Talk Series: Life before 999 with the Ambleside Oral History Group

About

"They come back with the fire tender - all the way from Kendal to Troutbeck Bridge"
Life in the Lake District before '999' - how emergencies were dealt with in the early 20th Century including memories of the man who drove the first motor ambulance, a fireman from the days of the steam pump engine and a lady whose family home was the telephone exchange. This talk also includes recently added extracts from an interview with Andy Caple of the Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team. He gives an account of the Team rescuing stranded passengers in a coach at Thirlmere during storm Desmond. Whilst this is not exactly history yet – it happened in 2015 – it is an example of how emergency services now operate.

About the group:
The Ambleside Oral History Group was formed 50 years ago and as such is one of the oldest Oral History Groups in the country. They have over 500 interviews, the first one being with a lady who was 100 years old in 1976 and recalled workers on the Thirlmere to Manchester pipeline lodging with her family at Ings.