42 page booklet, produced by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club in August 2014: contains detailed information re the memorial and casualties. (Copy held at the Armitt museum, and available from the club https://www.frcc.co.uk/ ).

Whitehaven Archives reference DWM 251/194- Letter (dated 27 September 1921) from The Fell & Rock Climbing Club, enquiring whether the Musgrave Estate [the Trustees of the Estate of John Musgrave of Wasdale Hall and 2 Lowther Street, Whitehaven, died 1912] will sell them the fells at the Head of Wasdale (especially Great Gable), to serve as a memorial to its members who died in WW1.

Armitt Library: FRCC Journal 1922-1924 (pages 365-368): includes a detailed map of the land that forms part of the memorial scheme.

West Cumberland Times 17 October 1923 page 1h; ibid 7 June 1924 page 3c; ibid 11 June 1924 page 3a-b; ibid 30 June 1926 page 1e (which reported details of the extension area)

Lancashire Evening Post - Tuesday 09 October 1923 (page 7) reported: 'THE FINEST WAR MEMORIAL. LAKE ROCK CLIMBERS AND MOUNTAIN PURCHASE. The annual report of the Lake District Fell and Rock Climbing Club states that 41 new members have been elected during the year, nine members have resigned and eleven have been deleted from the register, so that the club now numbers 458 members. The death of six members is recorded. One, W. A. Wilson, lost his life while exploring on Eagle Crag. The committee regretfully accept the resignation as honorary secretary of J. B. Wilton, who had served the club for two years in an efficient manner. The reconstruction of the Wrynose-Hardknott-road had again been considered by the authorities, and the club took steps to discourage the projected scheme. A most important subject had occupied their attention. The idea of purchasing a well-known mountain as a war memorial had long been in the minds of many of their members, but it was doubtful if any had hoped for the realisation of such an ideal and comprehensive scheme as that which had matured during the year. No more appropriate memorial could have been chosen to commemorate those who had made the supreme sacrifice, and they had been pleased to receive many sincere letters of appreciation from the relatives of the fallen. They were thus within sight of instituting the finest war memorial in this or any other country... https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000711/19231009/171/0007

Yorkshire Evening Post - Monday 15 October 1923 (page 9) reported: 'THE ROCK AND FELL CLIMBING CLUB MAKE A GREAT GIFT TO THE NATION. There is probably no other Yorkshireman who has led so many climbs in Lakeland, and few who know the country so thoroughly, as Mr. Walter Parsons, headmaster of the Leeds Central High School. "The Lakeland mountains,”’ he said, speaking to a reporter of "The Yorkshire Evening Post” to-day, with reference to the gift to the nation mentioned in "Gossip of the Day,“ "is the most perfect pocket edition of a mountain group to be found in Europe. “The area which has been handed over to the National Trust by the Rock and Fell Climbing Club as a memorial to the members who feil in the war, can be described as the most glorious page of the edition. Scawfell, Great Gable, Allen Crags, and the rest of the peaks in this immediate district have been always the happy hunting ground of those who wished to get into the innermost recesses of the Lakeland mountains. “On the faces of these mountains are to be found some of tne most magnificent rock climbs in the British Isles - one might say in Europe. “Any person who has led a chimb up Slingsby’s Chimney, or Eagle's Nest Arrete, or Walker's Gully - all of which are in this area—can justly consider himself fit to be a member of the attacking party on any rock climb in the world.” For many years, of course, this district has been open to mountaineers, and to those who, while not being attracted by the risks of rock-climbing, like the solitude and grandeur of mountain scenery. At the same time, there has been no guarantee that such freedom of access would be continued. By this gift to the National Trust, the area is preserved to the public for all time, and every lover of the mountains, and every rock-climbing enthusiast will feel grateful to the Rock and Fell Climbing Club for providing such a suitable memorial to their fallen comrades. It is on climbs such as can be obtained in this area that Alpine mountaineers receive their training. "In fact," said Mr Parsons (who is one of the two Leeds members of the Alpine Club), "I don't know of any living Alpine climber who did not get his early training on the mountains of the Lake District'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19231015/205/0009

North Star (Darlington) - Monday 09 June 1924 (page 5) reported: 'MOUNTAIN TOPS WAR MEMORIAL. Climbing Club Heroes Honoured. The final touch to the Fell and Rock Climbing Club’s mountain war memorial comprises the tops of twelve mountains the Scawfell [sic] Range, in the heart of Lakeland, namely Kirk-fell, Great and Green Gables Brandreth, Great End, Base Brown, Seathwaite Fell, Glaramara, Allen Crags, Great End, Broad Crag and Lingmell, was given yesterday, when a bronze tablet on top of the highest point - Great Gable, 3,000 feet high - was unveiled by Dr A. W. Wakefield, of Keswick, president of the club, and a member of the Mount Everest Expedition of 1922. Despite heavy rain and a thick mist, a crowd of five or six hundred gathered, many in picturesque climbing garb, and including a number of women. There, shrouded in mist, they took part in a short, impressive service, the Rev J. H. Smith, Huddersfield, a member of the club, dedicating the tablet. St Bee’s School O.T.C. sounded the "Last Post.” Dr Wakefield said the spirit of unity which animated all, regardless of parties, classes, and sects, the utter self-sacrifice and disinterested service, were needed almost as much to-day as during the war. The moors and hills bred mind and muscle, character and endurance, courage and determination, and knowing those mountains inspired and developed and kept alive those qualities, they dedicated them to the nation’s free use and enjoyment. The bronze tablet, which is the work of Mr D. S. Harlow of Stockport, consists, the upper half, of a relief map of the Fells forming the memorial, and under that the following inscription and names: "In glorious and happy memory of those whose names are inscribed below, members of this club, who died for their country in the European War 1914-1918, these Felis were acquired by their fellow members and by them vested in the National Trust for the use and enjoyment of our land for all time. “J S Bainbridge, J G Bean, H S P Blair, A J Clay, J N Fletcher, W H B Gross, E Hartley, W Herford, S F Jeffcoat, E B Lees, S J Linzell, L J Oppenheimer, A J Prichard, A M Rimer, R B Sanderson, H L Slingsby, G C Turner, B H Witty, J H Whltworth, C S Worthington'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003631/19240609/005/000

Western Front Association Bulletin, no 89, February/March 2011 p31

The National Trust: History of Wasdale: 'Wasdale is one of the most significant valleys in the National Trust’s Lake District portfolio and it now owns and protects a number of farms and some 6,677 hectares of land. The Fell and Rock Climbing Club also donated 3,000 acres of land to the Trust, including the iconic fell of Great Gable as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War'. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/lake-district/wasdale/the-history-of-wasdale

Wikipedia: 'The summit of Great Gable is strewn with boulders and the highest point marked by a rock outcrop set with a cairn. There is a plaque set on the summit rock commemorating those members of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club who died in World War I; an annual memorial service is held here on Remembrance Sunday. The club bought 3,000 acres of land including Great Gable and donated it to the National Trust in memory of these members, and the plaque was dedicated on Whit Sunday 1924 by Geoffrey Winthrop Young in front of 500 people. The bronze memorial, weighing 70 kg, was removed on 10 July 2013 by 13 soldiers and carried down the hill via a stretcher. A replacement, with spelling errors corrected, was installed by Royal Engineers in October 2013'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gable#Summit

External website: The North-East at War; Commemorating the Centenary of the First World War: reported on 23/10/2013: 'Engineers tackle one of England’s highest mountains to restore memorial. ROYAL Engineers based in North Yorkshire scaled one of England’s highest mountains to ensure a memorial to heroes of the First World War was restored to its proper place. The team from RAF Leeming, near Bedale, climbed almost 3,000 feet up Great Gable in the Lake District carrying a 70 kilogram brass plaque paying tribute to members of the Lake District fell and rock climbing club who died while fighting in the Great War. The plaque is well known among climbers and walkers, with thousands stopping to pay their own tributes to the fallen men over the years. Spelling mistakes had recently been identified in the original plaque, which was put up in 1924 and current members of the climbing club decided to commission a replica ready for the Centenary of the War next year. They called on the team from Leeming, known as the Deputy Commander Royal Engineers (DCRE) which is responsible for infrastructure work. After bringing the original plaque down the mountain they have just returned to put up the new one in time for Remembrance Sunday next month. Club vice president, Peter Smith said: “We knew about the skills of the Royal Engineers because some of our members have served with them in the past. We are immensely grateful to DCRE for everything they put into the job.” Cpl Mark Dodds said a team of 15 from RAF Leeming, and 10 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers were involved. “It was hard work because there’s a lot of scree and debris underfoot, but we managed to do the whole job a lot quicker than we expected – less than five hours,” he said. “There was a good sense of achievement when it was all back up there.” To mark the event a Hawk jet from 100 Sqn, also based at RAF Leeming, provided a flypast as the group was walking back down from Great Gable. Members of DCRE are now planning to join the Fell and Rock Climbing Club for their Remembrance service on November 10'. http://www.thenortheastatwar.co.uk/war-news/engineers-tackle-one-of-englands-highest-mountains-to-restore-memorial

'St Olaf: The smallest church near the deepest lake and the highest mountain in England'. https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-olaf-wasdale-head

https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/273790