The Great Gable memorial

The annual Remembrance Day service on Great Gable will take place this Sunday.

The summit of the 899m (2,949 ft) Cumbrian fell is the location of a memorial plaque and has been the site of gatherings on Remembrance Sunday since the First World War. The event is organised by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club.

The genesis of the ceremony was the death of FRCC members during the Great War. Since then, members of the public have been welcomed at the service, along with club members.

The FRCC bought Great Gable in 1924 and gifted it to the National Trust and the plaque, with a relief map of the area and the names of 20 fallen members, adorns the summit cairn.

Last year, the club appealed to visitors not to leave their poppy wreaths on the summit as they were causing litter problems as they deteriorated in the mountain conditions. However, local residents offered to clear any remaining wreaths left at the site a couple of weeks after the ceremony.

Another service will take place on the summit of nearby Scafell Pike, which was donated to the National Trust in 1920 by Lord Leconfield in memory of those ‘who fell for God and King, for freedom, peace and right in the Great War’. The 978m (3,210ft) mountain is the highest in England.

Both Remembrance Day services will take place on Sunday, 9 November, at 11am. Anyone participating in the memorials must, of course, go equipped for a November day on the high fells of the Lake District.