RAF helicopter touches down in Barnoldswick on rescue mission
Victory Park in Barnoldswick became the base for Mountain Rescue team vehicles and an RAF Sea King search helicopter.
Barnoldswick became the base for a dramatic rescue mission at the weekend which ended in sadness with the discovery of a body.
Victory Park was a temporary base for mountain rescue team vehicles and an RAF Sea King search helicopter from Anglesey as a major search for missing Preston man John Rayton (70) got under way.
Barnoldswick Police Station, in Rainhall Road, was used as a headquarters by between 70 and 80 police and mountain rescue personnel involved in the search.
This which included volunteer teams from Bolton, Bowland, the Calder Valley, Oldham, and Rossendale and Pendle.
Mr Rayton, who lived at Sharoe Green Lane, Preston, had left his home on Thursday morning to go walking in an area between Barnoldswick and Gisburn.
He was found dead at 1-32pm on Saturday by another walker in a field at Ingsend in Skeleron Lane near Rimington.
Graham Dalley, search manager and deputy team leader with Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team, said it had been a sad end to the task.
He said: “The information we got was that he was going to walk from Gisburn to Barnoldswick.
“In the early hours of Friday, we started path searches and road searches. Then as dawn came, we started searching areas.
“We found out he got off the bus at Chatburn. It seems he was doing a different walk along the River Ribble. He was found right at the Southern tip of the search area.
“In effect, you are trying to save somebody’s life for two days. In the end it gets quite personal, we were pretty upset when he was found.”
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Weather for Pendle
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 12 C
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Wind direction: North west
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