An item showing a mountain rescue exercise in Snowdonia.
874
mountain-rescue
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Short Summary
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Description
Snowdon, North Wales.
L/S of a lake, with Snowdonia in the distance. M/S of Mrs. Martin Rolfe and her male companion looking over the lake through a telescope with a sign beneath which reads - 'Grand View of Snowdonia'.
M/S of three young men rock climbing (without the aid of ropes!). C/U of a pair of feet in walking boots finding a foot hole in the sheer rock face. C/U of a blue sign that reads - 'Mountain Rescue Committee - Rescue Post'. M/S of Chris Briggs, B.E.M., "a full time (unpaid) organiser of the Snowdon Mountain Rescue service" standing in front of a cottage with a sign over the door that reads - 'Pen-Y-Gwryd'. Briggs fires a distress flare into the air from a gun. C/U of one of the climbers, Brian Grey, reacting to the flare. He turns and beckons to other climbers. C/U of the climbers climbing down from the rock face. C/U of Chris looking through a pair of binoculars. M/S of Brian and his companions running from the rock face - Brian grabs a coil of rope lying on a boulder near the camera. M/S of the three climbers as they are joined by four other young men, running to respond to Chris' signal.
M/S of the young men running towards Chris. Chris is sitting in the foreground packing his rucksack, next to him is a stretcher and pile of climbing gear. M/S of two of the young men loading rope on to their shoulders. The narrator explains that Chris assembles a team of volunteer rescuers from whoever is in the vicinity - "in this case they're from the nearby Central Council for Physical Recreation's centre, whose Chief Instructor, John Jackson was a member of the famous Kangchen Junga expedition in the Himalayas". M/S of Chris and the rescue team gathered around the stretcher, they are joined by three young men. Chris is holding a map and appears to be giving instructions. C/U of Chris and John Jackson looking at the map. Chris puts the map in his rucksack.
M/S of the rescue team setting off on their mission, in the background is a row of houses. The narrator explains that this is a practice exercise taking place on Cape Currig Pinnacles, not far from Chris' hotel and the place where the Everest team did their training.
M/S of the team as they head up a steep slope. M/S of the team manoeuvring the stretcher over a dry stone wall. C/U of a hand touching the rock face. M/S of Chris climbing the rock face, one of the rescue team stands at the base of the rock, holding the rope attached to him. M/S, looking downwards, of Chris climbing, with the rest of the team below. Panning shot of Chris as he reaches the top of the cliff and detaches the rope. M/S of the team preparing to follow Chris up. Low angle M/S of Chris pulling up the rope. C/U of a hand fixing the rope to the stretcher. Low angle shot of the team moving the stretcher to the bottom of the rock face. Low angle C/U of a rescuer climbing the rock face carrying a bulky rucksack. M/S, taken from the top, of the team carefully manoeuvring the stretcher up the rock face. C/U of one of rescuers looking on. M/S of two rescuers moving the stretcher. M/S of John as he climbs. C/U of a rescuer feeding John more slack rope. M/S of John reaching the top. High angle M/S of the remainder of the team at the bottom of the rock face. One rescuer attaches rope to his belt and signals that he is ready and starts to climb.
C/U of Chris's hands holding a compass - "in the mountains a man's best friend ...". M/S of John and Chris studying the map and compass. They set off in the direction of the mountains. C/U of Mrs. Rolfe and her companion looking through the telescope. M/S of the rescue team arriving at the scene of the 'accident' where schoolteacher, Shirley Hoskins, the volunteer victim, is lying. The narrator jokes that as Shirley is a volunteer they will not be using the morphine injections in the first aid kit but will instead be demonstrating the use of a Swedish splint.
C/U of Chris attending to Shirley. The team wrap Shirley in a sleeping bag. C/U of Chris binding Shirley's leg to the splint as the rest of the team watch. C/U of Shirley's face. C/U of Shirley's foot being tied to the splint. C/U of a rescuers watching. Top shot of the team securing Shirley onto the stretcher. C/U of two rescuers watching. M/S of rescuers unravelling ropes, more of the team walk into shot carrying Shirley on the stretcher. M/S of the team taking the stretcher to the edge of the fifty foot drop - "on one real rescue Chris Briggs had to lower a man over 600 feet - and it took him nine hours". C/U of a rescuer sitting on the ground 'body belaying' one of the ropes attached to the stretcher. Medium panning shot of the stretcher as it is tipped over the rock face. C/U of a coil of rope being unravelled. M/S, looking downwards, of the stretcher being lowered. C/U of ropes sliding over the rock. M/S of the team letting out the ropes to lower the stretcher. C/U of a rescuer's hands guiding the rope. M/S, taken from below, of the stretcher being lowered. High angle C/U of Brian abseiling down the rock, guiding the end of the stretcher. Descending panning shot of the rock face. Low angle shot of the top of the rock face. M/S of the team reaching the foot of the rock face. C/U of a rescuer letting out more rope. M/S of the team carrying the stretcher towards the village. -
Tags
- Snowdonia
- Wales
- Mrs.
- Martin
- Rolfe
- Mountain
- Rescue
- Committee
- Chris
- Briggs
- Snowdon
- Mountain
- Rescue
- Service
- signs
- Pen-Y-Gwryd
- Brian
- Grey
- Central
- Council
- for
- Physical
- Recreation
- John
- Jackson
- accidents
- rescues
- scenics
- lakes
- landscapes
- mountains
- sports
- abseiling
- mountaineering
- volunteering
- Cape
- Currig
- Pinnacles
- Shirley
- Hoskins
- first
- aid
- wounded
- treatment
- scenics
- lakes
- landscapes
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Data
- Film ID:
- 95.14
- Media URN:
- 2559
- Group:
- Colour pictorials
- Archive:
- British Pathé
- Issue Date:
- 14/09/1959
- Sound:
- Sound
- HD Format:
- Available on request
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