Quentin Merritt

Julie Lawrence

Melissa Hart

Quentin Merritt is 45 years old and almost a local! His family is from Keswick originally and he now lives in Keswick himself. He has walked extensively throughout the Lakes since early childhood and has completed several long distance routes including the gruelling 24 hour ‘Lakes Three Thousand Footers’. Quentin has also walked abroad, with ascents of Mont Blanc (4,810m) in France and Popocatepetl (5,452m) in Mexico.

Quentin trained as an outdoor pursuits instructor as part of his teacher training, and has taught outdoor pursuits in the UK and USA. He has also taught environmental studies in higher education and worked for the Lake District National Park Authority. He is passionate about the cultural and natural heritage of the Lakes, and currently works as a freelance consultant.

Julie Lawrence has spent over ten fantastic years working in the field of environmental education and playing in the hills. In her spare time, Julie can be found walking up mountains here and in Europe, being at the end of a rope on a rock climb, or cycle touring - at present completing, chunk by chunk, the 6000km North Sea cycle route.

In her professional career she has worked for the Field Studies Council teaching all ages from 4 year olds to 74 year olds about the environment, managed education and community departments in two Wildlife Trusts and at present works for the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Melissa Hart currently works as a senior lecturer in outdoor leadership at the Penrith Campus of the University of Central Lancashire. Previous employment includes spells working for Coventry LEA Outdoor and the Field Studies Council in Snowdonia.

Melissa has trekked, skied and climbed all over the world including France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Canada, Greece and India. Her recent exploits have been to trek Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro by the 'machame' route in Tanzania. But she considers Cumbria to be her true home and with the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Pennine Fells all close to hand, there's often no need to travel far for a glorious day of adventure.