It has been an exceptionally busy few weeks for the members of Galloway Mountain Rescue team. Over the last 5 weeks since lockdown restrictions have been relaxed, they have been called upon by Police Scotland to assist in 6 different incidents.
On the morning of the 12th of July, the team were called out to evacuate a walker on Screel Hill near to Castle Douglas. Then on the 25th July, the team worked throughout the night to locate a pair of walkers who had become lost in bad weather close to Tunskeen Bothy; assisting in this search were the Police Scotland Mountain Rescue Team and HMCG helicopter – Rescue 199.
August saw no let up with the team being called out twice in one day on the 6th August. The following day we spent 5 hours locating 2 walkers who had become disorientated in poor visibility close to the summit of the Merrick.
Again on the evening of the 18th August, Police Scotland asked for our assistance. We were tasked to find a lone, lost walker who was caught out by a change in weather conditions on the Rig of the Gloon, and area just south of the Merrick. 4 members quickly gathered there kit and using one of the teams vehicles from Newton Stewart, drove as far up the hill as possible. They continued on foot, finding the missing person, and escorting her to safe ground. The incident was completed just after midnight.
Galloway Mountain Rescue team are unpaid volunteers, who are on call 24hrs a day, 365 days of the year. We support fellow emergency services in SW Scotland and have a range of search and rescue capabilities.
More information on the team’s activities can be found at:
