2020 – What a year this has been. Team Leader, Neil Carruthers summed it up as having “presented us with a number of challenges in terms of how we operated in a COVID secure manner, adding a considerable extra amount of work ensuring that we have cleaned and or quarantined all equipment which has been used when dealing with casualties.

The number of call outs is into three figures. When you also consider the team did not attend any incidents in the first half of the initial lock down, it is a good indicator of …

When the Peak District National Park turns into a winter wonderland it is the perfect time for team members in small groups to brush up on their winter skills.

Today was the third of four winter skills training sessions led by experienced team member and WMCI mountain instructor, Mark. It was a good start, there was snow! Plans had to be changed slightly to allow for a safer journey as the roads had become a little slippy earlier on in the day.

Members had a very enjoyable and …

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team are lucky to have close working relationships with many partner agencies and other voluntary rescue teams. This is particularly true of our close working relationship with Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation (DCRO). We do in fact share our Buxton Base with DCRO, where our emergency response vehicles are parked in adjacent garages at Buxton Fire and Rescue Centre, and we have worked closely on numerous callouts, training sessions, and even shared equipment and team members!

It doesn’t end there though. An agreement has just been put into place between the …

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team needs to replace one of its stretchers and is reaching out to the community to help fund the purchase. A stretcher recently failed a routine safety test which prevents us from using it on crag rescues or during helicopter winches. Failing a test certainly sounds alarming, and to us to have to replace it, it is; like many charities, our income is significantly down this year, so we’re asking you directly for help.

Stretchers are probably one of our most important pieces of equipment, and are used on almost every …

Over the next few months we’ll be introducing you to some of the really important people that keep Buxton Mountain Rescue Team going.

This is Sue.

Sue started as a Call Out Officer in 2002. Before smart phones, Call Out officers would need to telephone all the team members one by one with details of the call, before feeding back responses to the Team Leader.

Before joining the team herself, Sue supported husband Andy, an operational member, with butties and flasks for midnight searches. They both received …

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team members were delighted to be able to resume fund-raising activities and meeting our supporters face to face at our first “post lock-down lifting” fund raising event.

We were able to have a “socially distanced” chat with many people and would like to thank everyone who stopped by and contributed towards our fund raising day.

Your support is genuinely appreciated.

Continuing our catch up with team members who have completed their training and achieved full team membership, and the coveted “Red Jacket”, I caught up with Mike; here’s his story.….

I have been fortunate
enough to spend quite a lot of time walking, scrambling and climbing in the
different mountain regions in the British Isles and further afield including
South Africa, USA, Nepal, New Zealand and Europe. I’ve always found the hills
and mountains a great environment to recharge one’s batteries and get away from
the pressures of work and after 29 years I finally completed all the Munros …

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team were pleased to be working with our partner agencies, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue and Staffordshire Moorlands Police at the Roaches to help get an important message across about the problems of fires, how they start, and the damage they cause. Many people will remember the terrible fire at the Roaches a couple of years ago, much of the damage caused by that fire is still visible and has had a disastrous effect on the wildlife and habitat.

We had been asked …

Today is the 30th anniversary of the grand opening of the Team’s new base at Dove Holes by Her Royal Highness, Diana, The Princess of Wales. Members of the team, local councillors and dignitaries together with children from Dove Holes School plus representatives from Dove Holes community were all there to welcome the Princess. Princess Diana pulled the cord to unveil the commemorative plaque on the trig-point outside the building. Roger Bennett, the Team Leader at the time, had the privilege of talking to Princess Diana about mountain rescue in the Peak District and introducing her to team …

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Gwilym, an Honorary Life Member of Buxton Mountain Rescue Team.  Buxton Mountain Rescue Team was a huge and important part of Gwilym’s life.

Gwilym, or Gwil as we knew him, was born in Denbigh North Wales.  He was a proud Welshman, indeed he only spoke Welsh until he  went to school.

In his early years, he enjoyed a great many activities, including scouting, which led to his love of the outdoors. 

Gwil had a varied career. …