Incident report

The first real signs of winter caused havoc in the Goyt Valley on Saturday night.  Just a few millimetres of frozen snow lying on the untreated minor roads turned them into to skating rinks.  All was quiet during the day but just turned 9.00 pm two calls were received virtually simultaneously.

The first call came when Derbyshire police requested Buxton Mountain Rescue Team to assist two motorists reported to be stranded in the Goyt Valley near to Errwood Hall.

The team responded with its latest all-wheel drive response vehicle and a number of members in their private 4×4 vehicles.  It soon became obvious that there were more people stranded in the valley than first thought with cars unable to climb even the slightest gradient in the frozen conditions.  The team entered the valley from three different directions, Derbyshire Bridge, Goyts Lane and The Street, to ensure that everyone who needed assistance would be helped.

Three and half hours later, and after a lot of pushing and shoving, a number of cars and their occupants were extracted.  However, three vehicles had to be abandoned for the night and their nine occupants transported out of the valley by team vehicles and safely delivered to Buxton.