Postgraduate outing for UCL Hiking Club!

As we move further from the start of term, undergraduates across the university have had various forms of Reading Week.

One thing that unites postgraduate students across the disciplines is the lack of a mid-term break! The Union has also identified postgraduates as one of the least likely groups to engage in sports and society events. With half of the UCL Hiking Club committee studying towards postgraduate degrees, we wanted to tackle this disengagement, and decided to run a Project Active event.

For our venue, we figured an escape from the rat race of London was necessary, so we headed for the Chiltern Hills, just north of London and only 45 minutes by train from Euston. We'd received a tip-off from UCL Gliding Club that they were going to be flying over the Chilterns that weekend too, so we hoped for clear skies! Alas, it was not to be, and we suffered incessant rain from the moment we left the train in Tring. Not to be put off, we ventured up the first hill of the day, through the sleepy Chiltern village of Aldbury, up to Bridgewater Monument in the Ashridge Estate.

After a quick stop for lunch and a hot drink at the café, we continued our ramble through the woods to Ivinghoe Beacon. On a good day, you can see for miles from the top of this hill… but we were only able to see the grey clouds that overshadowed the walk. Instead, the bright colours of the autumn leaves fading out into the mist were the subject of many photos.

Nevertheless, the group were all in good spirits - glad to be away from their studies and research for a few hours! With lots of chatter, the poor views were almost forgotten as we found out about projects in Economics, Human and Computer Interactions, Biology and many more. 31 people working on quite different subject areas! To finish, we joined an ancient long distance route called 'The Ridgeway' for a few kilometres, taking us back to the station, where we all headed back to the warmth of home.

If you'd be interested in joining us on some of our other events, find out more on our website: www.uclhiking.co.uk. We take day trips every weekend to locations around London and the South East and try and squeeze in a long weekend away each term. We are open to all UCL students, whether you're undergrad, postgrad, visiting or associate! Staff can also join us as associate members of the Union. Find out more on the Students' Union UCL website!

Alice Carty, UCL Hiking Club Treasurer and PhD student in UCL Biosciences