in the news
This Sunday, 9th November, members of Bolton Mountain Rescue Team will be attending the annual Remembrance Service at Lead Mines Clough, near Rivington.
The service provides an opportunity to honour and remember those who gave their lives in service, including the crew of the Wellington Bomber Z8799, which tragically crashed on Winter Hill in 1943.
Team members will join others from the local community and uniformed organisations to pay their respects in this poignant and historic setting.
We’re proud to continue this tradition each year, standing together in remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Lest We Forget.
The week before last, from Thursday evening through to Sunday evening, Bolton MRT provided first aid cover for the Rivington Terraced Gardens Festival of Lights.
Organised by a team of devoted volunteers, this event is enjoyed by around 4000 people each year. Providing entertainment, food, refreshments, and more. It is a fantastic community showpiece. It is also a great opportunity for us to fundraise, and interact with the public.
There were a few minor medical incidents that our team Remote Rescue Medical Technicians dealt with but, overall, a brilliant time was had by all.
Today is Mountain Rescue Day.
For us at Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, this is a chance to highlight our team of highly-trained, committed volunteers who are ready 24/7, in all weathers, to respond when things go wrong in our local hills, moorland, and rural areas.
Whether it’s a lost walker on Winter Hill, an injured mountain biker, assisting the ambulance service, or responding to water-rescue and flooding incidents, we’re there when called.
Today, we’re celebrating:
* every callout answered;
* every volunteer who leaves home, work or family at a moment’s notice;
* and everyone who donates, fundraises, or simply helps raise awareness - you are part of this too.
If you love the outdoors and would like to support what we do, you can donate by clicking the button below.
During summer 2024 team members Bob and Diane delivered a talk on the work of the team to our friends and long time supporters Ladybridge Women's Institute. Following this talk, the WI selected us as their charity for 2025.
Last night team members Diane, Bob and Mike attended the WI’s AGM to receive a cheque for monies raised at their summer fayre. They brought with them a team vehicle and chatted to members showing them some of the equipment in the vehicles, before going inside to receive the donation.
Much to the amazement of the three team members the donation was a wonderful £900. All the money raised came from a Tea and Cakes Afternoon they held in the summer including from ticket sales, tombola, cakes, jewellery and handbag stall.
The team would like to thank all the WI members for their hard work in raising this money to help with the work of the team.
If you are part of an adult group e.g. a Women’s Institute Group, a Rotary Club, a walking group, a social group, an Inner Wheel group and would like a talk, please email speaker@boltonmrt.org.uk
On Friday 3rd October team member Mark travelled to Leigh Miners Welfare to deliver an illustrated talk about the work of Bolton MRT to a large audience of members of the Leigh & District University of the Third Age (U3A). U3A is an organisation that brings together people who are in their “Third Age” i.e. people who are no longer employed full-time. The idea is that these people (who are all volunteers) come together to learn, create, share their knowledge and skills, and learn from visiting speakers. The talk generated a considerable amount of interest and lots of good questions. At the end of the talk, there was an audience collection that raised £286 for Bolton MRT– a huge amount of money for which we are very grateful.
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. The team are fundraising at Tesco in Prestwich today. If you are in the area, pop in, meet the team and learn more about the work we do.
If you are unable to meet the team and would still like to donate, simply click the donate button below.
At 19:56 last night we were requested to assist Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team with a search for a lost 13 year old child on Holcombe Moor. 10 team members attended, working alongside RPMRT, Greater Manchester Police and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) drone team.
The moor was surrounded in mist and darkness, and searching began on foot, via drone, and via vehicles. Thankfully the lost young man was found fairly quickly by a party of two Rossendale MR team members on foot, near to Red Brook. He was assisted back to his family in Holcombe.
This was our second time working with RPMRT on the same day - the first being to an injured 20 year old mountain biker at Rawtenstall. Five team members attended and assisted with a stretcher carry over steep ground.
(library pic)
On Thursday 18th September team members Mark and Paul were pleased to deliver an illustrated talk to the Bolton National Trust Association. This is a voluntary organisation with a varied programme of events with speakers on subjects of interest, and social events such as lunches and quizzes. We were delighted to see such a large audience of around 60 members. There was a good deal of interest in the work of Bolton MRT. The photograph shows Mark and Paul with Mary O’Loughlin, the Chairman of Bolton National Trust Association. Mark and Paul were delighted to receive a donation for Bolton MRT of £70 - £60 from the group, and £10 from individual members of the audience.
At 19:08 on Wednesday 1st October, the team were contacted by North West Ambulance Service, requesting our assistance with a casualty at Cutacre Country Park, Over Hulton.
Team members and vehicles were quickly dispatched, with our first member on scene by 19.30.
The ambulance crew were joined by North West Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Team (HART). Arriving mountain rescue crews were held at the rendezvous point to support the casualty’s extraction, if needed.
The casualty was treated for potentially serious injuries, having fallen off a motocross bike.
NWAS ambulance crews and HART provided care before extricating the casualty using the HART Polaris all terrain vehicle.
We wish the casualty a speedy recovery.
Oops – a little technical hiccup!
It looks like Bolton Mountain Rescue Team’s JustGiving page isn’t working at the moment. We're already on the case and hope to have it back up and running soon.
In the meantime, if you’d like to support us, you can still donate via PayPal Giving by visiting:
www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/charity/4101209
Or simply head over to our website and click the ‘Donate’ button.
Thinking of setting up a fundraiser for us? Just drop our Fundraising Officer an email at: FO@boltonmrt.org.uk
Thanks so much for your support and patience!
Today at 3pm the Government will be testing the national Emergency Alerts system. Compatible phones across the UK will vibrate, make a loud siren-like sound, and display a message explaining that a test is taking place. Learn more: gov.uk/alerts
Emergency Alerts are used to warn and give important safety information about events that we are involved with such as severe flooding, wildfires, and storms.
Do let your friends and family know about the test, and if it happens for real please follow the advice.
No weekend lie-in for our team members today...
At 08:44 this morning the team was contacted by the Force Incident Manager at Lancashire Police, with the report of an injured male mountain biker on Winter Hill - the exact location being roughly half-way down the track between Winter Hill summit and the A675 at Belmont.
The team was promptly called out, and the first team member who lives nearby started making his way on foot up the hill by 09:05. Meanwhile, vehicles attended from Ladybridge Hall base and at 09:10 began to drive downhill from the summit, along the somewhat broken track, and vehicles attended from the Bolton North Fire Station base and those on board walked up the hill.
On arrival and after an assessment of the casualty, we determined that he may have sustained some potentially significant injuries and the North West Air Ambulance Charity was requested to attend.
The casualty was given pain relief, immobilised and after handover to the aircrew was carried a short distance to the NWAA aircraft from Barton, which departed to Salford Royal Infirmary. This incident was another excellent example of the great working relationship between ourselves and the NWAA crews.
We wish the casualty a full recovery and return to riding soon.
Early on Thursday morning we were asked to help our colleagues at Rossendale and Pendle MRT and North West Ambulance Service find a casualty who had called 999 after suffering a medical episode on Holcombe Moor. After a short search, the man was located and assessed by a medic from RPMRT and the NWAS ambulance crew. Members from both mountain rescue teams worked together to carry him off the moor to the ambulance at Lumb Carr Road. We want to thank the passing mountain biker who helped with the search and wish the man a speedy recovery.
You know how it is when you’re waiting for a bus and two come along at once? It is very rare for the team to have to handle independent, simultaneous, call-outs, but this is exactly what happened on Monday 25th August. At 16:45 our Team Leader, having been alerted to an incident in our patch by Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team (BPMRT) , initiated a full team call-out, to rescue a casualty with a back injury on the upper slopes of Rivington Pike. Team members began their responses by either travelling to our bases, where our vehicles are stationed, or travelling direct to the incident site.
As our team member Steve was driving our vehicle Bolton Mobile 5 up George’s Lane heading for Rivington Pike, he was flagged down by an informant who was very surprised to see the team so soon. The informant said the casualty with the ankle injury was on nearby Burnt Edge. For a moment, this had Steve taken aback, until the message came through about the second call-out. Whilst this conversation was happening, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust contacted us to request our assistance with a casualty at Burnt Edge, at a location just over 2km away from the Rivington Pike incident!
Our controller split the responding team members and vehicles into two groups in order to deal with the unfolding situation. The Rivington Pike casualty was quickly located south of the tower. Their injury necessitated that they be transported on a mountain rescue stretcher to our vehicle that was parked part way up the Pike track. A sledging technique was employed because the terrain was suitable for this method. Once on board our vehicle, the casualty was transported from the scene.
Meanwhile the second group of team members located the casualty on Burnt Edge and were able to drive along the track directly to her location. The lady had twisted her ankle and was unable to continue. After an initial assessment, the casualty was helped into one of the responding vehicles and taken a short distance to the road where an NWAS ambulance was waiting.
We wish both casualties a swift and thorough recovery. We would also like to thank the member of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team who was in the vicinity of the Rivington Pike incident when it happened, and joined in seamlessly with our team’s response.
We would like to thank the Dog Inn Belthorn for their kind donation of £310. The Dog Inn is a community run pub whose shareholders chose to donate their annual dividends to us in memory of Jim Fletcher. Jim was a big supporter of Bolton MRT, helping us to raise funds, earning his name on two of our vehicles!
The cheque was kindly given by Gordon, a member of the pub’s committee.
At 11:27 on Saturday the team was contacted by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust who were requesting our assistance at Wilderswood, Horwich.
A 50 year old female was reported to have broken her ankle whilst mountain biking in the area.
11 team members attended and assisted the NWAS crew already on scene. The casualty was given pain relief and her leg was splinted before she was carried for 250m to the waiting ambulance.
We wish the casualty a full recovery and speedy return to riding!
Tonight!
This evening we host Mitch Hutchcraft at Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, Bolton.
Earlier this year, Mitch completed the world’s longest triathlon. The former Royal Marine swam the English Channel; cycled from Calais to eastern India; then covered over 1250km on foot, culminating with summiting Everest.
Mitch will give an in-depth presentation of his story. Even better, anyone can attend.
Tickets are £10, or £5 for mountain rescue volunteers. All proceeds will go to Bolton Mountain Rescue Team. It will take place at Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, Bolton. If you would like a ticket, you can direct message us via our social media channels or you can pay on the door.
Bolton MRT were called out at 16:36 on Sunday, at the behest of North West Ambulance Service. A casualty with a painful lower leg injury required assistance after going over on her ankle on moorland near Darwen.
Ten minutes after the call-out, the first team members arrived on scene. They immediately began assessing and treating the casualty whilst colleagues with further equipment were arriving at an RV point 500m away.
Once the casualty had been given pain relief, and her suspected broken leg was stabilised with a splint, she was packaged onto a mountain rescue stretcher and carried to the RV point. She was then transferred to an NWAS ambulance to be taken to hospital for further treatment.
We would like to wish the casualty a speedy recovery, and we hope you’re able to tackle your now delayed West Highland Way trip as soon as your leg is healed!
On Wednesday the team were honoured to host the High Sherriff of Greater Manchester, Martin Ainscough CBE DL. The High Sherriff toured our base at Ladybridge Hall and found out about the breadth of capabilities in the team, including our off-road and search control vehicles, flood and swift water rescue equipment, and rope rescue capability. The High Sherriff also met members of our Support Team, who raise valuable funds and attend events on our behalf.
Afterwards, the High Sherriff observed a mass-casualty training exercise undertaken by the team, before speaking to volunteers and presenting certificates to team members who had recently achieved the Remote Rescue Medical Technician and Outdoor First Aid qualifications.
A round-up of recent incidents:
On Saturday 5th July, North West Ambulance Service requested our assistance with a young man who had fallen a significant distance out of a tree in woods close to Smithills Farm, with concerns about possible spinal, pelvic and lower leg injuries. The casualty was immobilised and carefully extricated before being carried to the waiting ambulance on our mountain rescue stretcher.
Just before 2pm on Friday 11th July, the team was contacted by Greater Manchester Police for help in searching for a high risk missing person in the Elton area of Bury. We were tasked with searching areas of woodland around the Kirklees Trail. We concluded searching our assigned areas at approximately 8pm. Later that evening, we received the good news that the missing person had been found safe and well.
Two days later, while attending Worsley Summer Fair on Sunday 13th July, two of our Remote Rescue Medical Technicians supported by other team members, were called upon to provide first aid to a member of the public who had collapsed. We're pleased to report that following a thorough assessment by North West Ambulance crew, the patient involved was discharged on scene.
A busy time for the team!
It’s less than two weeks until we host Mitch Hutchcraft at Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, Bolton.
Earlier this year, Mitch completed the world’s longest triathlon. The former Royal Marine swam the English Channel; cycled from Calais to eastern India; then covered over 1250km on foot, culminating with summiting Everest.
On Wednesday 23rd July, we have arranged for Mitch to give an in-depth presentation of his story. Even better, anyone can attend. Tickets are £10 on the door, or £5 for mountain rescue members. It will take place at Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, Bolton. If you would like to put your name down for a ticket, please direct message us via our social media channels.
Today, we’re spending this splendid Sunday at Worsley Summer Fair.
We have kit demonstrations and a CPR challenge, and you can talk to our attending members about the work we do.
Remember the SPF and to stay hydrated whatever you’re up to today!
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.
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.