Good evening from St Michael's once again, where we have had a shopping frenzy in the Hathersage Toy and Gift Emporium in the past hour!

Having enjoyed excellent hospitality at the Little John in Hathersage, all of a 2 minute walk from base, we then shopped until we dropped....and then shopped some more, just for good measure.

Today's most popular item was a cuddly Hathersage hedgehog by the name of Bracken who many of you will no doubt be meeting very soon. The initial batch sold out in seconds, so we had to go to the secret storeroom and acquire more...and he was so cute that at least one of the adults had to buy one for themselves too.

Calm and peace have since been restored and the children will be getting ready for bed quite soon, with one more main activity to go tomorrow- Treak Cliff Cavern. A real gem of a place.

Goodnight from us here, we'll have one last update tomorrow morning before we leave!

Mr G

The second day of the Hathersage trip is always our long walk up hills and down dale until we reach Stanage Edge where, on a good day, the views extend for miles.

Luckily, today was one such day and we were afford tremendous views across the whole of the Hope Valley which more than compensated the children for all the hard work they had to undergo to reach the summit! The children were again so engaged and enthused throughout the walk and not a single complaint was heard all day long.

A huge well done to all the children who are, as I type, making their own sandwiches for tomorrow and tidying their rooms.

Parents, know this: they can tidy and be clean as well as climb mountains. Never be told otherwise!

Mr G.

Good morning all from Hathersage!

Just a quick message ahead of the today's long walk. Children slept really pretty well last night, considering how excited they were and they are currently filling their tummies ahead of today's activity!

I know how much you all like seeing photos of the children while they are away- we are working on that too, so you can share their pleasure at being away. Hopefully we'll be able to show you some soon. Have a great day everyone- more updates when we get back from Stanage Edge!

Mr G

It's nearly the end of the day here at St Michael's and what a great day it has been! Without exception, the children have been really engaged and interested in what we have been doing- and of course, really well behaved too.

Some of the group even went out on an evening bat walk too. We had brief glimpses of our nocturnal friends and also saw Hathersage at night, which was beautiful.

So, then end of a very successful day. All we need to do now is grab our teddies and head to bed!

More in the morning. Goodnight!