High praise for mountain leader

OLDHAM Mountain Rescue Team leader Mick Nield with his dog, Bob

THE quiet man of the mountains is standing down as leader of a mountain rescue team.

Mick Nield (50), has steered the fortunes of Oldham Mountain Rescue Team for 25 years, earning an enviable accolade for creating "the best morale and family spirit of all UK mountain rescue services."

And the team's website was flooded with praise for the father of two for his unswerving dedication and unstinting commitment to the community.

Pleasure

Responding on the team's website, he said: "A big thank you for all the kind comments ­- they have all been truly humbling.

"The last 25 years have been a pleasure, not always easy, but a pleasure. But without a good team, it would not have been possible to put up with for so long.

"Big thanks must go to the team deputies that have supported me ­- they have been a rock.

"Most of all I have to thank my family, Trish and the girls who have taken a back seat for so long, and much is owed to all the other halves of all the mountain rescue family."

Dr Andrew Taylor, who had been a member of OMRT for 12 years when Mick joined, said Mick was a keen climber, walker, Scout Leader and experienced open water diver.

And these high-level attributes showed on the first major call-out after he joined when he attended the Lockerbie air crash in December 1988.

"We had a three-day marathon search amongst the debris," said Dr Taylor.

"The work was busy, prolonged, distressing and geographically wide-ranging. But Mick's energy, good humour, hard work and organising abilities already showed.

"Small wonder when the team needed to select a new leader only three years after Mick had joined, he was voted in unopposed.

"His leadership skills from the outset showed us senior members a way forward to a more efficient and friendlier organisation than we had ever been - and we were good before.

"Mountain Rescue nationally has had its ups and downs, and has changed a lot over the nearly 25 years of Mick's leadership, and Mick soon became known in the Peak District region and at national Mountain Rescue Council level as a force to be reckoned with.

"Outspoken against those whose attitudes and ambitions were not focussed on ever-improved standards, techniques and man management, he continued to surprise those who knew him best with his qualities as a leader, negotiator and most of all a manager of people.

"Ever the democrat, he rearranged the team into a truly democratic organisation, wiping away any internal conflicts and coming down hard but fairly on anyone who didn't live up to expectations.

"Moving into the 21st century provided many challenges for Mountain Rescue with information technology, communications, bureaucracy, paperwork and the distant phantom of possible litigation.

"Mick grasped each of these areas of advancement and under his leadership OMRT has always been at the forefront of innovation and adoption.

"And as if all that were not enough, Mick felt the need to be a search dog handler. In true style he got a dog ­- the delightful Bob ­- and in the shortest possible time became a fully trained handler with a fully graded dog and several very good "finds" to their name."

Mick will remain as a director and trustee of the team, headed by new leader Matt Neild.