TIME

TIME

Time, where does it go? this blog was started in 2017 and saved as a draft. Other things took over and almost four years later here I am finishing it, not knowing whether anyone will read it or not. 

As a company we are still here, the past four years have been up and down, but by the end of 2019 we were on the up with regards to bookings. 

So what's new? well the best way I recon is to work backwards. Quackers the disabled, one legged duck who has taken over our life since joining our family in 2016, has just yesterday (Wednesday 24th February 2021) had her first children's book published on Amazon Books. I (David T Firth director of Adventure21 ltd) have now apparently become a published author, which wasn't planned but that takes us forward to Covid19 and a world wide lockdown that saw Quackers and myself living in an off grid cabin built from 90% recycled materials. 

The cabin, which we started in January 2016, became liveable just as the March lockdown date hit. We had initially planned a two week off grid stint for around May time 2020 as a sort of short project, but this soon turned into something longer and as the weeks turned into months, Quackers and myself relaxed into off grid living. A book about Quackers adventures was always on the cards but the lockdown gave us the ideal opportunity to write. Being Dyslexic, books are not something I take part in often, reading and writing are not my strong point so this is a bit of a proud moment for me personally,  that's not to say Dyslexia has been a major issue in my life, after all it made me become more hands on in life and I suppose circumstances have lead me into the world of Adventure Activities. Whether it was the total isolation, including no phone or internet service that did it or actual events in the woods, it was decided that the book was going to be about the daily goings on in the woods and the friendships forged with Quackers and the many woodland creatures.....including fairies and elves. The book "Quackers and the feather fairies" is a heart warming glimpse into the life of this wonderful little girl. You can follow Quackers Adventures on Instagram or FaceBook.

What's planned for the future? well, I recon the future is bright. The past twelve months has been tough on everyone in some way, shape or form, some have had it a lot worse than others that has to be said. How has it been for us? Financially, we are not in a good place, but we have used the time to keep a positive mindset and to focus on the things in life that sometimes we take for granted. In 2019 we had big plans for Adventure21 and had increased our activities list to include Archery Tag, Axe throwing and Catapulting. 2020 was to be our 20th Anniversary year which we intended to celebrate with a birthday party. Twenty years of adventures is something to celebrate, but hey, I suppose we should celebrate everyday.

We aim to open up again in late March 2021 and bookings are now being taken through our WEBSITE its never been easier as we now take online BOOKINGS with a link from most pages. If you are like me and like to talk to someone you can give us a call on 01257474467, if we are unable to answer for any reason please leave a message and we will call you straight back. You can also get updates of activities through our social media plat forms as we still update on Instagram and FaceBook

Will this be the first and last Blog of 2021?? that is yet to be seen, but as part of my positive outlook I'm going to do two things right now... one, promise myself that we will sell one million copies of Quackers book and then buy her a van to travel around the country doing book signings and two, keep up more informative blogs to motivate people to get out and about that little bit more this year.

One final note, if your interested in reading a little bit more about Quackers, Adventure21 and me, Dave Firth you can have a read of a recent Blog from Alison Winword Just scroll to the bottom of the page, find the Occasional Blog section and click on One man and his... duck

All the very best to anyone reading, call us for a chat about anything and stay positive, Thank you, Dave

A very quick view from the summit of Coniston Old man

Energize your team with a summit walk of one of the many fantastic mountain walks in the Lake District. Its a great way to get your team communicating whilst taking part in a great day out. www.adventure21.co.uk

Cancer Research team building day

Family gorge scrambling in The Lake District

A hungover stag group getting a wake up call!

2016 Aquaseiling, abseiling down waterfalls in Coniston, Lake District

The Esk Gorge with www.adventure21.co.uk

Aquaseiling, abseiling down waterfalls in the Lake District with Adventu...

Lake District, Gorge walking stag party, Church Beck in big water 2015

Busy Busy Busy, January into February 2015

Most people will know that in the Adventure activities industry it tend's to be busy during the main months March to November and then we get lots of free time to do the important yet a little mundane job's, checking kit, re kitting the stores etc

January 2015 has been a little different than past years, with people wanting to get into the outdoors earlier. We have had the best January to date with Stag and Hen bookings exceeding our expectations and Corporate team building events doubling for the time of year.

It's great to see people taking advantage of the good weather. Although its been cold, we have had some blue sky days. Wrap up warm and this make for a great day out.

The evenings are getting lighter which allows us to extend our sessions where need be. Recently we worked with Network Rail and with the longer days we were able to work into the early evening for them.

The Network Rail team enjoyed a two day team building event with us, they took part in orienteering, Open canoeing, paintball games and raft building as part of their 6 monthly training program.

Its always great to see companies work hard together to create a better team and The Network Rail team did exactly that.

As a team, the Adventure 21 staff have been out and about this month as well. This time it was our 3 yearly First Aid up date course.

This year was a little different as we ran the course in the sheep shed at Wilcocks Farm and Caravan Site. Our course was run once again by Chris Brain who we have used for the past few years.

Its a great course and well worth doing. First aid is a part of everyday life and should be on the top of everyone's list....go get yourself booked on or we could get a course together for you!

This month we also had a group of chaps abseiling at Hodge Close Quary near Coniston. These fella's were a pleasure to work with.

They have been meeting in Coniston for the past 30 plus years and take part in some activities every year. It was great to be chosen as the activities provider for their 2015 trip and hopefully they will come to us again in 2016.

They even dressed Dave up at the end of the session and i am sure you will agree he looks like he has lost some weight!!!!! enjoy

So whats happening in February? well its more staff training on the White Water Safety and Rescue two day course and lots more groups! if you have any questions please get in touch, all the best, the Adventure 21 team.

January 2015

Well i feel apologies are needed for those who follow our Blog. Last year went in a flash and with trying to keep up with Facebook, Twitter and Adventure 21 we seem to have neglected our blog.

So in 2015 we will try to do better and keep you informed of whats going on month to month at Adventure 21.

Some people ask what we do when we are not out doing Adventure activities. Well in short, everyone needs a hobby and mine is Chickens and Farming. I'm lucky to have friends who own and run Wilcocks farm and caravan site.

Adventure 21 have used the farm as a base for Archery, Rifle shooting and Team building events so we have been friends for some time and a couple of years ago i started looking for a new hobby outside of the usual Adventure activities. I had been helping out on the farm for some year's, coming in to help with lambing at busy times, so the farm seemed a good place to start.

Far left, Harvey from Adventure 21, Middle Farmer Dave and far right grumpy Johnny from Adventure 21 helping packing fleece's during the sheep shearing.

One of the areas which started to interest me was the hen's. Having never had any experience around poultry it was all new and just by chance a friend of mine, John, in Coniston, in the Lake District had just hatched out some Silkies and was selling an Brinsea incubator. Along with some egg's i received from a friend at the farm i hatched my first eggs in September 2013.

Four white Silkie cockerels and one little black Silkie

Things have now grown and i have become a little addicted to the hens. We have over 40 mixed breads who all life happily together, most of the time!

This is me with Little Mo, a Well-summer bantam who  was the only one out of a batch of eggs.

Daisy the yew is more than happy sharing food with the hen's

The farm is a total contrast to the Adventure Activities but its a great way to relax after a few days of climbing up hills or jumping of cliff's, which although great fun, is hard graft.

Four of my Silkies with two Bearded Silkies that we adopted

A pet lamb with my hat on.

Ok so next month we will be back on to Adventure and whats been happening at Adventure 21. Unless that is, you have enjoyed the insight into our free time.

Well into summer!

Well summer is finally here! we have had some great weather so far in July and in fact the down pours in between have been welcome and refreshing!

Family day gorge and canyoning in the Esk valley

We have been running some great family activity sessions and last week we did some gorge scrambling and canyoning in the Esk valley which is a great venue for all the family.

Fantastic views all the way

The Esk is a great venue, its got a 30 minute walk in but don't let that put you off, its well worth it, lots of big and small jumps to do into big deep pools, and Crystal clear pools at that! its great for all the family and you can do as much or as little as you want.

Great day out for family groups on Holiday

We have some great activities running over the summer so why not check us out, ITS SUMMER come on get out there with us. See you soon, Dave

Its been a while!

Well what can i say...its been so busy this year so far its been difficult to keep up with all the social media information. Something has to suffer and its unfortunately had to be our blog!

Our Facebook group continues to be a great source of conversation and enables us to send pictures out to our customers and lets them tell us how we are doing!

We have had some great new friends join us on our activities sessions and birthday parties and stag and hen days are on the increase meaning people are staying at home more than going abroad, this can only be good for the economy.

we cater for all sizes of stag groups on paintball

We have also recently joined Trip Advisor which is giving us great feedback and hopefully help with bookings in the future.

Raft building team building days

We can't complain about the weather either, already on week two of sunshine, if we can have a few more weeks of this before winter we will all be very happy.

A hot day in the Esk gorge

Well its a short one this time but i will have to get back out in this sunshine working....enjoy the weather!

December / January

Whats been happening at Adventure 21 over December? its been a busy time clearing the store and sorting the kit ready for 2013. It all starts early, out with the old and in with the new. Sessions always slow down with the run up to Christmas but we do get Christmas Party Bookings so its still a busy month.

Dave's briefing with Chorley Panthers

This year we did Chorley Panthers U12's Christmas party which Samson and Lewis (our youngest instructors) are members of.

Paintball at nightfall

Our site in Blackburn was wet and muddy but it all added to the event with everyone going the distance and even finishing in the dark.

Bookings for 2013 have been coming in thick and fast. Group bookings are up from last year and individuals bookings are helping to add dates to our Future Events page on our website, look our for deals on our Facebook page as well as Facebook friends get very special deals!!!

On a personal note, i have been getting into Fly fishing with one of Adventure 21's instructors Paul "Chopper" Harris. We do Coarse fishing at Adventure 21 but Fly fishing is a new one for us.

Paul catches a nice Trout

We have been out a lot over the winter months mainly at Curley's Trout Fishery in Horwich, near Bolton. Well worth a visit, fantastic cafe on site with a great fishermans breakfast.

and that's where i'm off to right now. More details on the coming activities and news about Adventure 21 will be posted soon. All the best for the New Year and we hope to see you soon, Dave

November

Coniston Old Man from Torver

Well there's a chill in the air now we are into November, good to see the clear Sky's are back though. Work is still coming in so it looks like its going to be a great Autumn and Winter.

The Instructors don't know whats hit them....still working and its November, usually they are on Holiday or sleeping!

One group we don't mention much but are a big part of Adventure 21 life are the staff at Coniston Boating Centre. We work closely with the Boating Centre staff and this year some of them went out for a climb with Aaron and Harvey after work.

Apparently it was a great evening apart from the midges. Maybe more fun next year with some bigger climbs???

Its not all work though, here are Pete and Will in training for a junior Triathlon. Good look boys, your in good form.

Its great to see some bigger groups taking advantage of the clear days. This ATC group came to us last week for some abseiling and gorge scrambling. All had a great time and left some really positive comments on our face book group which is always nice.

Looking forward to getting them back to us next year, this time maybe in the summer lol.

 Well its been a great year so far thanks to a great team of instructors, well done and thank you all. Keep an eye open for more Adventure 21 news coming soon, all the best, Dave

September and October at Adventure 21

September and October at Adventure 21

Summer has been and gone, or has it? after a wet summer it looks like the weather is clearing up and drying out for the Autumn. Just in time for the Team Building Season! 

Blindfold square with GMP

Over the past few years the uptake for Team Building events and away days has been a little slow due to money being tight. Things are now on the up though and with Adventure 21 offering some great deals on team building events. 

Crates crossing with Places for People

We have also updated our site at P.A.C.E Training Consultants this is the team building arm of Adventure 21 ltd and was set up with the sole intention of providing affordable fun team building events and away days for business, rugby clubs, football clubs and youth groups.

Archery during a team building exercise in The Lake District

Don't forget our team building days are not just for work. We have a lot of groups who choose to do team building days for fun days out. We have a purpose set orienteering course in Coniston which take in both the fells to the West and the Lake to the East. Its a great day out which is done on foot or by bike and then by canoe or kayak on Coniston Water.

Doodles Nursery staff from Chorley on the water based orienteering course

Its a great way to get out with family and friends for a fun day out with a little bit of competition, you can even win our special Adventure 21 medals!

GMP medal ceremony

Don't forget we work all year round and have activities to suit all ages and abilities. With the weather getting a little colder there is nothing like rapping up warm and getting outdoors for some adventure activities. Whether its in the Lake District or in the Lancashire / Manchester areas we have activities going on right through Autumn, Winter and Spring so don't feel you need to stay indoors.

Youth group enjoying the raft building on Coniston Water last month

Well that's it again for now, you can catch up on our regular goings on on our FACEBOOK page, if your not with us, join now for some great deals at very reduced rates. See you all soon, Dave

July & August at Adventure 21

Apologies for the long delay in getting our blog written, July, August and the beginning of September have been a really busy time for the Adventure 21 team.

I am still in charge of the office at the minute as Lisa is still on maternity leave and the good news is that baby Sol is doing well and is already in training to be an Adventure 21 instructor, well you need to start them early really don't you.

Summer Holidays

Family bush craft day

The weather over the summer didn't break any records...well maybe for the amount of rain and the number of dull days. Even so our customers came out to play and all had a great time. The feeling of "well if its wet, we may as well do something in the wet" has never been so strong.

Gorge scrambling during the summer holidays in Coniston, Lake District

This summer we have seen a big increase in the number of customers who are coming back to us year on year. Its great to start as customers and go away as friends which is what we like at Adventure 21, its one big family. Come and find out.

Sit on top kayaks on Coniston Water

As we move into Autumn it looks like the weather is going to improve so why not come and visit us. We still have plenty going on all year round. The views at the minute are fantastic as well, especially in the mornings.

Aaron kitting up Graham Ballard

During a recent sponsored abseil we had the pleasure of meeting Graham Ballard 100 metre sprint silver medal winner. He was great to talk to and let us all wear his medal. A proud moment for the Adventure 21 instructors.

All ages took part in the day and raised money for the church roof fund. Its a great way to help with local causes.

Even the young spectators enjoyed to abseil when mum came down.

Adventure 21 run many sponsored events through the year, if you need any help or advice on this please get in touch with us.

Well hopefully with the season getting a little bit quieter i may get time to keep you updated about whats going on behind the schemes at Adventure 21, take care and see you all soon, cheers Dave