Reflections on Ambleside Mountain Rescue

Stories from a Brief Spell as a member of Ambleside/Langdale Mountain Rescue.

Painting of The Langdales by Pettitt

By early in the 1970s I had nearly all the Lake District Fells under my belt, and, as a Scout leader since around 1965, I had spent a fair amount of time learning and teaching Map Reading skills.

Phones and Satnavs were not available until around 1973 and the early 1980s respectively!

In the 1960s and till around 1970 the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel was run by a real Mountain Character “Sid Cross”. This Hotel and person were the base for the Langdale Mountain Rescue Team. A small number of locals would respond to Sid's phone call about an incident, and Rescuers were recruited by Sid visiting his busy Bar and selecting likely looking Walkers/Mountaineers, and inviting them to help with whatever search or rescue was required.

Then, as now, many people where out on the hills without the correct gear or navigational skills. Then again, accidents will happen!

I recall helping with one late evening search when two boys were incorrectly reported missing from accommodation in Wasdale. An extensive search was organised to take in Upper Langdale, along Crinkle Crags to Bowfell, and as far as Scafell Pike. Several occupants of the Old Dungeon Ghyll bar got involved.

It subsequently turned out that the two lost walkers from Wasdale were in fact from Eskdale, and were two of those who had been selected to help !! Their landlady had reported them missing in the early evening as they had failed to telephone her to say that they were safe.

Whoever SHE had spoken to had incorrectly passed on the message about Wasdale, so the two boys from Eskdale didn't twig the significance.

So the two boys had, in effect, been helping to search for themselves.! As you can imagine, calling off a search was a slow process, as Mobile Phones were not yet invented.

Around about this time, the Langdale and Ambleside Rescue teams amalgamated to become Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team, (LAMRT). The newish Ambleside team was led, as I recall, by a man called Stuart Hulse.

From this point things became much more structured, and premises were rented on Old Lake Rd, Ambleside.

Although I had purchased a property in Ambleside, I was still resident in Blackpool. As a Chartered Accountant I had several clients in the Ambleside area, including one who was a member of the rescue team (Bob Cambridge). It was he who persuaded me to join the team, and who introduced me to Stuart Hulse.

Despite my living at a distance it was agreed that I become a sort of “lay” member. I travelled up after work every Tuesday, to arrive in time for a practice evening which started around 6.30pm.

The team possessed a Land Rover and a large, heavy, two way radio, and, as it only had good reception when you were in specific locations, we had to walk the hills looking for those locations.

As I lived in Blackpool I was of no help with most rescues, but for searches I could be there in under 2 hours.

My other BIG setback was that I was the only non Rock Climber in the team. So, again, my input was limited. I became quite good at being the “Barrow Boy” who held the foot of the stretcher as it was lowered over a cliff face. The Barrow Boys job was to prevent the patients stretcher from undue contact with the rock, and to prevent the poor patient from having his brains bashed out. In other words you were a form of “Cushion”.

During the season, a number of Money Raising Events were held, often at prestigious locations, and money raising was one of my fortes. Here I could be of some positive use.

Wandering round the hills with the Radio looking for “Sweet Spots” was another thing I could participate in, along with stretcher riding as a patient, stretcher bearing, hiding during Search & Rescue dogs exercises, and being a general dogsbody!

At one point it was decided that we needed to see real blood more often to get us used to nasty incidents. With this in mind we followed a schedule wherein we would visit Kendal Hospital A&E on a weekend evening/night rota system.

I recall having to hold a patient tight whilst he had a tube fed up his nostril to feed him food into his stomach. I am not sure whether I gripped him tightest or vice versa. After several unsuccessful attempts to feed in the tube, his mouth opened and about six inches of tube flew out, having missed its target. We both gripped each other even tighter.

I found the experience somewhat gruesome, but then that was probably the idea, wasn't it ?

After maybe three or four years I found that Work/Family/Distance were making me unreliable, and that's one thing you do not want in a Mountain Rescue Team. I therefore ceased as a member and just continued to help in any way I still could.

Now in my late 80's I find Mountains harder and harder to climb. Maybe, just maybe, for a nice donation, the Rescue Team would agree to carry me up Langdale on a practice mission?

The Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team is a Registered Charity. No one gets paid and it is self funding. It operates 365 days a year, in all weathers, day and night.

I would strongly advise all those new to hill walking to visit their Web Pages for information on how to improve their chances of staying safe on the hills.

Knowledge can equal Safety, and better peace of mind, and no cost is involved!!!

The website is www.lamrt.org.uk

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