Sty Head: Lake District stretcher box gets weatherproof makeover

A stretcher box that has provided Lake District walkers with rescue equipment for eight decades has been replaced to make it more weather-resistant.

The wooden box at Sty Head pass, which runs between Scafell Pike and Great Gable, has been in place since 1938.

It was established so that climbers would be able to rescue themselves, rather than rely on others for help.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team said the new aluminium box was better to deal with the area's "extremes of weather".

In 1938, before mountain rescue teams were set up, a rescue kit was established on Sty Head to allow climbers to help themselves.

It included a St John's stretcher in a wooden box container, which was painted black and white so it could be easily spotted in bad weather, and a first aid kit.

The original box was destroyed by a storm in the 1940s, but a wooden replacement was installed shortly after, with blankets being added to the kit inside, and it has been replaced and repaired a number of times since.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, which has responsibility for the Sty Head box, said it was once one of six such boxes placed around the Lake District mountains, "but most have now gone".

"The iconic Sty Head stretcher box has finally come to the end of its life and has been replaced by the latest iteration," a spokesman said.

He said the new aluminium box was lifted into place by helicopter "on a recent warm sunny day" and the team was hopeful that it "will provide many years of service in the extremes of weather famous in this area".

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