Picture of our new seat in memory of Mr Neil Allinson.
Neil Allinson
Doreen Allinson has written a brief summary of Neil’s life below.
In 1964 Neil, Doreen and their three children moved from the North East and became caretakers of Glenridding Village hall. Their son was born in 1966 and the family moved to Blowick across the lake in 1967. Neil became an outdoor instructor at Patterdale Hall, where schoolboys from Oxfordshire came for four weeks’ training in mountaineering, map reading and climbing. In 1965 Dr Ogilvie, GP and leader of the fell rescue team, asked Neil to join them to enable them to become Patterdale ‘Mountain Rescue Team ‘ through sharing his mountaineering expertise.
Neil gained qualifications to become a Mountain Guide and taught rock, snow and ice climbing in England, Scotland and the Alps. In 1967 Neil was offered a post with the National Trust to set up and lead a warden (now Ranger) team. Over the next 25 years Neil progressed to become the uplands advisor on mountain footpaths nationally. In 1990 his work on footpath repairs won the Europa Nostra medal of honour for the National Trust in respect of the old pack horse route over Stye Head Pass in Borrowdale.
Neil moved to Matterdale in 1985.
When Neil could no longer climb the harder routes he took up sailing, encouraged by his friends Tony and Mary Brown of Deepdale. They spent happy years sailing in the Hebrides. His adventurous life continued into retirement. They bought a campervan, enjoying many trips in Scotland, the northern dales and also France, Spain and Norway.
Neil and his family have been so grateful to Glenridding Health Centre for their care, particularly in the last three years.
Doreen Allinson
We purchased from Solway Recycling to keep in line with our Green Literacy Project.
