On 29th December 2002, we both headed up towards the Lake District to spend New Year.

We were heading towards a small village in the north of the Lakes called Hesket Newmarket. Here we were to meet up with Claire, Paul & Jack, together with Michelle & Paul, and Jackie & Mike. They were all staying up in the village for a whole week, but due to our usual hectic Christmas schedule, we were only able to spend a few days with them.

We were all staying in a lovely cottage called "The Temperance Hall" which in the recent past has been converted from a storage building into a holiday cottage.

Whilst we were there, we were able to take the opportunity to go on a couple of long walks where we able to sample the beauty of the Lake District.

The longest walk was on our first day there when Mike, the two Pauls, Kirsty and myself (the other girls went on a shopping trip!) headed up into the fens.

It was a very enjoyable walk where we got to see plenty of snow and some spectacular scenery at the top.

We did, however, have a bit of a "hairy" descent, where we found we had a limited amount of time left to complete our descent in the failing light.

Due to this we took a rather more strenuous (though no less enjoyable!) "route" following a stream down from the top. The terrain was particularly "challenging" on the way down, though we were all extremely pleased to rejoin the path once again further down!

Safely back in Hesket Newmarket (via a first celebratory and quite relieved pint of Jennings!), we spent New Year's Eve back at the cottage. Here we had a fantastic evening eating (especially the "spicy" TNT cheese!) drinking (except for the Aftershocks!) and playing lots of party games (Official "Bop It!" champion speaking!!)

Next day (with us all being remarkably un-hungover!) myself and Kirsty made the short trip over to Cockermouth where we met up with some of our friends, Jude and Dave, who were visiting Jude's family for New Year. We sampled some more of the local famous Jennings beer (which was fondly remembered by both of us from our University days!) and even attempted to visit the brewery, which was sadly closed on New Year's Day!!

For our final day in the Lakes, we were joined by Dad and Dana, who had made the trip up from Manchester for the day. We took them both out for a leisurely walk (unfortunately in the rain this time!) before we ended up in a local pub for a lovely dinner (and a final pint of Jennings!)

All in all, a brilliant few days (sadly not enough!) which was a great way to spend New Year!!