Prince Charles meets mountain rescue team on Lake District visit

The Prince of Wales watches volunteers taking part in a training exercise while on a tour of Cumbria Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA Images

The Prince of Wales has met members of the Langdale Ambleside mountain rescue team, and watched a demonstration at their Ambleside headquarters of how they deal with injured patients.

The group, staffed by volunteers and funded by public donations, is called out around 100 times a year, with 25 incidents logged so far in 2019.

Prince Charles, on a visit to the Lake District today, told the volunteers: "I'm full of admiration for all the work you do, if I may say so, rescuing people and all the different callouts you have to deal (with) out in this part of the world.

"We are very lucky indeed in this country to have all these different mountain rescue teams.

"I occasionally come across one in Scotland, in the Grampian region, and I know just how hard you all work and how dedicated you all are."

The Ambleside team covers the Langdale, Ambleside, Grasmere and Windermere areas primarily, but works across the Lake District with other mountain rescue services in major incidents.

While touring the base, Prince Charles met Ted, a seven-year-old border collie veteran of 99 rescue searches, and his owner Roger Pickup, a volunteer who is also a professor of bio-medicine at Lancaster University.

He also met former paratrooper Justin Hale, who was rescued by the team in December 2018 after falling into a gully while fell running on Steel Fell and fracturing his spine in two places.

After the visit, rescue team leader Nick Owen said: "It's been great. Everybody seems to have really enjoyed it.

"All the team members are volunteers and their families make sacrifices to allow this to happen, so it is good to get recognition."

Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA Images

During his visit to the Lake District, Prince Charles opened a £20 million pound museum at Windermere. It is the first new building on the banks of the lake in over half a century.

Credit: Photographer Jan Chlebik. Courtesy of Windermere Jetty

The Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories opened to the public on 23 March following a development by Lakeland Arts working with architects Carmody Groarke and exhibition designers Real Studios.