Cumbria in Flood (2) 2009

The flooded main street of Cockermouth - Chris Darwin

Braving the floods at Braithwaite near Keswick - Terry Dixon

The River Derwent in Cockermouth - George Johnston

A couple walking their dog through a flooded Fitz Parl in Keswick - Phil Noble

Students preparing to paddle in the park at Ambleside - Catherine Taylor

Cumbria in Flood (1) 2009

Flood waters fill the streets of Cockermouth. Northwest England and parts of Scotland saw the most severe rains, with more rain forecast - Andrew Yates

Emergency rescue workers float past a ’Merry Christmas’ sign. Tree trunks, the tops of telephone boxes and signs pointing to Wordsworth’s house could also be seen poking from the water - Andrew Yates

More than 50 Cockermouth residents have had to be airlifted to safety - Nigel Roddis

The River Greta bursts over a retaining wall in Keswick. The Rivers Cocker, Greta and Derwent also overflowed after water levels rose 300mm in less than an hour - Christopher Furlong

A police officer died after Northside bridge, one of the main routes into the town of Workington, Cumbria, collapsed at around 4.40am on 19 November - Chris Clark

Adventure Sports Coaching - Canoe Week

By way of contrast from the last residential at UCLAN's outdoor centre, Tyn Dwr in Llangollen, the first year Adventure Sports Coaches participated in a week of canoeing under the watchful eye of Dave Luke and Chris Charlton.

Despite the poor weather and heavy rain that saw large areas of Cumbria in flood and which effected Wales also, the team were able to enjoy a full week of skills development.

A number of venues were used including the Llangollen Canal, Llyn Mymbyr and the Afon Llugwy which allowed for a number of areas of knowledge development to occur.

The students were given the opportunity to learn about boat control through activities that emphasised the adoption of good posture and the need for effective power transfer. The versatility of open canoes was highlighted by showing the students alternative modes of propulsion including poling and sailing.

By the end of the course, it was appropriate to put a number of the students through their BCU 2* paddlesports performance award. The judgement being that after 10 days of kayaking and canoeing combined, they had reached a suitable level of understanding to apply the skills learnt elsewhere. As such, and basing it on the principle of function over form, those students who sat the assessment were successful.

MLTW Course Providers Workshop

One of the benefits of being a MLTW course provider for the Climbing Wall Award and Single Pitch Award is that I am able to attend networking events such as the recent workshop organised by Bryn Williams (MLTW) and Mal Creasey (MLTE) which was hosted at Plas Caerdeon near Barmouth.

As with all these events, it is a much about catching up with peers, colleagues and old friends as it is to learn about changes in policy and procedures. It is also a useful forum for asking questions and seeking clarification on matters of course delivery and paperwork.

In the afternoon, the day took a more educative turn with John Roberts from the Snowdonia National Park, where he works as their Archeologist, who walked us through an area around Egryn Abbey were he talked about bronze and Iron age settlements and burial grounds. It was not only stimulating in itself but relevant and useful for course providers as added information for their course participants.

........and finally, what would be a good collective noun for a group of mountain skills trainers and assessors?

Single Pitch Award Training

This was my first course as an official MLTW provider, having gained approval to be so earlier in September.

The work came about via Bryn Williams, who is one of the more active and prolific providers within Wales, when Liverpool John Moores University required extra SPA providers to service a larger than usual group of students wishing to do the award.

Day one saw us go to the ever reliable Lion Rocks to look at belay systems and rope set ups for both personal and group use including abseils. The weather held out for the most part allowing us to cover a number of systems and bring about plenty of discussion. Later that day, we went to the Beacon Climbing Centre which meant we could explore the coaching dimensions of climbing as well as group belay systems and problem solving.

Day two saw us up at Pont Y Cromlech for personal climbing and for further practice of skills from the first day. We almost managed to get things covered before the rain came in. Thankfully, we were able to retreat to Pete's Eat's for debriefs and log book signing.

Get in touch should you wish to do your Single Pitch Award

Further information can be obtained by visiting the Mountain Leader Training UK website

Adventure Sports Coaching - Kayak Week

One of the degrees being run by the University of Central Lancashire is titled Adventure Sports Coaching which aims to provide students with coaching theory and practice within the context of outdoor activities. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on developing a range of professional skills and coaching techniques that are applicable within the adventure sector.

One such area of development for the students is their knowledge of and personal abilities within paddlesports, amongst other outdoor pursuits, and this week saw them come down to Tyn Dwr in Llangollen fro week one of a six week series of residential programmes run over two semesters.

The kayaking week took in a number of venues including Llangollen Canal, Trevor Basin, Llyn Alwen, sections of the Afon Dee as well as the infamous Serpents Tail. The premise being that the students will benefit from exposure to a number of environments, teaching styles and coaching processes. For instance, this week saw them working with Olly Sanders and Dan Butler who are both well established BCU coaches.

So the week began initially by looked at fundamental paddle techniques and then moved into areas of leadership, journey skills and principles of safety. So not only assisting them in becoming well rounded paddlers in their own right but also exposing the students to the broader picture of what is needed to operate in the outdoors effectively.

The students faired well and were blessed with good weather. Plenty of swims were had, some intentional, some not so. They soon learnt the philosophy that 'there are those who have swam, and there are those who are about to'. All in all a good first week for the Adventure Sports Coaching who have begun this degree programme.

Philosophiae Doctor Abstract

The Leadership Pathway:

An Epistemological Exploration of

Outdoor Leadership and

Expedition Dynamics

Using Theory Elaboration

The thesis focuses on theory elaboration and knowledge creation on the part of a practitioner-researcher examining leadership in the outdoors and on expedition. It aims to contribute to an epistemological shift in how individuals approach their development as leaders and intends to generate critical thinking in relation to the leader / participant relationship. Central to this thesis is the examination of emerging paradigms created by the enquiry process with the belief that research can inform practice, and reflection on that practice creates understanding that is applicable to future real world settings.

The research involved gathering data from key stakeholders, including the participants and leaders of outdoor education and expedition programmes, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques in order to achieve methodological diversity. Under investigation were three distinct and logically separable, yet mutually relevant perspectives. Firstly, how participants perceived leadership behaviour and what the associated effects were. Secondly, how practitioners perceived their own approach to leadership and whether an individual’s epistemological beliefs influence their worldviews. Thirdly, what relational dynamics existed between the process of leadership and the formation of a successful team as viewed in an expedition context.

A research cohort was generated by participants from schools in Wales attending 28-day overseas youth development expeditions as provided by Outlook Expeditions. Further data collection occurred by approaching established practitioners and expedition leaders in the field of outdoor education using on-line forums to give access to a UK wide sample to discuss issues emergent in contemporary leadership and expedition culture. Lastly, the investigation process adopted a phenomenographic approach with 12 participants engaging in a wilderness sea kayaking journey in Alaska to explore the dynamics that exist on expedition.

The findings highlight a number of important considerations for leadership practitioners. In order for leaders to be effective, they require a sophisticated understanding of which behaviours are most applicable as participants mature through the development process. Awareness is also needed of how epistemological beliefs affect the cognitive processes of those in a leadership role thus influencing the leader’s practices and behaviours. It is highly valuable that leaders have the capacity to be adaptive and they are motivated to act flexibly in any given situation. Participants have values, beliefs and identities that ascribe personal meaning, direction and motivation to an expedition setting. Therefore, good leadership in the outdoors depends on the integration of these personal values, beliefs and participants’ identity along with the possession of affective skills to complement them.

The thesis draws conclusions surrounding each of the studies, identifies a number of implications for leadership development and makes recommendations that centre on creating a leadership pathway framed by a competency grid. An alternate methodology for future research is also proposed.