Some of us are around for the full stretch, everyone is together for the main weekend. This itinerary is a loose plan, nothing's locked in, so shout if you want to organise something.... but please help eat the hog roast on Sunday.
Sat 22 Aug, Leo's Baptism, 3pm
St Ann's, Vicarage Ave, Cheadle Hulme
Sun 23 Aug, Lily's 13th Birthday
Celebrate our superstar Lily
Mon 24 Aug – Thu 27 Aug, Early arrivals
Early birds settle in
First walks
Tea, cakes and adventures
Fri 28 Aug, Weekend begins
Main group arrives
Evening: Fish n Chip supper — please send your order through to Michael
Last orders at Tweedie's Bar
Sat 29 Aug, Anna's Birthday
Run 5 miles + gym session + porridge and banana — all before 8am
11am(ish!) walk — multiple levels of getting lost available
Evening BBQ at the cottage
Family pub quiz?
Sun 30 Aug, Michael's Big 4-0
Morning run
A quick hike or a wander around Grasmere
2pm Hog Roast at the cottage
Veggie options available!
Summer pop up by Tafarn Pen Pinwydd
Party dress code: Michael through the years
Games & party time
Finish up in Tweedies
Mon 31 Aug, Weekend ends
Bank holiday Monday
Relaxed morning
Main group starts heading home
Tue 1 Sep – Thu 3 Sep, Wind-down
Last few stragglers
Back to school
Michael/Nicole/Leo fly to NYC on Friday 4 Sep
Things to Do
Grasmere and the surrounding fells, for every energy level and age.
🥾 Walks
Easedale Tarn
Loughrigg Fell
Fairfield Horseshoe
Helvellyn
Silver How
Helm Crag
🍺 Food & Drink
Tweedies Bar — good beer garden
Grasmere Gingerbread Shop (the original, tiny, essential)
The Distiller's Arms
Traveller's Rest, just out of the village
Lucia's Coffee and Bakehouse
Mathilde's Café
🌧️ Rainy Day
Dove Cottage & Wordsworth Museum
Heaton Cooper Studio
Sam Read Bookstore
Board games / cards back at the house
Pencil Museum
Visit nearby Keswick, Ambleside, Bowness on Windermere
Katie wrote 8 explanations for her book ratings on StoryGraph — this was her most recent review: "Beautiful descriptions of landscapes, relationships, of family love. Its slower than I expected but its more about the characters relationships"
Treasure Hunt
A running list of things to try over the week. Tick them off as you go (it'll remember, on this device).
0 of 1,280 points
Go to Tweedies for a pint+10 pts
Put a stone on a cairn on a fell+10 pts
Memorise a few lines of Wordsworth (bonus points for reciting them at dinner)+10 pts
Try an ice cream flavour you've never had before+10 pts
Draw or paint a picture of the trip+10 pts
Babysit Leo, Ruairí &/or Odhran⭐ +1,000 pts
Buy the Grasmere gingerbread+10 pts
Get in the water — a swim, or just a toe, in the lake or a tarn+10 pts
Get the whole group in one photo+10 pts
Learn a Cumbrian dialect word and use it correctly+10 pts
Sit on a bench and read a book+10 pts
Visit Dove Cottage or the Wordsworth Museum+10 pts
Bag a Wainwright+10 pts
Play a game of Pooh sticks+10 pts
Go on a boat on Grasmere lake+10 pts
Play a board game+10 pts
Change a nappy (25 points wet, 100 points poop)25–100 pts
Eat some naughty chips+10 pts
Drink a brown lemonade+10 pts
Take a wee bun and a tea in your hand+10 pts
Tip: this checklist saves per device/browser, so it won't sync between everyone's phones — think of it as a personal scorecard rather than a shared leaderboard. Nappy points are self-certified, use your judgement.