This evening with our Training Officer Alistair Greenough and Equipment Officer – Medical Nigel Booth, both involved in training outdoors with our new probationary members, the operational team membership was up on an autumnally frosty Winter Hill summit area taking part in an exercise devised by our Equipment Officer – Water David Cook and his team colleague Michael Wakerley.

The exercise which commenced at 20.00hrs to the accompaniment of the sights and sounds all around of Bonfire night celebrations, involved the firing of our time expired mini flares and hand flares, all with prior notification to the Lancashire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Police control rooms, by small parties of team members.

The exercise concluded with the search and evacuation of two exercise casualties, one of whom was stretcher evacuated and one who was ‘walking wounded,’ from the Winter Hill / Rivington Moor area back to our RVP near to the Winter Hill Transmitter station.

The team would like to thank Kirsty Mather (the niece of team member Michael Wakerley) and her friend Sophie Bonney for acting out the roles of our exercise casualties this fine evening.

In total sixteen team Call Out list members and one trainee team member were involved in this evenings training exercise, which concluded with post exercise refreshments in the warmth of the Jolly Crofters Public House, Chorley Old Road, Horwich.