Our local beaches are some of the most beautiful in the country and are a firm favourite for family walks or Sunday morning jogs.
However, the tide is never to be underestimated and the Cumbrian waters can also prove perilous. The group of 14 local men and women who make up Ulverston's Inshore Rescue are trained to help people who are caught out by these treacherous tides or stranded in a dangerous situation.
Bruce Chattaway, who has been part of the Inshore Rescue since its inception 14 years ago, said: "We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There will always be a team of us ready to go out in the hovercraft, boat, or on the quad bikes.
"We only need three volunteers to be present to initiate a rescue mission and we work closely alongside the coastguard too. The new hovercraft has been great because it is useful for a coastguard rescue mission as well as Inshore Rescue. They can use it as a working platform if they have to perform a mud rescue or something similar to that in the quicksands."
Mr Chattaway and his colleagues, Paul and Joe Wojcik, all have full-time jobs and spend much of their spare time volunteering for the Inshore Rescue. Mr Chattaway is the head chef at The Farmers in Ulverston, Mr Wojcik works at BAE Systems and his son Joe works as a contractor on the wind farms. Mr Wojcik said: "BAE are brilliant, they let me go whenever I get called out even if it's during work hours.
"We have so much support from local businesses, especially Glaxo, and we have come such a long way from when we started with just a couple of lads and minimal kit. It has really been down to very generous donations and some fantastic fundraising."
The new hovercraft, which cost just under £50,000, has been named Patricia by the crew, in tribute to the lady who led the fundraising push to buy her.
Patricia Prosser, of Ulverston, has been a dedicated friend of the Inshore Rescue for years and has made it possible for them to acquire kit such as dry-suits, helmets, pick-ups and quad bikes as well as their amazing new hovercraft.
Ulverston Inshore Rescue were last called out during the last week of September and the team said that during the summer especially, their call-outs can increase. Mr Wojcik said: "We get a lot of calls to save tourists who have tried to walk out from Canal Foot to Chapel Island. The tide comes in so fast over those sand bars and it's easy to get stranded."
Another common reason for call-outs is dogs in trouble. Often owners think their dogs are stranded and try to venture after them to get them back. This results in both owner and dog getting trapped and a full rescue mission being launched. The members of Inshore Rescue advise owners that dogs will often get themselves to safety and are better equipped for swimming out of trouble than humans are.
Ulverston Inshore Rescue always welcome new members, whether male or female, Mr Chattaway said: "We have two members of the team who are ladies. They really muck in and are brilliant at the training and the work. One of the ladies is also on our committee."
To find out more about the charity and the work of the volunteers, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UIR2002.
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