Originally many rescues were carried out by the Police, National Park Rangers and the employees of Outward Bound centres, but with the expansion in the use of the Moors as a leisure activity this became impractical.
In 1964 Mr. Richard Bell, the Official Warden for the North York Moors, held a conference to discuss many issues affecting the Moors, including search and rescue. At this conference a decision was taken to form teams to cover the area: Scarborough and District Search and Rescue Team and Cleveland Search and Rescue Team
The Scarborough and District Team was formed on the 9th July 1965 with about 12 members. The Team got its baptism on the 26th October that year when six youngsters from Teeside went missing on Fylingdale Moor whilst taking part in the Lyke Wake Walk.
Since then the range and type of incidents the Team has had to deal with has expanded widely. The range and standard of training and equipment has been raised tremendously to cope with new challenges and the Team is looking forward to expanding it’s role in the new Millenium.
In 2006 we changed our name to Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team to more accurately reflect our operational area and our role within Search and Rescue in the UK. Cleveland are changing their identity to that of Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team through 2012.