A group which has come to the rescue of scores of people on Yorkshire's dangerous Dales has launched a 50th anniversary book to raise funds.

The sale of the book about the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association will raise money for valuable new equipment.

It also celebrates some of the highlights of the group since it was set up in 1948.

Among the rescues which feature in the book - Anytime, Anywhere - is one at Sleets Gill Cave in March, 1992.

For 58-year-old Harry Long from Silsden, a controller and member for 31 years of the Grassington-based Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association, it was one of the most spectacularly successful rescues in the history of the group.

"It was a great achievement for all concerned. A classic incident which depended on the skills and dedication of the whole team," he said.

The association's latest call-out was to help police comb the banks of the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey for the bodies of honeymoon couple Barry and Lynn Collett who went missing two days after their wedding.

Lynn's body was discovered downstream at Addingham a week later and Barry's body has still not been recovered.

The history of the UWFRA is told in graphic detail in the book. It includes some of the more tragic incidents such as the infamous Mossdale Caverns disaster in which six men - including a 17-year-old youth - were drowned in June, 1967. But the group's work is not all headline-grabbing action and Harry recalls the rescue of a pensioner from Buckden Pike.

"She became known as the galloping granny. She was with her family but went missing after going to the public toilet in the car park. We eventually found her safe but a little dazed at the far size of the hill, in Upper Nidderdale," he said.

The book lists every rescue - including scores of dogs, sheep and cattle - since the first call out on September 29, 1948.

The first headquarters was a police cell at Grassington but by 1949 they had moved to a disused railway parcel van. In 1962, they went one better and set up in an old signal box and finally, in June 1967, the group constructed a purpose-built headquarters in Grassington.

In recent years there have been fewer spectacular cave rescues, but Harry Long is convinced that with increased leisire time and even more people on the fells, there is still a vital future role for the UWFRA.

Anyone wanting a copy of the book (£7.95) can order by writing to the UWFRA, The Hut, Hebden Road, Grassington, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 5LB or by trying leisure shops in Skipton, Grassington and Settle.

Sleets Gill Cave

March 1992: Two unfortunate cavers were entombed deep inside the Yorkshire Dales system, trapped by a third of a mile of flooded passage.

These potholers are alive today, thanks to the dedication and bravery of the team.

Mossdale Caverns

June, 1967: Despite the efforts of the UWFRA and their colleagues in the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation, six men - including a 17-year-old boy - were drowned. Their bodies were never recovered and the entrance has been blocked up and a sombre headstone tells of the tragedy.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.