A SOUTH Lakeland town is in mourning following the death of a popular University of Cumbria student in a mountaineering accident.

Lawrence Walker, 21, was killed by a falling boulder during a climbing expedition in the French Alps which left his best friend and course mate Alex Green with serious injuries.

The pair, who met three years ago in the university halls of residence at Ambleside, were three weeks into a three-month long expedition when the incident happened.

Now, one of the town’s pubs is to name a local bitter after the keen climber – the Keswick Brewery Company has agreed to change the name of The Royal Oak’s guest ale Thirst Run to Thirst Walker.

“Lawrence used to drink it all the time in here and the students asked if we could change the name,” said pub assistant manager Jenny McMahon. “It was his favourite bitter.”

The pub, on Church Street, has already held a memorial service attended by students, parents and teachers.

Mr Walker, of Hudders-field, also worked at Italian restaurant Tarantella, on Lake Road, and Ambleside Wine Store, on Compston Road.

“He was a really nice lad, you couldn’t fault him,” said wine store manager Michelle Nisbet. “He had quite a dry sense of humour – he lived over the road and would come in with a cup of tea when he started work. I know he was really looking forward to his travels. It’s such a shame.”

Mr Walker’s father Richard told The Westmorland Gazette that his son had enjoyed ‘many happy times’ in Ambleside and the Lake District.

“He really felt at home in the outdoors and in particular the fells and crags of the Lake District,” said Mr Walker. “He and Alex used to go climbing together at weekends. Once they had finished this expedition they had talked about the possiblity of going back up to Ambleside to work so they could be near the fells. He really loved it in the Lake District.”

He added that he and his family – mother Julie and brothers Greg, 23, and Alex, 19 – took ‘great comfort’ knowing that Mr Walker died doing the thing he loved the most, climbing with his best friend.

He was a member of the university’s mountaineering club and hockey team and would have graduated with a 2:1 degree in Outdoor Studies last week.

One of his tutors, Heather Prince, director of studies in the School of Outdoor Studies at the University’s Ambleside campus, said: “The student population of Ambleside has been in mourning since the news of his death. His year group wore brightly coloured wrist bands at graduation as a tribute.

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