As part of the efforts to add to this understanding the Field Studies Council, including staff from the Blencathra Centre, are partners in a project in Norway which aims to study the changes to a glacier over time, follow the link for more information about this summers expedition : www.tunsbergdalsbreen.no/news_no.php

However this is not the only evidence of glaciers are changing, this story on the bbc website is truly remarkable, and as such feel that it speaks for itself, please have a look.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15216875

It is not just the weather that indicates to us on the side of Blencathra that the seasons are changing, the local wildlife is also telling us they are preparing for the coming months. The past weeks have seen the swallows that have hatched earlier in the year are lining up on the guttering of the main house, looking fat enough to make the flight south to Africa and getting in the last few meals in between practice flights over the grounds and surrounding farmland. For those that can’t manage to escape these shores preparations are in hand to survive the winter months. Several of the red squirrels that have the centre for their home have been observed burying nuts around the grounds, busily taking food from the many specially designed squirrel feeders around the centre and depositing them at various sites, including plant pots!

The centre itself has seen much variety in the type of courses, as well as weather, delivered over the summer, with courses in painting, local gardens, steam boats and trains of the Lake District as well as courses for families. These courses are either led by centre tutors or associate tutors with specific expertise in their relevant area, and for the tutors at the centre often provides some variation on the school groups that we deal with throughout the year.

Families on the final day of their Farming, Bushcraft and Conservation course this summer

So the centre is far from quiet, and as the last of our leisure learning groups departed last week, the staff team are prepared for the next wave of school groups, with schools coming from all over the country and beyond, to immerse themselves in  the geography of the Lake District for their school studies. This week will see St Albans High School for Girls bring students to work towards their GCSE Controlled Assessments, followed by The European School from Brussels bringing an internationally diverse group to study for their International Baccalaureate.

So if you are lucky enough to be visiting the Blencathra Centre in the coming months, be prepared! To get the maximum out of your stay I recommend a set of waterpoofs (available from the centre) and good sense of humour.

So imagine my joy when I was sent a link from my sister, who is more at home on stage singing in a band, than standing on the side of a mountain measuring river velocity or determining the impact of a flooding event. But the world of rock n’ roll and GIS have collided. Check out this link just enter your postcode or the postcode of where you grew up, for it to work at its best close all other window and programs.

Well it took a while but summer seems to have arrived, with four very hot days in a row, although that seems set to change as many of our students would say, or text. If you are set to visit us and want to know what the weather is going to be like for your trip or just coming to the Lakes on holiday, the two sources we use for accurate, or as accurate as weather forecasting can be in the Lakes, are the Mountain Weather Information Service and the Met Office. The MWIS is the forecast we use day to day, although it only provides forecast for three days whereas the Met Office forecast is not as specific although does go further into the future. The centre has been collecting data for the Met Office every day since 1993 when we became a field centre, although thankfully they have installed an automated system for collecting data last year, this means we no longer have to trudge out to the field below the centre in all weather at 09:oo every day of the year, Christmas day included! The data on temperature and rainfall is collected by a variety of apparatuses and sent remotely to the Met office, who send us an electronic copy of the data at the end of each month. We, sadly, get quite excited about this and have a little game of guess the highest and lowest temperature or total rainfall of the month. Last month, as you may have been aware if you were present in the North West was not too June like, with the total rainfall reaching 92mm with only ten days receiving no rain at all, while the 5th June saw the temperature only just rise above 10°C .

Meanwhile in cyberspace we have now not only got a twitter account (@blencathrafsc), a blog but now have a Facebook fan page, just search blencathra FSC field centre in facebook and then like us, please!

As summer approaches, the centre begins to prepare for the two certainties of the season, biology courses and ‘changeable’ weather. As I type, the weather is overcast with a few showers blowing through and the first of two A-level biology groups have arrived for a course this weekend. They will be studying topics such as zonation on a rocky shore, freshwater invertebrates and management of heather moorlands. Here’s hoping the weather holds dry(ish)!

In other news, congratulations to two of our tutors who have just passed their minibus driving tests, allowing them to drive bigger vehicles, and therefore more students to fieldwork sites around Cumbria.

In an effort to bring our work to a wider audience and allow future and past guests of the Blencathra Centre to be kept in touch with the goings on at the field studies centre on the side of Blencathra. Future advancements are planned, including Facebook and Twitter (although we intend to use this for higher purposes than revealing the secrets of footballers).

So what is/has been going on at the centre recently? Well as the schools return after their half term breaks the centre has been populated by those attending our leisure learning courses, with a group of moth and butterfly enthusiasts as well as a group on the Spring Photography In The Lakes run by Rob Ward (www.robwardphotography.com). An example of the work done by the latter is included hereClick to view slideshow..

But as we move into a new week schools are expected, covering all manner of topics and age groups; A-level geography and biology, GCSE controlled assessments and as I type 40 year 7-9s have arrived to enjoy a combination of geographical studies as well  as ghyll scrambling and team building activities. The centre has been part of the Field Studies Council delivering environmental understanding for all since 1993 and our website gives more information about what the centre offers in terms of facilities or courses.