Welcome to Bolton Mountain Rescue Team
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team is a voluntary search and rescue charity and a member of Mountain Rescue England and Wales that represents 49 teams. Bolton MRT is made up entirely of volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
We cover an area of over 800 square kilometres extending from Darwen in the West Pennine Moors to the north to beyond Manchester Airport in the south, and from Wigan to the west to the centre of Manchester in the east.
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team
The chances are you will never need our services. However, since 1968, a great many have. Our callouts are diverse. For example, we help walkers, runners, bikers, climbers and even dogs that have found themselves in a precarious position. We also search for members of the public who are missing outside of urban areas, particularly those classed as vulnerable by the police.
It costs around £50,000 per year to run the team. Securing this amount of money each year is a constant challenge. We rely on the generosity of the public and other organisations who provide us with donations. Visit the donations page to learn more about how you can help raise money for the team.
Latest News
The team has put in a massive amount of backbreaking work overnight to help everyone trying to complete the Three Towers route.
Darwen Tower and Rivington Pike have been painstakingly relocated next to Holcombe Tower, so that locals might visit all three towers in one go.
We've rescued a few walkers on the 32-mile Three Towers route over the years, so to make life easier on the public and on us, we've decided to move all three towers next to each other.
As a result of this effort, the Three Towers route is now a 100m sprint.
Yesterday, mountain rescue resources were once again mobilised by Lancashire Police to assist with the ongoing extensive search for Brian Fletcher, who went missing on Saturday 22nd March and is believed to be in the Tockholes area.
We were joined by colleagues from Lancashire Police, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Official) Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team (BPMRT), Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team, Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team, Calder Valley Search & Rescue Team, Oldham Mountain Rescue Team, Cheshire Search and Rescue, North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit, and a specialist search dog from SARDA Southern Scotland.
Members of the public who drove along the A675 Belmont Road between 1:30pm and 2:30pm on Saturday 22nd March are encouraged to send dashcam footage to Lancashire Constabulary, by calling police on 101 and quoting log 1544 of 22nd March 2025.
At 23:42 on Saturday 22nd March the team was contacted by Lancashire Police who were requesting our assistance with the search for an 80 year old missing male, Brian Fletcher, with Police having concern for his welfare. Brian is a keen walker and has a number of routes he regularly walks in the Tockholes area, including Higher Roddlesworth Reservoir and Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir. His car was found parked on the A675 at Calf Hey Bridge.
16 team members from Bolton MRT and Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team searched overnight in foggy, wet conditions, covering Darwen Moor, Roddlesworth Plantations, and Great Hill. They were joined by a drone team from @lancashirefrs
As daylight broke on Sunday further resources arrived from Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team (BPMRT) along with a HM Coastguard Search and Rescue aircraft and Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England.
The search for Brian continues today, Monday, encompassing parts of Darwen Moor, Withnell Moor and the Roddlesworth Plantations.
Brian is 5ft 8, slim, with grey hair and is believed to be wearing a brown cap, blue top and blue trousers. Brian also has a small scar on his cheek from a recent procedure.
For any sightings of Brian, please call 999 immediately and ask for Police. Any information which could help us locate Brian, please contact Police on 101 – quoting Lancashire Constabulary log 1544 of 22nd March 2025.
On Call 24 Hours
Search & Rescue
Event Safety Cover
In case of an emergency, DIAL 999, ask for ‘Police’ then ‘Mountain Rescue’
Give all your prepared details of the incident and ‘STAY WHERE YOU ARE’ until contacted by the rescue team.
If you have to make a further 999 call, follow this procedure in full again.