Ilam Hall Residential 22nd – 26th June 2026

On Monday morning 116 extremely excited children (our record number to date) were waved off from school on their three coaches as they left for their week’s residential to Ilam Hall Youth Hostel in the Derbyshire Peak District.  Despite busy traffic on the motorways and a slightly longer than usual journey,the children all arrived in high spirits.

After the long coach journey, the children needed to burn off their energy – and there could be no better way than to climb either Thorpe Cloud or Bunster Hill!  Living in Essex, they never truly anticipated the steepness of the gradients involved, but all were determined to succeed. Collapsing at the top they drank in the amazing views of the countryside and an almost complete lack of human civilisation.

That evening, back at Ilam Hall, the children had their first taste of hostel meals and were greatly impressed. There was a great variety of delicious food was on offer!  It was then time to unpack their luggage andorganise their rooms – quite an ‘interesting’ experience for some children!  Later that evening they had plenty of time to explore the facilities and the picturesque play areas outside.

Tuesday was a day of two halves.  By now the heat was beginning to build, but at West Leigh we never allow weather conditions to put us off! Half the day was spent visiting Chatsworth House followed by an exploration of the gardens.  Special highlights for the children were finding their way in (and then out!) of the maze and then cooling off under the fountain in the Great Lake!  The other half of the day was a cyclealong the Tissington Trail (now a nature trail but originally the London to Manchester Railway Line) – the only activity all week involving level ground and no steep gradients.  

Wednesday was a day of even hotter weather and after a cooked breakfast the children left on their coaches to Castleton and the Hope Valley.  The morning was spent exploring the famous Blue John Caverns, the only place in the world where the gemstone ‘Blue John’ is found, and the afternoon involved a sun cream smothered hike up Mam Tor with a further walk along the mountain ridge overlooking the start of the famous Pennine Way.  Thank goodness there were enough ice-creams to go round when we wearily arrived back at Castleton.

And guess what?  On Thursday the sun was once again beating down with temperatures unprecedented for the Peak District.  The children were fine, but were all worried about the poor sheep in their woolly fleeces!  Although the week was quickly approaching its end, a day at Alton Towers ensured that energy levels remained at 100%.  Seven hours at the country’s most popular theme park meant that the children had plenty of opportunities to head for their favourite rides - Oblivion, Nemesis, Smiler, Galactica, Rita, Thirteen … these were all popular destinations and were discussed many times over and in great detail throughout the whole evening!

And finally came Friday.  By now it was taking more than a knock on the door to wake the children!  Cases needed to be packed, beds unmade and rooms emptied before our final hike of the trip.  Despite theunprecedented heatwave it had been a fantastic week - exciting activities, delicious food, amazing scenery - but most important was that the children were such good company and well behaved - a credit to West Leigh and a credit to their parents.