We have upgraded our accommodation for this visit to the Old Brathay building, a lovely old, stone built property sleeping 32 across 8 dormitory rooms taking between 2 and 6 people in bunk beds across the 2 floors of bedrooms. There is large dining room, a self catering kitchen, a games room and social rooms on the ground floor. The views from the building are lovely across the grounds of Brathay Hall and its 300 acre estate; Old Brathay is a little bit closer to walk into Ambleside village too which is a bonus.

Bedding is provided so unless you have a favourite pillow or comforter you don’t need to carry your bedding with you.

We can’t guarantee which size room you will be in however the smaller rooms will be allocated to the early bookers or couples wherever possible. If you have to have a bottom bunk (for medical reasons), please let us know at the time of booking as most people would prefer a bottom bunk but there are almost as many top bunks as bottoms that we need to fill!

Campervans: There are 6 grasscrete pitches with electric hookups for campervans on the Brathay Estate which are a few minutes walk away from our group accommodation with a tap nearby for fresh water. Please note there are no showering or toilet facilities (nor disposal for chemical toilets) - you will need to utilise the ones in our Spice exclusive accommodation at Old Brathay a short walk away. Tents are not permitted and the site is on sloping ground, so level-up wheel ramps may be required.

These weekends are very much about throwing yourself in to the Spice Spirit and helping out where needed especially cleaning up after meals and before we depart on the Monday morning.

We will be mucking in and cooking/organising breakfast on the Saturday and Sunday morning with a continental breakfast on the Monday morning. There will be one of Lauren's lovely buffets organised for our Friday night arrival and with hot meals on the other nights. We can pop in to the beautiful Ambleside village in search of a nice hostelry and if we are lucky some live music, though we are within walking distance of the village of Ambleside itself this is via small country lanes so you might want to factor in a taxi trip for getting back (or even there) as the roads can be busy.

Walking: being located in Ambleside there are plenty of options and our walk leader will pick the best walks based on the weather and conditions on the day.

Non Walkers: For the non walkers there is plenty going on within driving distance. The village itself offers plenty of attractions with lots of shops, tea-shops, outdoor clothing suppliers. Within driving distance Rydal Hall Gardens, Grizedale Forest, Windermere and plenty more places to keep you interested. The Windermere lake ferry terminal at Waterhead Pier dates back to 1845. Nowadays ferries can be taken to Bowness and Lakeside pier near Newby Bridge, Wray Castle and Brockhole Visitor Centre.

In the summer months you can take a horse drawn carriage from the centre of Ambleside for the 1 mile to Waterhead Pier. As well as the ferry and cruise services you can hire motor and rowing boats or feed the ducks and swans.

A short ferry ride from Waterhead is Brockhole, the Lake District National Park Visitor Centre. Set in 30 acres of gardens it offers boat hire, bike hire, tree top trek, laser clay shooting and archery as well as special events. Facilities are excellent, including plenty of places to eat and drink. Accessibility is very good.

Parking: there is onsite parking close to the building with an overflow car park down near Brathay Hall itself.

Full joining instructions will be sent out approximately 1 week ahead of the event.