One of the Lake District’s busiest attractions is celebrating 10 years thrilling visitors high in the treetops on the shores of Windermere.
Treetop Trek, based at the Lake District Visitor Centre, Brockhole, began life in June 2012 and has just passed the milestone of welcoming half-a-million visitors who have been challenged to swing, climb and fly their way through the ancient woodland canopy.
The business was born when founder Mike Turner was inspired to create a high ropes adventure that the whole family could enjoy together, after struggling to find activities suitable for his own young family when on holiday.
Mike pioneered an ultra-safe continuous belay system that enables participants to remain attached to the safety cable the whole way round the course. Thanks to this innovation, Treetop Trek was the first high-ropes course in the UK to welcome children as young as five years alongside people in their nineties.
The course design also features a 250m triple zip wire, which enables three people to zip together.
Mike said: “We are thrilled to be celebrating our tenth anniversary at Brockhole, it’s a great achievement for a local business like us and we have absolutely loved welcoming visitors from far and wide over the last decade.”
Treetop Trek soon expanded with the addition of ‘Climb & Zip’ and ‘Treetop Net’ activities, as well as opening locations in Manchester and Yorkshire.
Making the outdoors accessible to all ages and abilities is at the heart of the attraction, with the company investing more than £50,000 in its facilities to improve accessibility including an innovative new braking-system at the bottom of their zip-line for low impact landings, allowing wheelchair users and those with physical disabilities to also experience their thrilling treetop adventure.
The team at Treetop Trek work in close partnership with the Bendrigg Trust to make their course more accessible and have all undergone disability awareness training.
Mike said: “Getting outdoors and experiencing nature is so good for your mind and body, however we know many people with disabilities don’t get the same opportunities to access outdoor adventure. So we are proud to work with our partners at the Bendrigg Trust, to learn and receive specialist advice on how we can constantly evolve our course to welcome all ages and abilities.”
He added that Treetop Trek’s success would not be possible without its dedicated team.
He said: “Receiving the 2015 ‘Gold Winner’ of the National Tourism Experience of the Year at the Visit England Awards for Excellence just three years after launching is a testament to our amazing team who help to make visitors feel safe and have an incredible outdoor experience up in the treetops every single day.”
