Mark Weir dies

According to articles in the UK press, Mark Weir was piloting a helicopter when it crashed shortly before 1am yesterday. He'd left his slate mine in his helicopter just after 7pm on Tuesday following a day’s work. When he failed to return to his home, at Mosser, near Cockermouth, his wife and the mother of his three children alerted the emergency services around 10.10pm. Police worked alongside mountain rescue teams and search dogs to comb the area, helped by a helicopter from RAF Kinloss in Scotland. At 12.44am, the searchers found a crashed helicopter, 200 metres south east of Honister Slate Mine in Borrowdale. Mr Weir was found dead in the helicopter.
Weir was 45 years old. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Kim met Mark Weir in 2005 when she was working on her award-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden. The slate from his mine was used in her Cumbrian Fellside Garden, designed by Richard Lucas and her. According to an article in the Times & Star today, Kim said: 'He was hugely charismatic and I have never met anyone with so much energy. He was passionate about his work and it showed. He showed me around the mine and his enthusiasm and dedication was clear for all to see.'

Photo: Mark Weir and his partner Jan Wilkinson with Kim Wilde in her gold medal-winning garden, which included Honister slate, at the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show.