The volunteer rescuers who have helped thousands

Mike France started as a volunteer mountain rescuer in 1970

As many of us put our feet up, got out the board games or headed out for a family stroll over the festive period, Neil Roden and Mike France were ready to help those in need across Derbyshire.

It's something both members of the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation are used to. They have been doing this for decades, after both started when they were 18.

Mr France said 2024 - the 60th year since the organisation was launched - had been the busiest yet, with more than 500 callouts.

They both said things had changed a lot since they started.

Neil Roden said there were "far more people" in the Peak District nowadays, leading to more callouts

The organisation is made up of seven teams, who are all volunteers.

These teams include Woodhead - which Mr France is part of - and Edale, where Mr Roden is a member.

Mr France, who was also the chairman of Mountain Rescue England and Wales at one point - co-ordinating 47 teams, said when he started volunteering in 1970, "it was very basic and amateurish".

"What you have with mountain rescue today is a professional organisation with its members highly trained," he said.

The 72-year-old said he had been involved in thousands of rescues over the years, including when the Toddbrook Reservoir dam partially collapsed in 2019 and almost flooded the town of Whaley Bridge.

He said: "I was one of the commanders at the reservoir itself.

"It was Peak District Mountain Rescue that had its water-trained members placed down the valleys.

"If the dam burst, they were going to be the first point of rescue for anybody who got themselves into difficulty.

"Then we had people up on the dam wall... sandbagging, watching for movement."

He was also involved in searches after the Lockerbie bombing, the Kegworth air disaster in 1989, searches over murdered five-year-old Rosie McCann in 1996 and murdered girl April Jones, who was abducted in 2012 aged five, as well as serious fires and snow events.

He said: "Mountain rescue teams are the people on the ground doing the searching.

"We have the skills, resources and the manpower."

Mr France said: "We want people to get into the Peak District... but what we would say is prepare yourself for it"

He said: "I thoroughly enjoy what I do - it is a public service. There is a great comradeship between members."

Although he said he gave up active callouts a couple of years ago, there was still a lot of other work to be done.

He said: "Volunteering in mountain rescue, you've got the sharp end where you have got to be young and fit enough to be able to go on to the moorland, and the mountains.

"But there are many other jobs that have to be done.

"From social media, fundraising, secretaries, just to name a few.

"That's what I do today. I'm still a full member of Woodhead Mountain Rescue, but I don't run up the hillside any more."

Mr Roden has been a volunteer mountain rescuer for 46 years after joining around his 18th birthday

Meanwhile, Mr Roden, who started volunteering for the Edale Mountain Rescue Team in 1978, is still on the active callout list.

The 65-year-old said back then, "we didn't have a base or headquarters, we had very little in the way of equipment - a stretcher and a few ropes, and we didn't have many callouts".

He added: "Back in 1978 or 1979, if somebody had an accident, somebody from that party would have to find a landline to phone the team leader, who would then phone team members on a landline for us all to meet somewhere.

"It was quite a drawn-out and slow process to rescue somebody with sometimes a significant injury.

"These days, almost everybody carries a mobile phone, so they can call the rescue services and teams much quicker, and we can respond much quicker.

"Going back in the early days, we had triangular bandages and dealt with things the best we could with the equipment we had.

"Now, almost every team member can give intermuscular injections to give pain relief, and deal with asthma attacks."

He said the Edale team had been called to more than 150 incidents in 2024, of which he attended 55.

"It has been a great hobby for many years and I just try to keep up with the changes," he said.

"You form long-lasting and fantastic friendships and associations with people, who remain such good friends because of mountain rescue, and the trials we have been through together."