Cornish coastguard rescue team records busiest ever year for 2021
The crew in Bude were called out over 50 times last year
A coastguard rescue team in north Cornwall says 2021 was its busiest ever year.
The team in Bude were called out to 55 incidents last year, from cliff rescues to phosphorous flares. The final shout was just before midnight on New Year's Eve.
It also recorded its busiest ever month with 16 call outs in July alone.
Posting on Facebook the Bude Coastguard Rescue Team said: "2021 has narrowly pipped 2020 to become our busiest year ever, with 55 call outs to a very wide range of incidents, with the pagers going off for the final shout of the year just shy of midnight on New Year’s Eve. It also included our busiest month ever, with no less than 16 call-outs in July alone.
"With North Cornwall once again experiencing a huge influx of summer visitors due to the uncertainty surrounding foreign travel, many of whom were new to the area and, critically, to this part of the coastline, the team were again conducting twice-daily safety patrols throughout the summer holidays. The patrols meant that the team could react quickly to an unfolding incident, by having personnel and equipment on scene quickly whilst awaiting the rest of the team, and certainly proved extremely useful on several occasions.
"Despite the fluctuating limitations of the coronavirus restrictions, the team managed to keep up a good tempo of training too, with plenty of hours spent over cliffs, in the water, and dealing with fake (and occasionally quite realistic!) injuries.
"The range of shouts the team attended has been, as ever, extremely diverse. These ranged from the usual spectrum of injuries that can be expected from coastal walkers and beachgoers to some fairly rare occurrences, such as the day in August when two phosphorous flares were discovered on separate beaches – both of which had to be destroyed by the Royal Navy, and a rare two-week period in which the team attended no less than three cliff rescues, with one lucky visitor being plucked from the cliff face by Rescue 924 (the coastguard rescue helicopter, based in Newquay) after being stabilised in the nick of time by one of our Rope Rescue Technicians.
"As we sign off and stand by for what will no doubt be another busy year for the team, we’d first like to pass on our sincere thanks once again to the entire local community for your support and kind words throughout this past year.
"Thanks also to our search and rescue colleagues with whom we’ve worked closely on numerous occasions this year, including our colleagues in our flank teams, Hartland and Boscastle Coastguard Team, the crew of Rescue 924, and to our friends on Bude Lifeboat, the Bude Community First Responders and the Bude RNLI Lifeguards.
"And last but by no means least, a big thank you to our nearest and dearest for their continued patience and understanding as we dash out of the door every time the pager beeps..."