A BLUE plaque has been unveiled for a Wallasey mountaineer who became the first British man to summit the second highest peak on earth.

Alan Rouse, began climbing when he was 15 before he set upon climbing some of the most difficult routes in North Wales.

The former Birkenhead School pupil became the first British mountaineer to climb to the summit of K2 in the Himalayas on August 4, 1986.

Tragically, Alan died just a few days later from exposure as he attempted to descend in a fierce snow storm, he was 34.

Alan's career as a mountaineer saw him scale some of the most iconic peaks in areas such as the Andes, Nepal and China but this all began as a teenager in Wallasey were he learned to climb at his local crag, The Breck.

Despite his achievements, there has been no memorial for him in Wallasey but now The Friends of The Breck, working with Wirral Parks and Countryside Rangers have worked to rectify this.

They have cleared, restored and replanted two raised beds at The Breck's main entrance on Breck Road to create a memorial garden.

With the support of Peter Bolt from Conservation Areas Wirral, the Friends of the Breck were able to have a blue plaque for Alan installed as the centrepiece of the garden.

Unveiled on Thursday, June 21, the ceremony was attended by representatives of the British Mountaineering Council, local councillors, people who were lucky to have climbed with the great man and his friend's Rab Carrington and Brian Hall.

A written tribute from Sir Chris Bonington was also read out during the unveiling ceremony.

It read: "Al Rouse was one of the most brilliant of a group of very talented British climbers that emerged in the seventies to push the level of climbing to new limits.

"He was multi-talented; not just a brilliant rock and ice climber, he was intellectually bright, got himself to Cambridge, studied mathematics and was capable of getting a good degree, but his passion for climbing and living life to the full in every respect meant that he just scraped through.

"He was a very good chess player, a great talker and party goer and incredible fun to be with.

"He had a meteoric climbing career starting at the age of 16 with bouldering here at The Breck, before moving on to Wales where he pushed the limits in solo climbing, then on to the Alps and greater ranges, a year-long campaign in South America, then the Himalaya.

"He was the driving force in a series of Himalayan adventures, to attempt the West Ridge of Everest in winter in 1980.

"He had joined me on Kongur for a recce earlier that summer and then the main expedition in ‘81.

"It was at that time the 2nd highest unclimbed peak in the world and proved a complex climb.

"He went on in 1986 with the biggest challenge of all, conceiving and leading an expedition to attempt a new route on K2.

"They weren’t successful but Al was determined to climb it and after the other team members had gone home he had one more try on the original route with a group of eight other climbers.

"He made it to the top but they were caught by a savage storm, tried to sit it out in the top camp and of the eight only two Austrian climbers survived.

"Al, mercurial, brilliant in so many ways, warm hearted and kind was one of the great characters of British climbing and it’s very appropriate that he is remembered in this lovely, peaceful park where, for him, it really all started.

"I only wish I could be here with you."