A new series following several Lake District Mountain Rescue Teams including Wasdale over last summer, airs on More 4 at 9pm on Sunday (7th). Produced by Summer Films for C4, the programme is the first in a series of four. All will be available for catch-up on All 4.
Lake District Mountain Rescue teams have never been busier. Last year rescuers in Cumbria responded to over 600 call-outs – up mountains, on lakes and in caves.
This year, rescue teams are anticipating an average of 60 call-outs a month with over a hundred a month over the busy summer in June, July and August. Home to England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike, the Lake District welcomes 47 million visitors last year – many woefully underprepared for the wild terrain and weather that can change in an instant.
Summer Films has exclusive access to rescue teams across the Lake District. There are 12 teams and over 400 team members: all locals, all volunteers, all on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
When they’re not saving lives, they are teachers, police officers, shop assistants, B&B owners… These are locals that live and breathe the Lake District and know its terrain like the back of their hand.
Recent call outs run the gamut from missing children to hypothermic paddleboarders, teenage bike crashes to fatal blunt traumas. When their pagers buzz, rescuers can expect to be faced with anything from a clifftop fall to ramblers who have been trampled by cattle. They are prepared for any eventuality and among them there are also two specialist teams: a search dog team and a mines rescue unit.
The series will be packed full of drama and human emotion – set against the stunning backdrop of Britain’s most beautiful, yet perilous landscape…
