At the beginning of February 2013 40 staff, students, postgrads and a film crew set off to the University owned Raymond Priestly Centre in the Lake District. We had a wonderful time climbing the Old Man of Coniston on the first day. The weather was glorious and we had a view all the way to Morecombe Bay from the top. The snow of the previous week was barely visible on the hillside. Lots of first years came and some from other years, it was a really good chance to get to know other members of the School of Maths in a different setting. We had a maths pub quiz and a three course dinner that evening. The winner was the coach driver who managed to see the answers as he was sitting next to Dr. Chris Sangwin who was setting the questions! The second day there was spent canoeing on Lake Coniston or walking or doing whatever anyone wanted to do.
The trip was a fun weekend and we are planning to do the same again this year and hope that it will be the start of many years to come of Birmingham Maths in the Lake District.
The whole thing was filmed so if you are interested you can have a look on Youtube for Birmingham Maths at Coniston.