I was interested to read Patricia Hovey’s letter suggesting commemorating Alfred Wainwright by funding a Mountain Rescue vehicle rather than erecting a statue (Letters, March 3, ‘Rescue vehicle not a statue’).

Patricia mentioned being surprised to have learned from The Wainwright Society that Wainwright had once been a member of a mountain rescue team.

In fact, this came up in a conversation with David Johnson, the editor of the Society’s magazine, Footsteps, when he visited Patricia at the end of January.

David had discovered this amazing fact about Wainwright when contacting the Kendal MRT in 2013 and wrote an article about it for Footsteps.

David had first contacted Patricia in 2014 when researching for Encounters with Wainwright, a project to record the memories of anyone who had known or met Wainwright.

This project is now reaching a conclusion, with a book to be published by The Wainwright Society in May.

The subject of what memorial, if any, there should be to Wainwright can evoke strong opposing views, which might explain why no decision has yet been reached over many years.

The Gazette article of January 28 has prompted some renewed and ongoing discussion within the Society, which will be pleased to contribute to the debate if and when the issue becomes a live one, once again.

In recent years, the Society has made significant donations to the Mountain Rescue Teams, including Kendal MRT, and Mountain Rescue Search and Rescue Dogs, our beneficiary in 2015.

If anyone would like to know more about Wainwright’s involvement with Kendal MRT or the Encounters with Wainwright book, David can be contacted, on footsteps@wainwright.org.uk

Derek Cockell

Secretary, The Wainwright Society