National Mountaineering Exhibition Opens

Tony Blair was jeered by Cumbrian protestors yesterday when he turned up in beleagured lakeland to open the new National Mountaineering Exhibition.

The what? Okay, it's a new shrine to British mountaineering sited at the Rheged Discovery Centre near Penrith. The Rheged web site reveals gems like the fact that it boasts a cinema screen the size of six double-decker buses, a useful measure which could eventually replace Wales as the standard unit of area and that. It's also the largest grass-covered building in Europe.

'To make our Cumbrian Hill look realistic, special limestone crags have been taken from nearby Shap Fell and a theatre company have used these to reconstruct dramatic limestone crags around the outside of the building.'

But you want to know what's in the Helly-sponsored Mountaineering Exhibition? Well, it aims to tell the story of British mountaineering through the ages including Whymper's infamous Matterhorn ascent and, of course, Everest. Plans for the display include artefacts known to every armchair mountaineer - Irvine's axe, Whympers tent, Hillary's oxygen set and high altitude suit, Mallory's tent and the Bonington collection.

The Exhibition also has the full collection of material recovered from the body of George Mallory on loan from the Royal Geographical Society. They will be combined with items loaned by the Sandy Irvine Trust into a collection celebrating the achievements of Mallory and Irvine.

There will also be a centrepiece film on the big screen claiming to 'take visitors on a journey which will chronicle everything from wearing the right protective clothing layers and using the right equipment, to a full mountaineering expedition.'

Should make a good foul weather option, not that it ever rains in the Lakes...

Entrance is £4.50 for adults, £3.00 for children, £3.80 for OAPs, £13 for family admission. Open 10.00-5.30 daily

• Click here to see the Mountaineering Exhibition web site.

• Click here to see the Rheged web site, which has barely any information about the Mountaineering Exhibition.

Ring 01768 868000 for ticket and opening information.