Stories from the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Ashburton - All proceeds to Team
Stories from the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Ashburton - All proceeds to Team
This small booklet is a fantastic read for anyone interested in the activities of a voluntary Search and Rescue Team on Dartmoor.
Put together by a few longstanding members from the Ashburton team of which Charlie of Moorswood is an active member. Including stories about the team, Ten Tors event support over the years and real life rescues this fantastic little volume is a fabulous gift for anyone keen on the coming and goings of Dartmoor.
All proceeds of the sale of this item go directly to the Team.
Our small team of volunteers relies on public and business donations for over 90% of its income and without the public support the free search and rescue service would cease to operate.
Free UK delivery for orders over £45.
Nigel Ash an ever present and ever endearing character within our midst writes about our fabled all night navigation assessment and what it is to be a team member.
“ As a temporarily-lost trainee and in the end, as a very, very , very occasionally lost full member, I have been with DSRT Ashburton for 15 years and I still have to pinch myself. A mountain rescue team is probably unique in the voluntary world.”
”At some point we all thought it would be good to be in a rescue team. Most of us wrote on our application ‘ I love Dartmoor and I feel I want to give something back to the community’.”
“One former training officer, who taught me virtually everything I have forgotten, described the team as ‘Professional Amateurs’. He was right. But it actually goes beyond that. Professionalism by itself is not it.”
“We are some 60 people who know, trust and even, dare one say it, love each other (just a little!). This makes for an extraordinary experience both for those we set out to help and also for us.”
Steve Jones and Alec Collyer MBE recall real life search and rescue events on the Moor. Alec has been with the team for over forty years and is still an active member today, Steve also a longstanding member who’s knowledge of Dartmoor borders on the encyclopedic, both in place name and ground navigation. They recount a number of real life events and the hard shipped faced by those undertaking the search just as much those looking to be rescued.
Dartmoor Search and Rescue team Ashburton are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Go out in all and any weathers, usually the most atrocious.
If you would prefer to make a donation direct please click here.
Very few people know about the vital work that the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton team performs. Apart from searching for injured or lost walkers, cyclists, horseriders, and kayakers on Dartmoor, the team gets a number of callouts each year to rural and urban areas across Devon including Exeter, Torbay, Newton Abbot, Exmouth, and Totnes. In fact we search for missing persons right to the Dorset border at Lyme Regis, and sometimes further afield. We are frequently called to search for vulnerable people such as dementia patients and despondent’s including suicide risks and will turn out anytime day and night to help. The Police and the emergency services don’t have the resources needed for detailed searching required for missing person enquiries and now rely on search and rescue charities like ourselves to assist them.
You can also read more about the team via the link here and sign up to help with our supporters club or look for more info should you decide to give it a go and join up as a volunteer.