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Events > 2010 The Wainwright Society 'Scott/Bonington Lecture' took place on Monday 1 Feb 2010 at Rheged, nr Penrith before a full house, all 262 tickets having been sold within 2 weeks of the event announcement.
The evening was a huge success and the speakers were rewarded with lengthy applause. At the end, the Society Secretary, Peter Linney, asked Doug to accept Honorary Membership of the Society (Chris is already an Honorary Member) and each speaker was presented with a signed Wainwright Print, kindly donated by Striding Edge. The evening was organised by The Wainwright Society and the aim of the lecture was to help raise funds and support the voluntary rescue services – the local Mountain Rescue Teams and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute – who were in the thick of things alongside the full time Emergency Services during the terrible flooding in Cumbria. Their specialist skills didn’t just augment those of the Police, Fire Service and the Search and Rescue helicopter crews, but they proved crucial in saving lives. As Eric Robson, chair of the Wainwright Society commented, 'Unpaid volunteers they may be, but their response was absolutely professional and their specialist knowledge critical to what was an immense crisis and a major rescue operation'. Our thanks go to all those who contributed, particularly Doug and Chris, and to Sarah Dunning of Westmorland Ltd who let us use the fabulous Rheged venue free of charge.
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Instead of the usual ‘lecture’ format, Doug and Chris were interviewed 'Michael Parkinson' style by Robin Ashcroft, against a continuous full-screen backdrop of pictures from both celebrities. This lent a delightful informality to the evening and the audience were treated to over two hours of reminiscence from the climbers with a lot of their early background and occasional friendly banter. Their exploits, particularly on Everest and The Ogre were retold with considerable personal sentiment. 