Experts' warning to motorists against using 'back road to Brough' in bad weather

David Stewart and Peter Miller, from Kirkby Stephen MRT

A SEARCH and rescue team has warned drivers not put themselves at risk in the coming months.
Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team regularly works alongside their Teesdale and Weardale colleagues helping stricken walkers and motorists. Team volunteer David Stewart has urged drivers to use their common sense as winter nears. Some forecasters are predicting it to be cold and snowy.
He said: “Quite often we get drivers over from Teesdale coming the back way to Brough if the A66 is closed.
“It's not a good idea and it’s probably one of the most common things we’re called to. If the A66 is closed, you can be sure pretty everywhere else is as well.”
Fellow volunteer Peter Miller said he had seen people come unstuck trying to navigate the B6276 back route to Middleton-in-Teesdale all too often during snowfall. Even 4x4 vehicles have become stranded in past years.
“Quite a lot of drivers do not have a sense of the situation – they put themselves at risk,” he added. Run by about 30 volunteers, the Kirkby Stephen team largely oversees open access areas in the Howgill Fells.
But the team is regularly called in on jobs in the west of the dale with the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team.
“We do work with them from time to time – we work over the same boundaries so it’s often whoever can get to the place quickest,” added Mr Stewart. “There are some grey areas between us and Teesdale. They will often call for help if we’re over their way and vice versa. We have similar operating procedures so we work together well.”
Experienced walkers often fall foul of tricky limestone conditions out west and Mr Stewart urged caution.
He added: “We get a large number of lower leg injuries and they can happen to anyone – often these are people are well prepared. We have a lot of limestone pavement in our open access areas and if it’s a little bit wet it’s very easy to slip and break a lower limb.”
An older demographic in rural Teesdale and the Upper Eden Valley can also lead to other jobs for the team.
“If someone goes missing with dementia we’re often called in as these people are sometimes not reported missing for three or four hours,” said Mr Stewart.
“A person with dementia can walk a long way and often there’s no logic in where they go – so we have to cover a wide area for a search.”
A registered charity, the Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team attends between 20 and 30 callouts a year.
“For us it’s all about giving people confidence to venture into the outdoors,” added Mr Stewart. “We’re there if something goes wrong.”