Cornwall Search & Rescue Team

Last updated

Cornwall Search and Rescue Team (formerly Cornwall Rescue Group) was a volunteer organisation that provided inland search and rescue cover for the county of Cornwall, England. [1] It has since been replaced by East Cornwall Search & Rescue Team and West Cornwall Search & Rescue Team.

Contents

History

In 1965, Climbers’ Club custodian Jim Smith established the first mountain rescue post in the South West at the Carn Galver Count House at Bosigran in West Cornwall. Rescues at Bosigran, famed for its 200-metre (660 ft) climb “Commando Ridge” nicknamed after the World War II commandos who trained there in preparation for wartime cliff assaults, would be performed by other climbers who would go to the Count House to collect the rescue equipment.

Later, a subsidiary post was established in the Lands End climbing area and also the Liskeard area,[ clarification needed ] however the coastal posts (including Lands End) closed around 20 years later as the HM Coastguard developed their cliff rescue capabilities. Similarly, the two voluntary mine rescue teams operating in the county disbanded in 1999 and 2008, after the fire brigade developed their mine rescue capabilities. [1]

Until 2002, incidents in inland Cornwall and on the moors were dealt with by the rescue teams from Dartmoor and Exmoor. However, due to an increase in call outs, it was decided that Cornwall needed its own team and Cornwall SRT was formed, originally with the name of Cornwall Rescue Group. This increase in callout numbers soon neccesitated the split of Cornwall SRT into two regional rescue organizations; East and West Cornwall Search and Rescue Teams.

Area covered

Cornwall has an area of about 3,500 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi) and the team covered all inland parts up to the border with Devon, with HM Coastguard covering the coastal areas. Although most of the county is farmland and semi-rural, over 300 square miles (780 km2) of this is open moorland including tors and lowland heath.

Although the team bordered four other teams at the eastern end of the county, its promontory position means it had to be completely self-sufficient, being unable to rely on immediate help from neighbouring teams for incidents in the western parts of the team's area.

Workload

The team was one of the busier teams in the South West, dealing with between 40 and 60 callouts a year. Like a lot of teams around the country, many of these callouts are “non mountain rescue”—searching for vulnerable people in rural locations. However the team dealt with its fair share of moorland jobs, mainly on and around Bodmin Moor, including casualty evacuations and rescue call outs directly from the ambulance service and the police (the size of the moor and vulnerability of inexperienced explorers making emergencies more probable). [2]

Cornwall SRT was also occasionally called to assist during times of severe weather and during major incidents, having played a key role in the Boscastle flood and during heavy snowfall across the higher parts of Cornwall, e.g. in the winter of 2009/10. This is in addition to the more specialist roles which the team also had including the provision of casualty carers and technical specialists.

Organisation

Led by a Team Leader and one deputy, at the time of its disbanding the team had around 45 surface search and rescue team members, based throughout Cornwall and one Search and Rescue Dog Association dog handler. Equipment was carried in three team vehicles which were based at Redruth, St Dennis and Bodmin. Two of these vehicles were Land Rover ambulances, and the other a control vehicle which also carried much of the technical equipment and swiftwater search and rescue team equipment.

The team was an essential part of the emergency services across Cornwall and was a member of Mountain Rescue (England and Wales), [3] and also the regional coordinating body - the Peninsular Mountain and Cave Rescue Association (PenMaCRA).

Team members trained every Thursday evening at locations across Cornwall, and also one Sunday per month.

Funding

The team was a registered charity and survived entirely on charitable donations. [2] Unlike the other emergency services, it received no funding from the government, and on top of regular training and call outs, team members also had to organise fundraising activities to keep the team running.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodmin Moor</span> Granite moorland in northeast Cornwall, England

Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England. It is 208 square kilometres (80 sq mi) in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough Tor, a slightly lower peak. Many of Cornwall's rivers have their sources here. It has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic era, when primitive farmers started clearing trees and farming the land. They left their megalithic monuments, hut circles and cairns, and the Bronze Age culture that followed left further cairns, and more stone circles and stone rows. By medieval and modern times, nearly all the forest was gone and livestock rearing predominated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Fowey</span> River in Cornwall, England

The River Fowey is a river in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Coastwatch Institution</span> Voluntary organisation of marine observatories

The National Coastwatch Institution is a voluntary organisation and registered charity providing a visual watch along the UK's coasts, and is not to be confused with HM Coastguard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn Area Rescue Association</span>

Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) or Severn Rescue is an independent, marine and land based, search and rescue organisation covering the Severn Estuary and upper reaches of the River Severn. SARA is the largest independent lifeboat service in the UK, second only to the RNLI, with 22 operational inshore lifeboats, 20 vehicles and approximately 200 personnel. They receive no funding from the RNLI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain rescue in England and Wales</span> UK rescue services

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team</span>

The Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team is a voluntary organisation that functions as a search and rescue service covering the southern half of West Yorkshire. It is a registered charity entirely funded by public contributions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service in south west England

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Cornwall, England. As of April 2019, the service employs over 400 retained firefighters, 203 full-time firefighters, plus 170 support and administrative staff. Created under the Fire Services Act 1947 as "Cornwall Fire Brigade", the name changed to "Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service" on 1 October 2009.

The Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) is a voluntary body based in the caving area of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. Founded in 1935, it is the first cave rescue agency in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team</span>

The Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team provides Search and Rescue services in and around the Scarborough and Ryedale areas of North Yorkshire, England. The team has no formal southern boundary and has carried out searches in the urban fringe areas of the East Riding of Yorkshire

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service</span> Lifeboat Station in Hampshire, England

Gosport Lifeboat Station is a volunteer-operated independent lifeboat station charity located in the village of Alverstoke on the peninsula of Gosport in the English county of Hampshire. Owned and operated by Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS), it operates free lifeboat services in the Solent from Portsmouth Harbour to Titchfield Haven, on the approaching shores of Southampton Water. GAFIRS is a charity registered in England and Wales (1159681).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrey Search and Rescue</span>

Surrey Search and Rescue (SurSAR) is a lowland search and rescue team based in Surrey, United Kingdom, who respond for missing person search, water rescue, drone imaging and other taskings at the request of Surrey Police and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, as well as other statutory and government agencies. In common with most UKSAR teams, SurSAR's members are volunteers. The team has been a registered charity in England and Wales since October 2011.

The Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association is based in Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales of northern England, and provides help to people and animals in difficulty in the caves and on the fells around Wharfedale, Nidderdale, Littondale and Mid-Airedale. Although it is staffed by approximately 80 volunteers and funded by donations, it is integrated into the emergency services and is called out by the police when there is an appropriate incident. The Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association was founded in 1948, and is the third oldest such team in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps</span> Military unit

The Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps is one of the five emergency services maintained by the Isle of Man Government, to provide a range of emergency responses on the Isle of Man, an independent Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. The Corps operates under the Department of Home Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United Kingdom wildfires</span> A record-breaking series of wildfires in the UK

Starting on 24 June 2018 and continuing throughout the summer, a record-breaking series of wildfires burned across the United Kingdom. The two largest fires, which were declared major incidents, burned over 7 square miles each and broke out on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester and Winter Hill in Lancashire. Other large fires broke out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Epping Forest, in London and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales. The Saddleworth Moor fire has been described as the largest English wildfire in living memory. Most of the wildfires occurred during the first official heatwave in the United Kingdom since June 2017, with temperatures reaching above 30 °C (86 °F) for several days, making the hottest June in the country since 1995, and the driest June for over ten years in large parts of the United Kingdom, exacerbating the crisis. A wildfire started on the Staffordshire Moorlands on 9 August and, despite rain, had spread to cover 219 acres by 11 August. Some hot spots were still burning as at 22 August. In total, there were 79 fires over the course of the year, a new record. However, the record was beaten in 2019 with 96 fires as of April 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team</span>

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.

Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team is one of five search and rescue teams based in the North East region of England. The team is based in the village of Great Ayton in North Yorkshire. They were called out to 61 incidents in 2019, and 58 in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation</span> Charity operating search and rescue missions

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxton Mountain Rescue Team</span> Charity operating search and rescue missions

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain rescue in Wales</span> Rescue teams covering mountains in Wales

Mountain rescue in Wales refers to 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.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cornwall Search & Rescue Team – British Cave Rescue Council" . Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Search and rescue from the East Cornwall Search & Rescue Team". Cornwall Living. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. "Mountain Rescue England and Wales | Teams in England and Wales". www.mountain.rescue.org.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2019.