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Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team

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Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team on top of the Buttertubs Pass

The Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team (SMRT), is a voluntary organisation that undertakes search and rescue primarily in the Swaledale and Wensleydale area of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Like other mountain rescue teams, SMRT does not confine itself to the immediate area and will respond to calls by emergency services and the public alike across a broad expanse of Northern England.

History

The team was formed in July 1968 with 12 local men; they now have a complement of 40 volunteers both male and female.[1]

In 2015, the SMRT signed a joint working agreement with the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to attend large scale flooding events and water rescues.[2]

Whilst the SMRT cover over 500 square miles (1,300 km2),[3] they do not confine themselves solely to Swaledale, Wensleydale or even North Yorkshire. The SMRT have operated in York, Cumbria, and Whitby.[4][5][6] As with most volunteer search and rescue teams, the SMRT does not receive any local, regional or national funding. It relies solely on the support of local people and organisations.[7]

During 2009, SMRT were involved in 30 callouts and 35 in 2010. Previous numbers had been in the high teens and low twenties; the rise in number of callouts was attributed to people Staycationing after the financial crisis of 2007–2008 of the late 2000s.[5] During 2016, the team were called out fifteen times to a variety of rescues including one where a Tesco delivery driver had driven off a small cliff near Leyburn in North Yorkshire.[8][9][10][11] During 2020, despite less people visiting the area due to the lockdowns enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the team were called out 35 times during 2020.[12]

The SMRT work from a building located on the Catterick Garrison estate. The British Army used to charge the SMRT for use of their training land, but after the SMRT were called out to search for missing soldiers (one of whom had drowned), the army agreed to drop their levy to a peppercorn rent of just £5 per year.[13]

Role

The SMRT are used on the usual range of rescue and search operations. Notable examples of their involvement include;

The SMRT have a sub-team known as the Swiftwater and Flood Rescue Unit (SWFRU) which responds to water-based incidents such as missing kayakers, people who are trapped in vehicles with floodwater rising around them and stricken cattle stuck in watercourses.[4] The unit was formed in 2003.[19]

Whilst the traditional role on a Mountain Rescue Team is of rescuing people and cattle, SMRT have been called in by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to help remove dumped rubbish. In 1999 the SMRT were asked to help out at the Buttertubs Pass as detritus such as a tractor wheel and a telegraph pole had been dumped down the holes on the pass. As the park rangers lacked the specialist equipment needed to access the pot-holes, SMRT were called in.[20]

Affiliations

SMRT is affiliated to the North East Search and Rescue Association,[21] Mountain Rescue (England and Wales),[22] and the British Cave Rescue Council.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sedgwick, Phillip (29 April 2016). "On exercise with the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Joint arrangement with Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team". North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Charity overview". charity commission.org.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Greenbank, Tony (24 November 2018). "When trouble bubbles". The Yorkshire Post. The Magazine. p. 6. ISSN 0963-1496.
  5. ^ a b c Jeeves, Paul (11 April 2010). "Mountain rescue teams stretched". The Yorkshire Post. ProQuest 335388381.
  6. ^ a b Hughill, Ian (Spring 2017). "Six Swiftwater Teams Deploy to North Sea Tidal Surge". Mountain Rescue Magazine. No. 60. Worsley: Mountain Rescue (England & Wales). p. 23. ISSN 1756-8749.
  7. ^ Wilson, Laura (15 March 2018). "Mountain rescue team celebrate 50th anniversary". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  8. ^ Whiteside, Judy, ed. (Spring 2017). "Incidents Oct Nov Dec 2016". Mountain Rescue Magazine. No. 60. Worsley: Mountain Rescue (England & Wales). p. 27. ISSN 1756-8749.
  9. ^ Whiteside, Judy, ed. (Autumn 2016). "Incidents Apr May Jun 2016". Mountain Rescue Magazine. No. 58. Worsley: Mountain Rescue (England & Wales). p. 27. ISSN 1756-8749.
  10. ^ Whiteside, Judy, ed. (Spring 2017). "Incidents Jul Aug Sep 2016". Mountain Rescue Magazine. No. 59. Worsley: Mountain Rescue (England & Wales). p. 45. ISSN 1756-8749.
  11. ^ Whiteside, Judy, ed. (Summer 2016). "Incidents Jan Feb Mar 2016". Mountain Rescue Magazine. No. 57. Worsley: Mountain Rescue (England & Wales). p. 23. ISSN 1756-8749.
  12. ^ McCandlish, Sophie (9 January 2021). "The Rescue Squad". The Yorkshire Post. Country Week. p. 13. ISSN 0963-1496.
  13. ^ Willis, Joe (19 June 2007). "Army rethinks charge in wake of drowning". The Northern Echo. ProQuest 329167296.
  14. ^ Clout, Laura (12 April 2008). "12 hurt as helicopter crashes in Yorkshire". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  15. ^ Willis, Joe (14 January 2010). "Rescuers go on foot to deliver essentials". The Northern Echo. ProQuest 329249047.
  16. ^ "Cyclists in race route crashes". BBC News. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  17. ^ a b Greenbank, Tony (24 November 2018). "When trouble bubbles". The Yorkshire Post. The Magazine. p. 8. ISSN 0963-1496.
  18. ^ Barnett, Ben (10 October 2019). "Rural Awards 2019 - Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team appeal launched by The Yorkshire Post after Dales floods". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Swift Water Training - Swaledale Mountain Rescue". www.swaledalemrt.org.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Park potholes 'a dumping ground'". BBC News. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  21. ^ "North East Search and Rescue Association". www.NESRA.org.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  22. ^ "Mountain Rescue England and Wales | Teams in England and Wales". www.mountain.rescue.org.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team – British Cave Rescue Council". Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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