FIVE Allithwaite men climbed Africa’s highest mountain to raise £1,500 for the King George V Playing Field in the village.

Mike Jackson, Mike Lamb, Phil Wyatt, Cary Osbourne, Steve Page and Yorkshire man Chris Gill all scaled the 5,893 metre Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The eight-day trek was organised by the group to aid the children’s play park, which depends solely on fund-raising and donations.

The six men, all aged between 45 and 68, decided to complete the trek after agreeing to it on a night in their local pub.

Mr Wyatt said: “The following day when we were a bit more sober, it still seemed like a good idea, so the wheels were set in motion.

“By far the hardest part of the trek was the final push through the night to the summit.

"The air is so thin and the breathing so difficult, you can only manage a few steps before you need to rest.

“The support of friends and Guides keep you going.

"It was the slowest, coldest, darkest, hardest, longest seven hours 18 minutes and 23 seconds of our lives, but the reward was a fantastic sense of achievement watching the sun rise standing on the roof of Africa.”

They kept villagers up to date with daily bulletins of the trek in the village post office window.