others think about the
ability of our team to deliver what our customers want.  Alternatively,
please check out some of the comments of the efficacy of our events
written by journalists in the training trade press and learned journals. 

H

  

   ...

  
See below for a list of all our current staff members. 



UK Senior Directors...

 Caroline E. Jennings BA PGCE.
 Dr. Iain Jennings BSc PGCE PhD FRGS, Chartered FCIPD  
 Tony Kendall MIST MISM FRGS, 
  Wing Commander Peter Daughtrey BSc PGCE Chartered MCIPD MRAeS RAF(retired)

The UK Senior Associates Panel for this year includes...

 Dr. Andy MacLean BSc PGCE PhD, 
 Dave Baines MIA CIC  
 Angela Groves, 
 Frank Kent, 
 Dean Peck BSc PGCE MILAM  
 Steve Charles BSc MILAM,
 Steve Brodie BA PGCE MIA,
 John Thomas BSc BA, 
 Pete Brookes MIPS, 
 Alan Robinson BSc MICE, 
 Kim George BSc PGCE, 
 Kevin Parker, 
 Dave Herbert,  
 Claire Lilley BA, 
 Steve Pope BSc ChEng., 
  Glenn Richardson
 David Farnes BDS, Eileen Farnes BDS

Austria : Mitarbeiter / Senior Associates...

Frau Ingrid Hochfilzer
Fraulein Claudia Heid & colleagues...


Quite a few of our team, including one of directors, 
  are former clients who didn't want to go home !









  
Our team includes teachers, dentists, doctors, former HSE factory inspectors, and 
folks from very varied backgrounds who all share a love of the Great Outdoors...and 
who've demonstrated an above average ability to work with the rest of our team.  

Some work with us full time all the year ...others on a part time or freelance basis. 
Sometimes there may be just three or four staff on duty. For other jobs we may field 
up to twenty long-serving, tried and proven associates. Our admin. office is staffed 
by a team of two full time and two part-time colleagues...all of whom are experienced 
instructors in their own right. 

If rave reviews in the press and on television are anything to go by, good staffing 
and our centre's policy of staff development have undoubtedly been the keys to our 
success and reputation for total reliability and safety being built up over the years.  
Coupled with good leadership, we feel the quality of our staffing is second to none. 

Delighted customers' comments and endorsements bear this out too.




Please scroll down the page for more information on some 
of the individuals we're pleased to have in our fellowship.









  

  
Wing Commander Pete Daughtrey BSc PGCE MCIPD MRAeS RAF (Retired)

  
Senior
  Training Consultant & Continuous Improvement Expert



 




  
Pete is a long serving member of our team of trainers who
has developed some sophisticated training resources with
Iain which have been highly acclaimed by a wide range of our
corporate training clients, including Rolls Royce, Reuters, Lucas,
Powergen, TXU, and Eastern Group.  Pete has also been actively
involved in organising numerous highly acclaimed prestigious
charity fund raising events. Pete is an experienced Chartered Trainer 
with a wealth of experience implementing and auditing schemes
such as Investor in People and European Foundation for Quality
Management.  He retired from the RAF 2 years ago. His last post
was Divisional Commander (North) in charge of recruitment and
training in the North of England and Scotland and Ireland.

  

    
 
    
Pete is a qualified
    teacher and Chartered CIPD
    member who for
    several
    
years worked as senior training officer
    at the new School of Aviation Medicine
    
at Henlow,
    where he was involved with
    developing & teaching courses up
    
to MSc level. In common with Iain,
    Peter is a Yorkshireman born in
    
Rotherham and he has
    a wicked sense of humour.  However, if he tells
    
you he makes collectors' Teddy Bears
    he's not pulling your leg... he really
    
is the Quality Director of "Holdingham
    Bears"...which makes designs and
    
manufactures cuddly
    collectable bears of all
    shapes and sizes for serious
    
bear collectors all
    over the world. Pete and Barabara have been all over
    
Europe and exotic places
    such as Japan at the invitation of International 

    Bear Exhibitions.
    
 
    
As well as being an
    "Investor in People" Verifier and Assessor, Pete is


    also a fully
    qualified plumber ...which makes him quite a useful person 

    to have in our
    team if the toilets or a tap needs fixing !  He is passionate


    about training and, like Iain, doesn't mind hard work and getting
    his hands 

    dirty if it helps to get the job done for our customers.
    
 
    
 
  






  






  
Caroline Jennings BSc PGCE

  
Senior
  Director i/c Finance, HR & Rock Lea Operations

  

  

    
 
    
Caroline ( or "Fred"
    as she is affectionately known ) is one 

    of our longest-serving and hardest working team members.
    
She is now
    our Finance & Admin.
    Director as well
    as being a 

    successful mum
    of two. Caroline joined
    the team after taking 

    part in one of
    our hillcraft
    courses as a PE student based at

    Cardiff University in the early 80's. Now she owns a big part
    
of the company and
    everyone seems to like working for her.
    
She's very fair and
    straight.
    
 
    
Fred quickly became
    one of our key personnel. Iain's in charge
    
but nowadays he has
    Caroline's official permission to say so !
    
 
    
Like many of the other
    tutors, Caroline is an experienced, fully 

    DES DfEE qualified
    teacher who taught P.E. for many years at 

    Lady Manners School
    in nearby Bakewell, where
    she still does 

    some days of supply work to keep in touch with her former 

    colleagues. Formerly a successful competition swimmer,
    she 

    now enjoys walking her Pointer dogs
    when she's not
    busy 

    looking after the rest of our team and sorting out all the VAT, 

    PAYE and all the other adminstrative stuff that goes on in the
    
back office !
    
 
    
Caroline is an experienced
    outdoor pursuits first-aider - as 

    are all our
    tutors who take people out into the hills !
    
 
    
We all know that if
    we need a job doing well we let Caroline 

    do it !
    
 
    
Fred's favourite activities
    include walking and skiing in the 

    Alps - especially in her beloved Austrian Tyrol.
    
 
    
 
    

    
 

    
Caroline having
    fun with a recent visitor to our centre -

    
tv celebrity
    Ian Wright up here filming with us for his

    
latest Saturday
    night tv spectacular.

    
 

    
 

    
 

    

    
Our
    Director Caroline with Senior Instructor John T.

    
 

    
 

    

  

  
Tony Kendall MIST MISM FRGS

  

    


  
Senior
  Director

  
 

  

    
Tony is one
    of our longest-serving
    
colleagues
    ( 25+ yrs service ) & is our
    
company's
    senior director with special
    
responsibility
    for caving
    & potholing safety
    
& Adventure
    Weekends Operations.
    
A governor
    of a major red brick university,
    
Tony is also
    a long-serving member of the
    
Scouts Movement
    ..a holder of the
    
Chief's Scout's
    prestigious "Medal Of Merit"
    
as well as
    the "Silver Acorn" Award.
    
 
    
 
    
Tony has
    often been featured in the press
    
for his trips
    underground with us. He recently
    
led a typical
    trip underground with Steve Bleach
    
from the
    editorial staff of the Sunday Times - which
    
was given
    a rave review in the Sunday Times
    
Travel Section. This was no less than the third
    
time that
    Tony's caving and other events have
    
been given
    extensive write ups in the Sunday Times.
    
 
    
 
    
 
  

  
John Thomas BSc BA

  
John Thomas - Senior Instructor

  
 

  

    
John T. is
    one of Rock Lea's longest-serving
    
colleagues
    ( 28+ yrs service ) & is one of our 

    senior staff with special responsibility for caving 

    & potholing safety\& the running of
    our popular

    Adventure Weekends Operations. John started 

    off here as a customer way back in 1980 attending

    one of Iain's rock climbing courses....and he's

    been around ever since !



    John has a wealth of experience as an accomplished

    and very successful rock climbing instructor - and he

    probably now has more hours of experience as a very

    patient and knowledgeable abseiling instructor.
    
He's now
    retired from his long career as a Data 

    Processing Manager and IT Manager - working as a
    
highly qualified
    specialist designing and running huge 

    national networking solutions for a major UK employer.



    John has a keen interest in diverse hobbies from steam 

    railways to archaeology and is also a skiing and snow

    -boarding enthusiast. One of the quieter members of 

    our team - he posseses a very dry sense of humour.
    
When he's
    not here you might find him building a signal 

    box or driving a steam engine down at Peak Rail at Rowsley.

    
    
 
    
 
    
 
  

  
Dr. Andy McLean BSc PGCE PhD

  
  
Senior
  Associate & First Aid Examiner

  
 






  
Frank Kent

  
Associate
  & Team Member

  
 











  


Dean Peck BSc PGCE MILAM

  
Senior
  Associate

  

    
 
    
Dean is a graduate
    in Leisure & Amenities Management who 

    is a long serving senior instructor. He's a qualified climbing
    
instructor (SPA) and
    senior caving ( DCA ) instructor. Originally
    a
    
surveyor by profession
    Dean is also a keen
    mountain biker with
    
considerable
    experience in
    running a wide
    range of corporate
    
management
    development &
    team building
    training programmes
    
with Peak
    Activities Ltd's clients.
    
 
    
He's a Sheffield United
    supporter too, but we try not to hold this
    
against him - especially
    since he holds a karate Black Belt and 

    teaches karate
    nobody argues about how good Sheffield United 
    
are when Dean
    is here !
    
 
    
Dean holds a PGCE Primary
    School teaching qualification
    and he

    is an
    experienced primary school
    teacher too. Dean worked full time 

    at Rock Lea
    for many years and is now one of our valued panel of ad 

    hoc part time
    freelance tutors. He works as a specialist in IT Pedagogy 

    and teaches
    Primary and Secondary School Teachers how to use 
    
modern training resources
    such as interactive whiteboards
    and other 

    impressive modern training aids.
    
 
    
A father of two, Dean
    is a much valued member of our team.
    
 
    

  

  
Angela Groves


Senior Associate
  

  

    
Angela is a one of
    our long serving instructresses with a wide range
    
of interests including
    developmental training. A former housing
    
officer in East Anglia
    with a great sense of humour - she has worked
    
recently on HR projects
    and welfare projects with the army in Bosnia 

    Northern Ireland and elsewhere.
    
 
    
A great listener, Angela
    is a wonderful person to have
    in support on
    
any corporate event
    or any training programme. She's a member of 

    our team for
    nearly 22 years and she's also the Godmother of James 

    and Elizabeth,
    Angela loves walking and rambling in the Peak District.
  

  

    

      
 
      
 
    

  

  


Steve Charles - Senior Associate

  

    

  

  
Steve Charles BSc PGCE MILAM

 Senior Associate

  

    
 
    
Steve is a part-time
    instructor & tutor and a good solid friend who we've been
    
delighted to have been
    associated with us since 1984 - first as one
    of our highly
    
qualified and very
    experienced watersports
    instructors - and in recent years as
    
one of our senior training and coaching specialists.
    Steve works as a Senior
    
Lecturer in a local
    College of Furthere and
    Higher Education...specialising in 

    Business Studies and
    Outdoor Education.
    
 
    
Steve brings a broad
    range of skills and expertise to our training and sports 

    events ..and
    his genial and patient manner is appreciated by his customers 

    and colleagues
    alike.
    
 
    

  

  
Glenn Richardson -  Associate

  

    

  

  
Glenn Richardson

Associate

  
Glenn is our newest part-time
  instructor & tutor who 

  joined our instruction team as a trainee in 2007 having 

  enjoyed various trips underground with Tony Kendall. 

  Glenn runs his own successful electrical switchgear

  manufacturing company in Leicestershire and is hoping 

  to qualify as one of our DCA approved caving instructors 

  later shortly. He holds a Rescue & Emergency Care 

  First Aid Certificate and has completed various in-house

  induction training modules with remarkable enthusiasm 

  and impressive aptitude. Glenn has established himself 

  as a very reliable & personable backup cave assisting 

  our more senior qualified potholing and caving instructors

  such as John, Tony, Dean and Andy.

  



  

    

      

        

          

            

              

                

                  

                

              

            

          

        

      

    

    
Steve Brodie MIA  

Senior Instructor & Technical Advisor

    

      
 
      
Steve was
      for many years the Head of Centre at Nottingham Education
      
Department's
      Hagg Farm Outdoor Education & Environmental Centre
      
on the flanks
      of nearby Bleaklow and Kinder Scout, so he knows the
      
joys of instructing
      and managing a centre in the Dark Peak really well.
      
 
      
He's currently
      enjoying teaching outdoor pursuits in the mountains of New Zealand.
      
 
      
 
      
As someone who
      has helped us with our own centre's staff development
      
and SPA training in the past, we are pleased
      that Steve returns to the Peak
      
District from
      time to time as one of our panel of senior associates and consultants
      
helping other
      organisations to make the most of their training investments.
      
Our guests enjoy
      Steve gentle and sensitive approach - and his very dry
      
Northumbrian
      sense of humour. Steve is a keen paddler and climber and
      
has developed
      in recent years a specialist interest in outdoor environmental
      
education for
      disadvantaged youngsters. Steve is actively involved helping
      
run development
      training courses for a national charity and is currently
      
developing teacher-training
      courses in New Zealand.
    

  

  
 

  

    

    
 
    
......
    
    
 
  

  
Dave Baines CIC MIA

  

    
 
    
Senior
    Associate
    
 
    
Dave is one of the
    many very experienced
    
and highly qualified
    people who works
    
alongside us from time
    to time on an ad hoc
    
freelance basis. Dave
    is an expert caving instructor
    
who as a CIC
    holder assesses and trains
    other
    
caving & potholing
    instructors & mine leaders.
    
 
    
He is also a very
    experienced & senior
    mountaineering
    
instructor (MIA) and
    is a keen canadian canoe tutor.
    
Dave is an accomplished
    cartographer and
    orienteering
    
enthusiast too.
    
 
    
Like many of
    our senior associates, Dave has worked for many
    
years in the
    outdoor training
    and education profession. He was
    
for many years
    the chief instructor and manager of a well-known
    
Christian outdoor training centre
    in the Peak District. A devout
    
Christian, Dave
    is a great joy to work with and over the years
    
he's
    won the respect
    of everyone he's come into contact with here
    
at Rock Lea.
    
    
      
    
        
     
    
      
    
    

    
 
    

    
 
    

    
 
  

  
Dr. Iain Jennings BSc PGCE PhD FRGS, Chartered FCIPD

  

    
Company
    Director & Company Secretary
    
 
  





                                   * Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development 
                                     Registered Training and Development Consultant




  

  

    
A fully qualified &
    experienced teacher and lecturer as well
    
as a busy and active
    training specialist, Iain is a graduate of the
    
University of Liverpool
    and holds postgraduate degrees including
    
a Science Faculty Doctorate
    from the University
    of Edinburgh. He is
    
one of the founding
    fathers of the company
    and has been the Head
    
of
    Rock Lea and senior
    manager of Peak
    Activities Ltd for over twenty
    
years. Iain
    is a Fellow
    of the Royal
    Geographical Society and is a
    
Chartered Fellow of
    the Chartered Institute of
    Personnel and Development
    
Training and is a Registered CIPD Consultant too. Iain has taught
    
full time at the universities of Sheffield
    (Geography Dept ), Edinburgh
    
( Forestry & Natural
    Resources Management ) and at various schools
    
in Edinburgh and NE
    Derbyshire. He has taught as a Visiting Lecturer
    
at The Universiteit
    van Amsterdam and for UNESCO in Murcia.
    
 
    
Iain has worked
    successfully for over 25 years arranging tailored
    
events for people at all levels from organisations large and small.
    
He has frequently designed and run sophisticated
    programmes for
    
board members of many UK and overseas
    blue chip companies... and
    
has often been featured on BBC and
    ITV television &
    radio programmes
    
from the 1980's to
    the present time. Iain's work has recieved glowing
    
praise for over two
    decades from CEO's of many well known UK and
    
German organisations
    who, to Iain's surprise, often treat him as an
    
equal when it comes
    to discussing Training and Development issues.
    
 
    
....
    
 
    
 
    
A graduate geologist
    and a geomorpohologist and a glaciologist amongst
    
other things, Iain
    has been on the boards of several charities - and has
    
been a Member of the
    Council of both the British Schools Exploring Society
    
and the
    RGS Young Explorers Trust...having
    led and taken part in numerous
    
expeditions to the
    glaciers & mountains of Iceland and Arctic Norway
    and
    
Arctic Sweden. Iain
    has often appeared on television and radio and has
    
often been involved
    in broadcasting - working behind as well as in front
    
of the microphones
    and cameras. One of Iain's films was broadcast as a
    
40 minutes "Horizon"
    porgramme by the BBC many years ago and recent
    
projects with the BBC
    include acting as safety officer and locations manager
    
for films involving
    Ian Wright, Damion Johnson and other celebrities.
    
 
    
As a big fat Yorkshireman,
    Iain has few airs and graces and so he's equally
    
at
    home arranging low key events for small groups
    with much simpler &
    
modest requirements such as Stag Groups
    and Hen parties. He treats all
    
his assignments with great care and
    attention and takes a great pride in
    
making sure jobs go
    well for our customers.
    
 
    
Like many of our team
    of tutors, Iain combines teaching and coaching
    
skills with training qualifications
    and is a very experienced and fully
    
qualified climbing
    and abseiling instructor. He enjoys nothing
    better
    
than going out with
    groups and getting his hands dirty away from the
    
office paperwork !
  

  


If you've called our offices you'll know Iain loves answering the phones 
and talking with clients and prospects alike. He never forgets that in a 
small firm like ours "MD" often stands for "minibus driver" too and is 
firmly committed to making sure everyone involved in the firm he 
established is safe and has fun.  Iain takes great pleasure from receiving 
personal letters of thanks from delighted customers and one of the reasons
why this website is called " iain.co.uk "  is because he likes it that all our 
customers work closely with him when booking and planning their
events with us.

A Yorkshireman from Rotherham, Iain is very open and direct...and is
well respected for his analytical and training delivery skills and his
desire to make every event at Rock Lea as successful and as safe as 
it possibly can be. Iain was very actively involved in the 1990's in the
movement to improve safety at outdoor centres for young people...
and served on the task force of the English Tourist Board's Activity
Centres Advisory Committee, where he officially represented a large
percentage of the UK's outdoor centres in discussions with government
agencies including the DFES and ETB and the giving of evidence to a 
select committee of the House of Commons which led to the setting up 
of  AALA and the 1996 Young People's Safety regulations.

When he's not working Iain enjoys spending time with his wife 
and children and skiing and simply enjoying being in the mountains in 
his home-from-home in the Austrian Tyrol...which is where he keeps
dragging various members of the team off to with his family for all sorts 
of adventures. Almost all of the pictures on this website were supplied 
by Iain - who is our centre's most avid photographer.








  


Tutors Cheryl , Alan, Caroline,  Iain, John, Stuart & Ed Silva 
slaving over some red hot  concepts en route to the Dolomites
at the Zugspitzeblick.

Who said staff meetings had to be hard work ?
  








  

    
MAIN
    INDEX....

    
Alphabetical
    Index...

    
 

  

  
The range of sports activities on offer with Peak Activities...

Tailored training for groups and corporate activities...

Corporate clients list...and customers endorsements...

  

    
 

    
 

    
Please phone
    us today on 01433-650345
    to discuss

    
any specific requirements you may
    have in mind...

  







  

The Senior Associates Panel for this year includes...

Andy MacLean BSc PGCE PhD, Frank Kent, Dean Peck BSc MILAM  
John Thomas BSc BA, Steve Charles BSc MILAM, Pete Brookes MIPS, 
Alan Robinson BSc MICE, Kim George BSc PGCE, Kevin Parker, 
Angela Groves, Dave Herbert, Steve Brodie BA PGCE MIA, 
Claire Lilley BA, Steve Pope BSc ChEng., David Farnes BDS, Eileen Farnes BDS
  Dave Baines MIA CIC  

Senior Directors...

Caroline E. Jennings BSc PGCE.
 Dr. Iain Jennings BSc PGCE PhD FRGS Chartered FCIPD  
 Tony Kendall MIST MISM FRGS, 
Wing Commander Peter Daughtrey BSc PGCE Chartered MCIPD MRAeS







  


Telephone 01433-650345


......


.......