Keen volunteer honoured at Palace

Rae Lonsdale, 64, from Settle, received the award at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

He began volunteering for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority in 1967.

He later accepted a paid ranger post with Lancashire County Council in 1973 but moved to the Dales in 1975.

A succession of jobs with the national park authority followed, concluding with the role of volunteers co-ordinator from 1999 until his early retirement last year.

He has been a long-standing volunteer with Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation.

Mr Lonsdale was also on the Yorkshire Dales Duke of Edinburgh’s award panel from 1976 to 1979 before qualifying as an accredited assessor in 1996.