in the news
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.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. The team has received some fantastic news from the children of Year 3 at St. Mary's Primary School, Victoria Road, Horwich. Some time ago we learned that the children were doing a project about mountains. Team members Paul and Mark visited them to give an illustrated talk about the work of our team. The class decided to do what they could to support Bolton MRT. Since then, four children in the class have been so enthused by the project that, between them, they raised £550! In order to raise this, the children walked up Winter Hill or Rivington Pike (a distance of about 5.5 miles) enough times for the total height gained by all the children to exceed the height of Mount Everest (29,030ft)!
On behalf of the whole team, Paul and Mark would like to say thank you for this amazing support. They very much enjoyed visiting the children. Thank you also to the children's class teacher, Miss Eaton, for making it all happen.
Two incidents were attended today by our volunteers, the first at Haslingden and the second at Astley Bridge, Bolton.
At 13:51 we were asked to assist Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team at an incident between Jamestone Quarry and Troy Quarry, Haslingden. A 54 year old female was reported to have broken her leg following a slip whilst walking. Four Bolton MRT members attended alongside Rossendale and Pendle MRT members & the North West Air Ambulance.
Whilst returning to base from the Haslingden incident, at 15:44 we were contacted by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust to attend Eagley Brook in Bolton, where a 9 year old boy was reported to have fallen down an embankment. Both vehicles from the first incident were just a few minutes away at the time. Working with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and North West Ambulance Service the boy was rescued from across the brook, assessed, and then carried uphill on our stretcher by a combined party of Mountain Rescue and Fire Service personnel.
We wish both casualties a speedy recovery.
To commemorate International Women’s Day last Saturday, Bolton MRT member Jane has answered some questions about her experiences with the team.
Q. How long have you been in the team?
A. I’ve been in the team for 7 years now.
Q. What do you do outside of MR?
A. Outside of the team I work as a Human Resource and Health and Safety Manager in the printing industry. In my spare time, I love being in the outdoors - preferably hiking or camping.
Q. Do you hold, or have you held, any specific roles in the team?
A. I’m currently covering as the Training Lead for the team. I have attended lots of courses. I am now qualified as a Remote Rescue Medical Technician, Party Leader, General Purpose and Off-Road Driver, and as a Mental Health First Aider. I have also attended a JESIP course, which provides a framework for emergency services to work together.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about being a member of Bolton MRT?
A. I love the camaraderie in the team. I’ve had so many laughs and met some great people. I enjoy being able to help people, and volunteering alongside such dedicated team members. I also relish the many challenges I have faced. These include being out in the tough terrain of the hills in all types of weather (I've been up to my waist in bogs); performing technical rope rescues; being winched out of a helicopter; and driving our vehicles off-road to access casualties in remote locations.
In a post on Saturday to mark International Women’s Day, we said we’d share some posts about women who help make our team the success that it is. Today, it’s Diane in the hot seat.
Q. How long have you been in the team?
A. 29 years.
Q. What do you do outside of MR?
A. I’m a business & economics teacher.
Q. Do you hold, or have you held, any specific roles in the team?
A. Within the team I am a Search Manager. I also book and organise talks about Bolton MRT for adult groups like WI’s, Rotary Clubs, walking groups. I have previously been team secretary and team treasurer. Outside of our team, I am secretary for the Mid-Pennine Search & Rescue Organisation, which is the region that Bolton team is in along with four other mountain rescue teams. I also help at national mountain rescue conferences.
Q. How come you decided to apply to join a mountain rescue team?
A. Whilst completing my Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, my teacher (who was the team’s Deputy Team Leader) suggested that, for my Gold Award service section, I join the team. I achieved my Gold DofE and I am still with the team.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about being a member of Bolton MRT?
A. I couldn’t say one thing. It’s a combination of helping others and giving something back, and the constant challenge from learning and being part of an amazing group of people. Many team members have become life-long friends.
Q. What changes have you seen during your time in mountain rescue?
A. That’s such a long list - the equipment, the vehicles, the training, the uniforms, the way we are called out, the radios, the fundraising needed to provide the service. What hasn’t changed is the enthusiasm and commitment of our members.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. Today is International Women’s Day.
Women play a huge part in the success of our team and mountain rescue as a whole.
Over the next few days, we will share the stories of some of the women in our team. First up is Liz, who’s been with Bolton MRT for just over three years.
Q. What do you do outside of MR?
A. I’m a Construction Project Manager. I also run a dog training business specialising in mantrailing (training dogs to find humans as a sport).
Q. Do you, or have you, held any specific roles in the team?
A. I’m part of the Support Team. Our main function is to identify fundraising opportunities, run and attend events and speak to the community. We also support the operational team’s training which can range from being a casualty, setting up surprise casualty exercises, through to operating the catering trailer on larger training exercises and live searches.
Q. How come you decided to apply to join a mountain rescue team?
A. It’s a bit of a cliché, but I decided to apply to join Bolton Mountain Rescue Team because I wanted to give something back to the community and, being a mountain rescue team, it fitted my interests and my love of the outdoors.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about being a member of Bolton MRT?
A. My favourite thing about being a member of Bolton MRT is the people. I also really enjoy the opportunities to organise exercise scenarios, and I always look forward to the festive season events we are involved in.
Q. What changes have you seen during your time in mountain rescue?
A. I’ve started to see more visibility on our social media platforms to engage with the wider public that may not know what we do, showing that our capabilities are more than just hills and mountains, and that our call out area spans way beyond the Bolton borough. I feel it’s important that we keep pace with the times in how we get our message out there, because without the public’s generosity, we can’t operate.
🚨CALLOUTS🚨
At 12:23pm on Monday 24th February we were called to assist a 72 year old who had suffered an ankle injury near Lead Mines Clough in the Anglezarke area. Team members administered Entonox gas for pain relief and splinted the injured ankle, before securing the patient into our stretcher and carrying them to our team vehicles. We then transported them to an awaiting North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust ambulance for further treatment.
Thank you to our neighbouring team Bolton Mountain Rescue Team for assisting us.
At 6:30pm on Tuesday evening, we responded to help a young male with a dislocated shoulder near Appley Bridge. After a medical assessment and treatment, team members were able to assist the boy off steep ground to the road to be taken to hospital by his parents.
We wish both casualties a speedy recovery.
Our very long-serving Support Group team member Gillian recently presented a Special Certificate of Thanks to Elsie of the Village Green Tea Room, Rivington. Elsie is the mother and grandmother of the present owners Jayne and Jade. In 2024 the Village Tea Room raised a remarkable £191 for Bolton MRT! Thank you for this wonderful and continuing support.
We’re recruiting!
You’ve possibly seen on some of our previous posts that it costs over £50k a year to run the team, and we are reliant on donations from generous members of the public or businesses.
We are being invited to an increasing number of opportunities to raise money, and we now need more people to join our support group to help with fundraising!
If you have a few hours a month to spare to help out with supermarket collections, village fairs, or a plethora of other fundraising activities, this could be the right thing for you.
If you’re interested, message us, and we’ll be in touch.
We have received great support from B33R @ 33 micropub in Horwich, who fundraised for us energetically last year. One of the owners, Mark, recently received a special certificate of thanks from Bolton MRT for raising an incredible £270 to support our work. A huge thank you to the pub and all their generous customers.
The team is rightly known as Bolton Mountain Rescue Team. However, last year, we responded to numerous incidents outside the Bolton area. The map illustrates just how far afield we received callouts. We travelled as far west as Wigan, north to Accrington, east to Rochdale, and south to Manchester!
Below are some of the statistics for 2024:
Number of callouts: 44
Longest callout: 6 hours 41 minutes
Incident hours: 999
Event hours: 5,291
Training hours: 4,998
Total member hours: 11,288
It was a busy year, with every team member on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Thank you to everyone for your support, which enables us to continue saving lives.
Map data ©️2025 Google
A few weeks ago you may have seen that using Facebook birthday fundraisers is an excellent way to donate to the team and help us raise over £50,000 this year.
We are delighted to announce that we have created a Just Giving page—making fundraising even easier and enabling Bolton MRT to benefit from Gift Aid.
There are many ways to raise money through Just Giving. For instance, you might ask people to sponsor you at your next event, whether it involves running, walking or climbing. Alternatively, why not bake some cakes and sell them, with the proceeds being donated to the team?
Simply visit www.justgiving.com/bolton-mrt to set up your event.
If you drop us a message, we will connect you with our Fundraising Officer, who will provide you with a fundraising pack.
Just Giving isn’t just about fundraising events—you can also make one-off or regular donations through the page. It truly is a one-stop shop.
Bolton MRT would like to thank you in advance for every penny you raise for the team.
Last Saturday, at 13:00 we received a call regarding a man who had slipped and suffered an ankle injury in the vicinity of Red Brook on Holcombe Moor, and was unable to weight-bear. We were able to drive two of our Land Rover ambulances up the track towards the location of the walking party and were assisted by a local farmer who used a quad bike to transport the casualty down to us. We then transferred the casualty into one of our vehicles and transported him and his family to their own vehicle at the bottom of the track for onward transport to Royal Bolton Hospital. We wish the casualty a speedy recovery and thank the farmer for his help.
Please take care this weekend, especially if heading out into the hills.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. It's the start of a new year, and once again we need to raise over £50,000 to allow Bolton MRT to continue saving lives.
We really appreciate every penny that's donated to us by our amazing supporters. Every year kind members of the public, community groups, and businesses raise money through sponsored events, birthday fundraisers, giving via Facebook, and in a variety of other ways.
If you have a birthday coming up, have you considered doing a birthday fundraiser for us on Facebook? Head over to our profile page and select 'raise money'
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team
However you support Bolton MRT, we would like to say thank you very much indeed.
At 08:02 on Sunday morning the team was contacted by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust with a request to attend an incident at Chorlton Brook, near to Sale Water Park, where a male was reported to be unconcious and not breathing.
An immediate response was made by 15 team members. On arrival we learned, sadly, that the male had died.
Later on in the morning we received a request to assist Greater Manchester Police to transport items of police equipment from the scene of the incident.
(library 📸)
On Sunday, Bolton MRT worked alongside colleagues from North West Air Ambulance and North West Ambulance Service to rescue a man who had suffered a serious leg injury falling on ice.
He was on a canal towpath near Haigh Woodland Park. Although not a remote location, thick ice on the path required the use of some of our specialist equipment.
Once extricated, the man was taken to hospital by land ambulance. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Yesterday, Greater Manchester Police requested Bolton MRT’s assistance with an ongoing search on rural land in the Ainsworth area for a woman who had been reported missing.
35 team members, including seven from our support team, were deployed for nine hours. Sadly, the woman’s body was found by team members in one of our search areas. Our thoughts go out to her family at this time.
Thank you to Brownhill Boarding Kennels and Stables for letting us use their car park as our operational base for the day.
On Monday evening we presented Alison, Licencee at The Jolly Crofters in Bolton, with a Certificate of Thanks for raising £1,979 for Bolton MRT in 2024. The Jolly Crofters have Bolton MRT collection boxes and have held a number of events on behalf of the team. We are very grateful for the support that The Jolly Crofters and their customers continue to give to Bolton MRT.
Useful information from our neighbours.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. 25 team members manned our base for 19 hours from Saturday evening through to Sunday afternoon.
This was the result of several meetings with both Lancashire and Greater Manchester statutory authorities, given the predicted wintry weather conditions.
Thankfully, there were no incidents that required an emergency response. We did, however, help one member of North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust get in to work using one of our 4x4 vehicles.