Sir, I should like if I may to offer both a safety warning and a big thank you' via your columns.

First the warning. On Sunday, September 26, my wife and I set out from our home in Ambleside for a walk around the Fairfield Horseshoe. We are reasonably experienced walkers, acceptably fit and have walked the route several times before.

We decided to walk up through Sweden Bridge and eventually on to Fairfield but near disaster intervened. About half way up, on a (relatively!) flat area, the path became obscure and, after much recent rain, the terrain had become boggy.

Having encountered such conditions many times before, I was not unduly concerned and my wife and I carried on "Indian File".

To my amazement, despite what I thought was appropriate caution, I found myself suddenly knee deep in a bog. As my gaiters filled top down with slime, I uttered a few choice words but was not unduly alarmed.

What appeared to be a reasonably solid crust, with several grassy tufts dotted around, had proved very unstable.

Within seconds, in trying calmly to extricate myself, I found myself firstly up to my waist, and then very soon up to my armpits. The slightest movement caused me to sink further and yet I felt powerless to extricate myself without assistance.

I could not reach any solid ground or tuft of any kind, but I at least managed to grab the end of my wife's extendable walking pole which enabled me to temporarily stop sinking.

It was impossible however to get out because of the suction effect and lack of any form of grip. I thought of trying to remove my rucksack and use it as some sort of buoyancy aid or step up but that too failed.

Very fortunately, a few minutes prior to the incident, we had passed a young man on the way up who was walking on his own. My wife called out to him.

He ran over uttering an unrepeatable expletive on the way as he recognised my predicament, which by this time was serious.

He managed by some means that I still do not fully comprehend to lie down, stretch out and just reach my flailing outstretched arm.

He was relatively young, and strong and managed to eventually drag me to a point where I could gain some foothold to assist him in dragging me out. At no point did he consider his own safety.

Only now has the full magnitude of what he did for me hit home. I can truly say that without his help I would definitely not have been able to get out and would have continued sinking with inevitable consequences. Despite thanking my rescuer at the time, I feel the trauma I was feeling perhaps prevented me doing so fully and properly and I would like to do so now in the hopes that he is a Gazette reader.

This was a very humbling experience and, yet again, underlines the need for total awareness on the fells.

A momentary lapse of concentration could have had more dire consequences, as the The Mountain Rescue review constantly reminds us.

I am ashamed that after so many years of walking the hills I made such an elementary error but my faith in humankind was rekindled by the hugely unselfish actions of my rescuer. I do hope he will read this letter and feel proud of himself - he should do.

Nigel J. Wright Ambleside See Lakes Tuide - Walking for the story.