Cumbria stories you might have missed

Almost a dozen boys and girls run across a grassed area in front of Hunter Hall School. They are wearing maroon blazers. The school building is an ornate two-storey structure painted white and has a grey roof.Hunter Hall School

Almost 80 pupils currently attend the fee-paying Hunter Hall near Penrith

A private school trying to raise money to stay open, a look inside a healthcare centre preparing for winter and the UK's largest floating solar farm given planning permission.

Here are five stories in Cumbria you might have missed this week.

Beauty spot 'should never have been closed'

A river in front of a pebbled river bank and green fields. Hills can be seen in the background alongside trees. The leaves on the trees are just turning orange.visitlakedistrict.com

The viewpoint known as Ruskin's View closed in 2021 due to fears the embankment above the river was eroding

A beauty spot which shut four years ago due to erosion fears "should never have been closed", according to the team working to reopen it.

Ruskin's View, in Kirkby Lonsdale, was closed in 2021 by the then Cumbria County Council when cracks were spotted on some surfaces.

The team behind the project, set up by Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council, said after months of monitoring the key tourist spot, no "significant" movement had been found and called for it to be reopened.

Westmorland and Furness Council, which is now responsible, said it was taking the necessary steps to safely reopen the path.

Inside healthcare centre preparing for busy winter

Dr Robert Westgate, with short white hair, glasses, and wearing a grey shirt, looks to the right of the camera, as he stands on a road outside a large building on the right, with rectangular windows. There is a car park entrance behind him.

Dr Robert Westgate said a rise in the number of people with respiratory symptoms was one of many signs of winter's arrival

As the NHS prepares for its busiest period, Radio Cumbria spent the day at a healthcare centre to find out the pressures staff are facing.

Carlisle Healthcare looks after more than 40,000 patients, nearly half the population of Carlisle across three sites.

On this morning, the Locke Road centre has already received 194 phone calls and 245 online messages asking for appointments.

Clinical director Dr Robert Westgate said providing the service was "really challenging" because demand "outstripped supply".

Heavily pregnant woman got into difficulty on walk

Six mountain rescue volunteers wearing red jackets and carrying rucksacks are walking in the long grass along a stream, surrounded by fells. They are carrying a stretcher where a person is lying. The face of the person is not visible but the shape of her body shows a pregnancy bump. She is covered in an orange blanket.KMRT

Volunteers from Keswick Mountain Rescue Service carried the pregnant woman back on a stretcher

Mountain rescue volunteers found themselves "nervously discussing wilderness childbirth" when they were called to help a heavily pregnant woman.

The eight-month pregnant woman was struggling to descend the Wythburn Valley above the south end of Thirlmere, in Cumbria, Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT) said.

The team said she was wet and cold, suffering from hip and knee pain and moving very slowly.

A fell runner, who had come across the couple and assisted them, descended to Steel End Farm to phone for help and "returned shortly after with the local farmer bringing warm, dry clothes for the woman".

UK's 'largest' floating solar farm given go-ahead

A CGI of how the floating solar farm will look. Three large strips of blue panels are floating across a large section of Cavendish Dock. A town made up of many houses can be seen in the distance. ABP

The floating solar array will be used to power submarine maker BAE Systems

A floating solar farm described as the UK's largest is to be built after planning permission was approved.

The 46,500-panel array will be installed at the Port of Barrow's Cavendish Dock and will be capable of producing enough energy to power 14,000 homes a year.

It will be built by Associated British Ports (ABP) and will be used to power the area's advanced manufacturing sector, including submarine-maker BAE Systems.

The company's divisional port manager Bryan Davies said the solar farm would "drive economic growth" and was a major milestone in the company's plans to develop Port of Barrow.

School in fundraising drive to stave off closure

Paul Borrows standing in a grassed area at the front of Hunter Hall school. He has dark hair, spiked at the front, and is wearing a dark blazer and navy jumper.Hunter Hall

Headteacher Paul Borrows described the situation as "unsettling"

A private school has launched an appeal to raise £180,000 amid fears it could be forced to close within weeks.

Hunter Hall Preparatory and Pre-School, in Penrith, currently has about 80 pupils aged three to 11, with annual fees ranging from about £13,000 to £15,000.

Headteacher Paul Borrows described the introduction of VAT on school fees as "huge", alongside the loss of charitable business rates relief and an increase in employer national insurance contributions.

The government has been approached for comment, but previously said charging VAT on fees would help pay for more teachers in England's state schools.

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