New mountain rescue leader for Penrith team

Ian Clemmett is retiring from Penrith Mountain Rescue Team and standing down as Team Leader after 16 years of service (three as Team Leader) as he is leaving the area following a change of employment. Ian has been involved in a huge variety of incidents, including rescues on High Street, night time searches on Cross Fell and the floods of 2005.

“Some of my fondest memories are to do with those occasions when the Team has pulled together at times of particular duress and sometimes in quite harrowing and difficult circumstances,” says Ian.  “One particular incident involved a multi-Team search for a missing person in the Haweswater area. We found the walker’s body at the summit trig point of High Street and had to wait while a stretcher was brought up so we could carry him down. It may have been summer but it was cold, wet and very windy. A tragic outcome, but there was a tremendous sense of camaraderie as members from the different Teams all mucked in together.The teamwork at times like that is priceless.”

Mike Hill, who has been a member of the Team for eight years, takes on the responsibility of Team Leader. He is looking forward to maintaining the Team’s already high standards in areas such as casualty care, search management and water rescue.

“The Team is a voluntary organisation that survives on the generosity of the general public and fundraising is the key to the ongoing survival of the Team,” he says.  “As Mountain Rescue becomes more and more professional it is vital that Team members train to new levels to ensure we can work alongside neighbouring Teams and other emergency organisations.”

Mike Graham, who has been a Team member for 29 years, is also retiring, and the Team would like to thank both Ian and Mike for their service and wish them all the best for the future.