The History of GMRT
On Monday 20th April 1957 the Glossop Rover Scouts decided to investigate the possibility of forming a mountain rescue team, to assist the police as and when required. In July 1959, whilst on an exercise weekend at Edale, the crew assisted the evacuation of a girl with an ankle injury from Kinder Scout. The first rescue recorded in the team logbook was 10th January 1960, of a female who had fallen in a gully on Lawrence Edge above Woodhead, she had a broken leg and was carried by stretcher to Crowden Station.
In the spring of 1964 during the "Four Inns Challenge" the weather deteriorated and heavy snowfall led to the deaths of three scouts, despite the evacuation of a number of scouts by Glossop team, and a search by other teams in the Peak District. As a direct result, a number of new teams sprang up of willing volunteers, and this led to the formation of the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation, (PDMRO), and the amalgamation of the Glossop Rover Scout crew with the recently formed Glossop Moorland Rescue Team. The combined team was named 'Glossop Mountain Rescue Team' (GMRT). Since that date our team has been continuously on call.
The present team is still run with the same enthusiasm for saving life that followed the Four Inns tragedy. There are presently about 40 active members of the team, available 24 hours a day 365 days a year. There have been many changes over the years including ever more sophisticated medical and rescue equipment, pagers, radios, GPS and satellite phones. Helicopters also play an increasingly important role in search and evacuation with GMRT working closely with the RAF, Air Ambulance and Police helicopters. However, sometimes the weather defeats even the latest technology and GMRT falls back on the manpower and stretcher carrying techniques that existed back on that first rescue in the Fifties. In fact one member on that first call is still active in the team today!
GMRT Today
The Mountain Rescue service in England and Wales exists to save lives in the mountains and moorlands.
GMRT is on call 24 hours a day, every day, in all weathers to provide a rescue service for everyone.
Many people do not realise that we are there for everyone and not just 'mountaineers'. We have helped families on lowland walks, farmers, horse riders, missing persons, lost schoolchildren, scouts, guides, cyclists, people in places the Ambulance service cannot reach and even a snowed in meals on wheels service! We have also been called out to several aircraft crashes.
Most of our rescues are to help people who have become injured or lost in the Dark Peak region of the surrounding National Park.
After receiving a 999 call, the Police or Ambulance Service contact the team and we take responsibility to find and rescue the casualty and their party. Our work is not done until the casualty is safely aboard a helicopter or ambulance bound for hospital, or lost persons are safely delivered to concerned family members!
To maintain operational readiness we continually train in rescue and medical techniques which are put to the test in a realistic series of winter exercises.
Latest Callouts
Rescue Callout 17/10/26
The team were called to a walker in the Doctors...
Rescue Callout 12/10/26
Last night, at around 18:30 as daylight began to fade,...
Rescue Callout 30/9/26
On Wednesday the team were in the middle of our...