Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association
The majority of the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association's work involves attending incidents involving people or animals in difficulty in caves, potholes, mineshafts, on fells, crags or anywhere not accessible to the normal Emergency Services.
It is made up of over 80 well trained and well equipped volunteer cavers, climbers and mountaineers and is on call 365 days a year. Its membership live in "the Dale" or travel from as far away as Leeds or Bradford and are prepared to respond to a callout at any time of the day or night and in the worst of weather conditions.
Visit the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association's website
Call Out Types
Mountian Rescue
The UWFRA provides mountain rescue cover within the southern part of the Yorkshire Dales, which includes, Littondale, Upper Wharfedale, Nidderdale and parts of Lower Wharfedale including Ilkley Moor. Mountain Rescue incidents have gradually increased over recent decades (with the popularity of mobile phones!) and now usually forms the primary workload in terms of number of call outs.
The types of incident include:
• Searches - for people lost or benighted.
• Rescues - of climbers and walkers.
Cave Rescue
The UWFRA responds to requests for cave rescue from the Police. Although there are usually less cave rescues than mountain rescues in any year, cave rescues are often more demanding on manpower and equipment.
Animal Rescue
The UWFRA responds to requests from the Police to provide specialist rescue assistance to animals.The Yorkshire Dales is a well-known upland sheep farming area and the team is often called to extricate sheep from holes in the ground and from ledges on cliffs. It has been known for the UWFRA to occasionally be called to locate and rescue inquisitive dogs stuck in caves or on ledges throughout the area.
What to do in an emergency and information on how to stay safe
In case of emergency. Information on what do in an emergency.
