The Peak District disaster that formed a rescue team

Rescue teams were called out to search for the missing scouts

Mountain rescuers will this year mark 60 years of saving lives in the Peak District, after three scouts died in a disaster.

On 15 March 1964, 240 scouts set off on the annual Four Inns Walk contest.

Only 22 finished the challenge that day. Three scouts lost their lives.

The disaster directly led to the formation of the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation in a bid to stop such a tragedy ever happening there again.

The area around Derbyshire's infamous Snake Pass was the scene for the annual 50-mile fell race, organised by the Scout Association.

The event attracted competitors from all over the country, with young rover scouts keen to pit themselves against the tough terrain.

Found wading in a river

The previous year, the weather had been kind.

But as the 1964 event progressed, it was clear the forecast had called things wrong.

As the scouts began to get into trouble in the snowy, freezing conditions, volunteers flooded into the area to help with search and rescue operations.

But the walk claimed the lives of three rover scouts that day - Gordon Withers, John Butterfield and Michael Welby.

Mr Withers, 19, was found wading in a river and stretchered off the mountains, but he died from hypothermia. The bodies of the other two were found two days later.

In the months that followed the tragedy, it was decided future search and rescue efforts in the area needed to be more coordinated.

Rescue teams are regularly called out to the Snake Pass

Since then, volunteers have been coming to the aid of anyone getting into trouble in the unforgiving countryside of the Peaks.

These days the organisation has seven teams of about 50 highly-skilled, unpaid volunteers on call 24-7, alongside a specialised cave rescue operation, and search dog volunteers.

Hundreds of callouts are responded to each year, despite the advent of technology such as phones, drones and GPS tracking.

It is thanks to their efforts that the tragedy of the Four Inns Walk has never been repeated since.