Abbreviation | BMRT |
---|---|
Formation | 1964 |
Type | Charitable organisation |
Registration no. | Registered charity number: 1153507 |
Headquarters | 8A Hallsteads, Dove Holes, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 8BJ |
Region | England |
Website | Official website |
The Buxton Mountain Rescue Team is a UK registered charity operating search and rescue missions from its base at Dove Holes near Buxton in Derbyshire. The team covers an area of about 400 square miles across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Buxton Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) is staffed by about 60 volunteers, with search and rescue dogs and 4 rescue vehicles. The team is funded exclusively through donations and fundraising and responds to about 100 call outs by the Derbyshire Police and East Midlands Ambulance Service every year. It is one of the seven member teams of the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation (PDMRO). The purpose of PDMRO is "to save life and alleviate distress, primarily in Upland and Mountain areas". This is achieved by conducting search and rescue missions for walkers, climbers and missing persons in and around the Peak District National Park. [1] [2] Buxton MRT and the PDMRO were both established in 1964 following the deaths of three young scouts during a blizzard on the Four Inns Walk in 1964. [3]
Previously, from the 1940s until the 1960s, the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the Peak District was based at RAF Harpur Hill, by Harpur Hill in Buxton. [4] On 3 November 1948 the RAF team was called out to locate the US Air Force (USAF) Boeing RB-29A Superfortress which had crashed near Bleaklow moor on the Kinder Scout moorland plateau. All 13 crew perished in the tragedy and the crashed plane became known as the Bleaklow Bomber. Much of the wreckage is still visible at the crash site, where a memorial was erected in 1988. [5] [6]
Buxton MRT's headquarters at Dove Holes near Buxton was opened on 14 June 1990 by HRH Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2003 HRH Prince Andrew opened the base's extension building which houses the team’s vehicles, equipment, climbing wall and incident control centre. [1]
In 2013, team member Ian Hurst was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to mountain rescue. [7]
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level. It lies close to Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. In 1974, the municipal borough merged with other nearby boroughs, including Glossop, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak.
Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and national nature reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District, in Derbyshire and the East Midlands; in an early text this summit was identified as the Peak, and the whole area is often referred to locally as The Peak or The Peaks. In excellent weather conditions, the city of Manchester and the Greater Manchester conurbation can be seen from the western edges, as well as Winter Hill near Bolton and the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales.
The Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built to carry minerals and goods through the hilly rural terrain of the Peak District within Derbyshire, England. The route was marked by a number of roped worked inclines. Due to falling traffic, the entire railway was closed by 1967.
Bleaklow is a high, largely peat-covered, gritstone moorland in the Derbyshire High Peak near the town of Glossop. It is north of Kinder Scout, across the Snake Pass (A57), and south of the A628 Woodhead Pass. Much of it is nearly 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and the shallow bowl of Swains Greave on its eastern side is the source of the River Derwent.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a WWII era long range, strategic heavy bomber that was produced in many experimental and production models.
The Four Inns is a fell race/hiking event held annually over the high moorlands of the Northern Peak District. It takes place mainly in Derbyshire, in northern England. It is organised by the Scout Association. It is a competitive event, without an overnight camp. It was first held as a Rover Scout event in 1957, but is now open to other teams of experienced hill walkers and fell runners.
Dove Holes is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It has a population of about 1,200 (2001), shown in the 2011 Census as being included in the population of Chapel-en-le-Frith. It straddles the A6 road approximately three miles north of Buxton and three miles south of Chapel-en-le-Frith. Trains run from Dove Holes railway station into Manchester.
Mountain rescue services in England and Wales operate under the association of Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW), formerly called Mountain Rescue Council of England & Wales. The association has a number of regional mountain rescue teams, each of which is an independent charity. The team members are highly trained volunteers who are called out by the police.
Harpur Hill is a small village on the outskirts of Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It is in the Cote Heath ward of the High Peak Borough Council. It has a primary school, a park, a pub, a working men's club and a Methodist church.
The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides the UK military's only all-weather search and rescue asset for the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircrew from the large number of aircraft crashes then occurring due to navigational errors in conjunction with bad weather and resulting poor visibility when flying in the vicinity of high ground. The practice at the time was to organise ad-hoc rescue parties from station medical sections and other ground personnel.
Buxton & Leek College is a college of Further and Higher Education operating at their campuses and facilities in Buxton, Derbyshire, Leek, Staffordshire and Derby, Derbyshire. The college is part of the University of Derby.
Harpur Hill Quarry is a disused limestone quarry on Harpur Hill, Derbyshire, England. Limestone was extracted there from 1835 to 1952 for lime burning at lime kilns to produce quicklime. The quarry was used by the Royal Air Force as a chemical weapons storage depot during the Second World War, the largest such depot in the United Kingdom. Afterwards a number of captured German chemical munitions were disposed of at the site by burning, which was only partially successful. The RAF depot closed in 1960 and the site is now vacant.
RAF Harpur Hill is a former Royal Air Force station, situated at Harpur Hill near Buxton, Derbyshire in England. The site was operational from 1938 to 1960 and was mainly used as an underground munitions storage facility. It became the largest ammunitions dump in the country across the 500 acres (200 ha) site.
Burbage Edge is a gritstone escarpment overlooking the Burbage district of Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The hill's summit is 500 metres (1,600 ft) above sea level.
This is a partial list of prominent buildings in Buxton, Derbyshire which have been demolished or ruined.
The Bleaklow Bomber was a US Air Force (USAF) Boeing RB-29A Superfortress that crashed near Higher Shelf Stones on Bleaklow in the Peak District in 1948. It was modified as a reconnaissance aircraft, rather than a bomber.
The Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation (PDMRO) is a UK registered charity which was formed in 1964. The purpose of PDMRO is "to save life and alleviate distress, primarily in Upland and Mountain areas". This is achieved by conducting search and rescue missions for walkers, climbers and missing persons in and around the Peak District National Park.
Mountain rescue in Wales is the search and rescue activities that occur in the mountainous and other wilderness environments in Wales. Wales is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. Mountain rescue teams are called out through the police, via the 999 system, to assist police, fire and ambulance. They also work closely with the Air Ambulance and HM Coastguard helicopters as well as the search and rescue dog associations and cave rescue.
High Edge is a limestone hill overlooking Harpur Hill, Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit is 472 metres (1,549 ft) above sea level. The lower hilltop is marked by a cairn.