On Sunday 27th March 2011 a group of us will be walking, with our dogs, along the Tinners Way from St Ives to Botallack - a total distance of around 16 miles.

 

The Tinners Way started off as a Bronze Age trading route of tin and copper. It is an 18 mile track that covers 20 prehistoric and Christian sites tracing as closely as possible the ancient paths along which tin and copper were transported by people, sledges and pack animals from the mineral-rich area of St Just to the sheltered anchorage of St Ives bay. The route passes by ancient landmarks such as Carn Kenidjack, Chun Castle and the Iron Age settlement of Bodrifty.

 

Cornwall Air Ambulance was launched in April 1987 making it the first in the UK, however after just six months the local health authority withdrew the funding and the service became reliant on public donations; this remains the case today. Each 999 call attended by the Air Ambulance costs around £1600, and as Cornwall's Air Ambulance is one of the busiest in the UK it is expected to cost £1.6 million to keep it in the air this year.

 

The County of Cornwall lends itself to a service of this kind. We have a widely scattered population, remote and isolated communities, and in the summer months, our road networks become congested very easily, making the use of conventional ambulances more difficult. Our beaches, cliff tops, moorland and the sea attract many people, some of whom participate in water sports and extreme sports, a vital part of our tourism and leisure economy, but which also increases the incidence and severity of accidents.

 

From its base at Newquay Cornwall Airport, the air ambulance helicopter can reach any part of the county within 20 minutes, and the Isles of Scilly in 28 minutes. This dedicated purpose built and highly equipped aircraft flies at 140mph, and on average arrives on scene within 12 minutes of a 999 call. Although the air ambulance is expensive, its use can significantly reduce the time taken to convey seriously ill and injured people to hospital, and in very many cases this has simply been the difference between life and death.

 

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