in the news
The Met Office have issued an amber warning for snowfall & ice over the weekend. This is great news if you have been waiting for a good excuse to get your sledges and toboggans out onto the local hills!
For us, snowfall does mean we might be busier than usual. Places such as Lever Park at Rivington can sometimes get very busy and the snowy, icy roads quickly become congested. If you're visiting the countryside, then please park considerately, and don't block access to gates that are needed for emergencies.
Keep an eye for updated messages from the Met Office. At the moment the advice for Saturday night/Sunday morning is to travel only if necessary - and if you do have to travel, go prepared - click the link for details.
Travelling in snow and ice - National Highways
nationalhighways.co.uk
Find out how to make your journeys as smooth and safe as possible when the temperatures drop. On New Year's Day team members were requested to assist with the major incident response to flooding in Stockport and Didsbury, following a number of preparatory calls held on New Year's Eve and in the early hours of New Year's Day.
A type-B (powered boat) water rescue team was initially mobilised to support a response to flooding at a large block of apartments in Stockport, attended by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Greater Manchester Police, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Kinder Mountain Rescue Team and Glossop Mountain Rescue Team. We attended with team members qualified in water rescue along with rescue equipment - namely rafts and powered boats. Floodwater at this location had largely subsided by our arrival and we were quickly stood down from that scene.
We were then asked to assist Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) at Palatine Road in Didsbury, to support the evacuation of a flooded hotel, as well as residents from nearby apartment blocks and houses cut off by floodwater. All had no access to electricity or central heating, due to an associated power cut in the area.
A huge multi-agency operation began in earnest here at around 4pm involving Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), Greater Manchester Police, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust HART, ourselves, Kinder Mountain Rescue Team and Cheshire Search and Rescue supported by Transport for Greater Manchester, the local council, and Didsbury Mosque. We believe a total of 469 people were rescued from flooded properties and offered alternative accommodation.
Team members stood down at around 22:00 with all taskings completed.
This content isn't available right now
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. Congratulations to Kev Camplin, a member and former Team Leader of Bowland Pennine MRT, and now our regional operational lead, on the award of Member of the Order of the British Empire in HM The King's New Year Honours List for 2025.
This content isn't available right now
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. Merry Christmas, and all the best for the festive period, from all of us at Bolton MRT to all our supporters.
We thought it would also be worth reminding you all of our Christmas opening hours.
If you can spare any extra this Christmas, please do consider a donation to help our team.
We are an organisation that requires around £52k per year to run, which means we have to raise an average of £1,000 per week to maintain the vital service we provide. Replacing essential kit can bring our annual costs up to a whopping £65k!
Fantastic achievement from these year 3 pupils at St Mary’s RC Primary School Horwich, raising over £450 for the team. Thank you.Year 3 class Catholic Social Teaching charity fundraiser or good deed, linked to a curriculum topic was to raise vital funds for a charity. Bolton Mountain Rescue was chosen. These 4 children have sent their money in and we can’t believe they have raised over £450
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team ❤️
Last weekend, whilst our volunteers were fundraising at the Horwich branch of Tesco, we were presented with a cheque for £500 by Mags, their community champion. This money was raised through donations from their store’s community bookshelf. Thank you to all who bought a book and helped to fund our team. £500 would cover the cost of one team member’s waterproof clothing, which is a vital part of our kit when out on the hill. A further £230 was donated by kind customers on the day.
We would like to express our thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress of Bolton who visited Grub's Boots with us today. This visit was to thank them for yet another amazing donation of Grub's boots given to all our volunteers. Our team really appreciates this great support from a Bolton family firm.
On Tuesday 3rd December, team members Mark and Paul had the pleasure of welcoming members of VISIBL to our Ladybridge Hall Headquarters. VISIBL stands for Visually Impaired Social In Bolton Library. It is a Rotary project which was instigated by Rotarians Maureen, Eileen, and Shelia. The group are all partially sighted or unsighted. Led by Maureen, they hold regular meetings within Bolton Central Library and these meetings frequently include a visiting speaker. Team members Christine and Mark attended VISIBL on Monday 9th September to talk about the team's work and to hear from group members about their experiences of accessing footpaths in the countryside in our area, the challenges they face, and how they overcome them. The talk was very well received, and there was extensive, lively, and interesting discussion among those present.
Following on from the meeting at the library, Maureen asked if she and a smaller group of VISIBL members could visit our HQ for further discussion and to present two cheques towards the team's funds: £60 from VISIBL and £50 from Bolton Lever Rotary Club. We were delighted to agree and it was a very enjoyable get-together indeed.
We extremely grateful for both these kind donations and, on behalf of the whole team, we extend our thanks to VISIBL and Bolton Lever Rotary Club.
Last Sunday, eight of our team members and two of our team vehicles took part in Turton Young Farmers’ Christmas Tractor Run.
This is always a great event involving 100 tractors and more than 350 people.
The event supported another very deserving charitable organisation, and the proceeds of a cake sale were very kindly donated to Bolton MRT.
Thanks, Turton Young Farmers, for organising another fantastic, festive event.
On Saturday the 7th of December, from 12:00-16:00, Bolton MRT will be attending the very festive Christmas Market at Ye Jolly Crofters, Horwich.
This event, held annually, provides fun for the whole family, and helps to raise much needed funds for our team.
We hope to see you there for some festive cheer!
Next Monday, 9th of December, Bolton MRT will be attending and fundraising at the fantastic ‘Mountains on Stage’ at Vue Cinema, Printworks, Manchester.
Mountains on Stage aims to bring the mountains to the city and to share all the beauty of mountain sports! A selection of the best films related to mountain activities are presented.
Treat yourself to an early Christmas night out, buy a ticket (link below and they can be bought on the night), get your vicarious dose of mountain air, and stop by for a chat with our volunteers.
We’ll see you there!
www.billetweb.fr/manchester-mountains-on-stage-winter-edition-2024
As Bolton MRT member Geoff was re-fuelling one of our Mountain Rescue Land Rovers (Bolton Mobile 2) at the Texaco garage in Horwich on Saturday, a kind member of the public offered to pay for it. Of course, we never expect such kind gestures; however, it does cost over £3000 per year to fuel our fleet of vehicles, so we do appreciate them immensely. Thank you to the donor from Leaders Garage in Horwich.
Team member David recently provided basic life support (BLS) training for Bradshaw Gass & Hope LLP Architects. BLS covers the first aid techniques that can be used to help treat life-threatening conditions until a casualty can receive professional medical care. As a thank you, they kindly made a donation to our team.
If you have an organisation that would benefit from BLS training, please do get in touch with our team.
Remember, Bolton MRT is an organisation that costs around £52k per year to run, which means we have to raise an average of £1,000 per week to maintain the vital service we provide. Replacing essential kit can bring our annual costs up to a whopping £65k!
If you would like to help our work by donating, you can do so by clicking below.
You can also help us by adding a fundraising button to your Facebook posts or, if you have a special occasion, create a ‘fundraiser’ for Bolton MRT. You can do this by clicking facebook.com/fund/BoltonMRT or, on mobile, searching ‘Fundraisers’.
This is a fantastic amount of money raised for our team. Thank you for your efforts.
The team are at Morrison's at Atlas Mills in Bolton today. Why not come along, meet the team, and learn about the work that we do?
Winter is meant to arrive with a bang this week. This is an exciting time for many of us who love the outdoors, but it can bring with it some challenges.
If heading out into the hills to enjoy the wintry weather, remember to ask yourself the following questions.
Am I confident I have the knowledge and skills for the day?
Do I know what the weather will be like?
Do I have the right gear to keep me safe and warm?
Think about carrying a map and compass, spare hat and gloves, warm layers, waterproof jacket and trousers, a head-torch and spare batteries, whistle, a charged phone and power bank, and some food and a warm drink.
On Saturday team members headed to the Brick Community Stadium in Wigan, home of Wigan Athletic Football Club. Just before the match against league leaders Wycombe Wanderers Football Club began, the stadium was filled with the theme tune of the "Mission Impossible" films.
The attention of the thousands of spectators was then drawn to a group of people, dressed in red, perched at the very edge of the stadium's roof. It was announced that these were members of Bolton Mountain Rescue Team! A rope could be seen hanging free from that point all the way down to the pitch. There were gasps as one of the figures, team member Alex, began slowly abseiling down the rope. He was carrying the match ball! Once safely on the ground, he handed the ball to team member Diane who walked with it across to the centre spot and over to the other side of the pitch where the referee was waiting to receive the ball to start the game. It was all carefully planned and rehearsed, of course, and made for a great spectacle to entertain the crowd.
We are very pleased to have been able to create the spectacle that the club and stadium authorities had wished for, and also for being allowed to fundraise before the match and then watch the match itself.
Thank you Wigan Athletic! Sorry you lost the match 0 - 1 to Wycombe Wanderers.
Mountain Rescue England and Wales
Wigan Athletic
At 12:39 on Saturday afternoon the team was alerted to an incident on the Middle Brook trail, Ladybridge, Bolton. A 52 year old female was reported to be suffering from a serious medical emergency.
Team members were coincidentally at our base, less than 1km away. A vehicle was immediately despatched and was on scene within a few minutes, alongside multiple North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust resources, Greater Manchester Police and the North West Air Ambulance Charity.
The casualty was treated by NWAS and NWAA crews and was carried back on a stretcher to Ladybridge Lane, up a flight of steps on the bridge and then handed back to the ambulance crews for further treatment at hospital.
Our thoughts are with the casualty and her family at this time.
(library pic)
Take care if visiting Rivington Pike tonight, visibility is very poor.
This content isn't available right now
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. Late on Thursday evening, we were alerted to an incident at Holcombe Moor above Ramsbottom. Simultaneous calls to us came from Greater Manchester Police and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust .
A 47 year old male, out fell running, was reported to be in cardiac arrest a short distance away from Pilgrim’s Cross. Members of Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team were coincidentally running nearby and had started resuscitation attempts.
Team vehicles responded and conveyed NWAS and GMP personnel, alongside rescue and medical equipment, to the location.
Sadly, the casualty did not survive. Team members remained on scene whilst routine police enquiries were conducted. The casualty was carried off the moor by the team. The team stood down at 02:00.
Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of the man involved.
(library pic)
Tomorrow team members will be paying our respects to the fallen at the Wellington bomber crash memorial at Lead Mine's Clough.
All are welcome to join us for the service, gathering from 10.45.
Parking is available at the Anglezarke quarries car park. The memorial is a one mile walk away.
On Sunday morning at 10:12 we were alerted to an incident on the banks of Wayoh Reservoir, Edgworth.
A 72 year old female was reported to have sustained a lower leg injury whilst walking along the footpath around the reservoir, and was unable to walk off. Two team members happen to live very near to the accident and were quickly on scene, accompanied by an ambulance crew from North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
Additional team members and vehicles attended and the lady was carried by mountain rescue stretcher to the nearby NWAS ambulance.
The casualty was helped by members of the public before we were alerted to this incident, and we are grateful for their assistance.
(stock photo)