The landlady of a popular hotel is preparing for the walk of her life, as she trains for a gruelling hike in the Himalayas and an audience with the Dalai Lama, reports Andy Bloxham.

Barbara Street, 50, landlady of the Sun Hotel, at Troutbeck Bridge, lost her brother Robert to small cell cancer last May and wants to raise more than £2,600 in his memory.

She has already begun training for the walk for Cancer Research UK that will take her along the course of the Tibetan River Uhl, from 6,000ft into the thin air at 13,000ft.

On the way she will stay at Buddhist monasteries and pass through towering rhododendron forests.

However, the highlight is likely to be a private audience for the walkers with the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

She has even been told she can ask him a question but has not made up her mind yet what to ask.

Mrs Street has been training for the expedition by walking two or three times a week over well-known Lake District peaks such as Helvellyn and Helm Crag (the Lion and the Lamb) at Grasmere.

With her walking partner and fellow Himalayan hiker, Julie Brockbank, 40, who is raising money for Action for the Blind, she has arranged a host of other fund-raising events.

Last Saturday (July 24) there was a mini-Olympics at the Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge, with welly wanging, rounders and a barbecue.

Later in the summer, a gaggle of girls will dress in St Trinian's outfits and drive around Ambleside, Bowness and Windermere in a free limousine.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Mrs Street can contact her at the Sun Hotel on 015394-43274.