Swirl How 12th July 2015 14:27hrs 31/2015

Swirl How sheep gathering

The afternoon was dry and sunny, with intermittent cloud and breezy on the tops.

A walker heading up towards the Old Man of Coniston, called the police reporting that he had heard shouts for help coming from Swirl How. He thought someone had fallen but could not give any more information on the location.

Two land rovers were deployed. Members carried medical equipmentand the stretcher up to Swirl Hawse where they split up to search the surrounding area. A North West Air Ambulance also assisted by sweeping the fells to look for the suspected casualty, but they were unable to locate any one. It was eventually determined that this was actually a shepherding incident as farmers could be seen and heard in the Greenburn Valley, on the north eastern side of Swirl How. This was also supported by information received from other walkers. The search was therefore abandoned, but not without incurring an accident to one of the team members who slipped and fell heavily on some wet rock whilst carrying the stretcher down off the fell. Fortunately he suffered only minor injuries.

15 members responded to this call out which took 2 1/2  hours. Open Space Web-Map builder Code