Appleton Wiske Christmas Tree
Yorkshire is famous for its celebrations of Christmas, and in the December 2011 issue of Dalesman there’s no shortage of people to be found celebrating it – ranging from traditional candle makers, to the folk checking on Santa’s progress in the Space Age.
Last year, we had a lot of snow, and I was glad that for one story, I had only to walk around the corner, to meet friends and neighbours round the Christmas tree in my own village.
But usually, I have to travel to meet people for Dalesman, and when there’s snow around, it’s nice to know that people would help me if I got stuck. So one chilly morning, I went to meet Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team on a training exercise.
They were practicing for an underground rescue. As the rescuers squeezed into the dark underground space, I realised what a comfort it must be when this team turns up to a real accident.
They produced a stretcher and strapped in the chap impersonating an injured party, carefully wrapping him in blankets, and even supplying some glasses to protect his eyes from falling debris.
They explained that their plan is always to hand the casualty over to the Ambulance Service at the nearest point the Ambulance can reach. They are not there instead of professionals – they simply volunteer to help people in the difficult areas that a normal ambulance can’t reach.
But sometimes it can take a long time to reach an ambulance, and some volunteers have trained in high level ‘casualty care’, learning the skills of a paramedic, to try to stabilise injuries, and in worst cases, keep people alive, until the professionals can reach them.
These skills came in handy a few years ago, when an Army helicopter crashed – just where the team happened to be training. The speed of the care they were able to give is believed to have saved lives, and served to cement an already good relationship with the Army.
The team numbers around forty fully trained members, with a maximum of twelve trainees. Controller Paul Denning explains: “We generally want about 20 to 25 people to an incident. It can take 8 to carry a stretcher – and if it’s a long way, we need two lots of people to take it in turns. Then we need a casualty carer, drivers, a navigator, someone on radio communications – it soon gets to needing 20 people. That’s why we want so many people on call, as not everyone can just leave work. We work on the basis that about half of our people can respond to any one incident,
They also frequently work with colleagues in neighbouring teams such as Wharfedale, Cleveland, and Kirby Stephen. A common task is helping the Police to search for vulnerable people who have gone missing.
On training exercises, volunteer ‘casualties’ spend hours lying still, waiting to be found, then carried over a series of obstacles. Helen says, “It can get quite cold as a casualty – you have to watch for hypothermia.” Husband Tim is the training officer, and spends his time thinking up scenarios to test skills not just in practical matters like how to strap a patient to a stretcher, but also in leadership, communications, and teamwork.
Surprisingly, their work is not part of the state funded Emergency Services, and they have to fundraise to buy their equipment. Funds are also needed for vehicles, fuel, radios, rescue gear such as ropes, which wear out, and medical equipment which gets used up. Paul says, “It costs around £30,000 a year to run the team. And we’ve just bought 2 new vehicles, that cost £95,000 for both. We got a grant towards them, and we did 5 years of saving and fundraising.
Paul advises careful planning; tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to return; take food; warm, waterproof clothing; compass; map; and torch – even in summer, as the weather can change. The torch, he says, also helps them to see where you are.
But things can go wrong for even the best prepared walker, and Paul says, “When we’re not training, most of us are out on the hills at weekends. It’s nice to know that if we got into trouble, someone would come.”
Lovely though the mountain rescue volunteers were, I was reluctant to become one of their rescues if I could avoid it. So when the day came for my visit to RAF Fylingdales, and the snow was deep, I had to postpone my visit, as the road was, I was told, impassable..
But the work of Fylingdales went on uniterrupted: they know they get severe weather, and a core team of staff lives on site to keep things running.
By the time I could get there, the snow had been replaced by thick fog. The big radar array, the SSPAR, loomed like a black pyramid in the fog.
I couldn’t see much in the fog, but the motto of Fylingdales translates as ‘We ar watching’ – and they’d seen me coming. But the Military Policeman who approached me was friendly – and invited me in to lunch.
The rest of the day was full of contrasts: the space-age technology looked like the set from a movie – James Bond, perhaps, or Star Treck. But while minding their equipment, the staff are also minding the wildlife that thrives in the peaceful seclusion of the perimeter fence.
And Santa? They post Santa’s movements on a dedicated website, following his moves from the North Pole. See http://www.noradsanta.org/
From the Space Age, I moved to a tradition that’s probably as old as humanity: making candles to light the dark. Candles are still popular at Christmas – after all, it’s a festival held at the darkest time of the year.
It was a pleasure to meet Mick and Jennie White and their apprentice Jane Nicholas.
Mick and Jennie came to Wensley in the 1970s to built a candle making workshop in the old mill. Since then, they’ve become part of the fabric of the Dale, combining their business with a philosophy of trying to make people’s lives better in whatever way they can.
The result is a warm-hearted workplace, full of laughter, colour, and the warm, joyous light of the candles.
For more information about White Rose Candles, see http://www.yorkshirenet.co.uk/craftgde/whiterosecandles/
Like the Whites, many people in Appleton Wiske contribute their time and energy to making life better for their neighbours. The people who volunteer to organise a the Christmas Tree are providing a beacon of light and welcome in the bleak, chilly days of midwinter.
When we gather around the tree in the chill night air, our songs rising into the black emptiness of the winter sky, I feel the fellowship, not only with neighbours, but with generations before me who have bravely sung into the darkness – sung of their faith that the light will return.
Carol singing in Appleton Wiske