PILLAR Rock is one of the classic climbs in the Lake District but is somewhere to conquer, admire the view and get down from before darkness falls.

Two Liverpool customs officers failed to follow this advice in the winter of 1949 and spent a night on the exposed rock - stamping their feet to keep warm.

What happened to George Longton, 31, from Melling and Mr R. Walker, 28, of Liverpool, was outlined in the Evening Mail on Monday, March 14 in 1949.

It noted: "Two men who were forced to spend a night on the exposed Pillar Rock, one of the most famous peaks in the Lake District, between Ennerdale and Wastwater, walked to safety little the worse for their experience."

Emergency services had been called after the pair failed to tun up at Burnthwaite or Langdale during a week-long walking and climbing expedition.

It noted: "Police from the Cleator Moor area commenced the search at the head of Ennerdale and the Borrowdale Mountain Rescue Party was notified."

Longton and Walker made their own way off the mountains after what was described as "an exhausting the cold-numbing night on the peak."

They had reached the top of Pillar Rock by dusk on Friday and decided it would have been unwise to come back down in the dark with snow covering the heights.

The paper noted: "Unable to move far on the small, restricted, space, they spent occasional periods stamping their feet during the cold night in order to keep circulation going.

"Wearily they commenced the descent on Saturday morning and - numbed and chilled.

"That homeward climb with wet ropes occupied five difficult hours."