PASS masters

I TAKE A deep breath in an attempt to calm my rapidly rising heart rate, trying not to look down or think about anything other than the process I need to go through to make it around the edge of the rock face.

A task easier said than done, suspended from a sheer cliff face hundreds of feet above the valley floor, held by little more than a rope and two small carabiners.

I have to admit, this is not the usual predicament a visitor to the Lake District would expect to find themselves in, but then, this has been anything but your usual trip to what is, without doubt, one of the UK’s most alluring regions.

Autumn colour

At the time of our visit to the Lakes, the area’s already beautiful scenery had been heightened by the gentle touch of autumn’s hand. Great swathes of golden brown and burnt orange contrasted with the fading greens of summer, leaving the landscape looking very much like an oil painting.

My original plan had been to spend