The Government has confirmed that plans to privatise the Search and Rescue service (SAR) throughout Britain have been suspended. As reported on Walkhighlands on 26 January, the Royal Bank of Scotland pulled out of the consortia bidding to run the privatised service following allegations that commercially confidential information had possibly been leaked to one of the companies taking part in the bid. Ministry of Defence (MOD) police are now investigating this allegation. The Government now say that the preferred supplier consortia, Soteria, will not be used. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, issued a statement to Parliament saying: “In mid December, the…

Police have confirmed that the body of missing hill walker Hyder Ali Manir from Worcester was found in the area of Ben Nevis on the afternoon of Sunday 6 February 2011. Mr Manir, aged 20, had been reported missing to Fort William Police on Sunday 30 January 2011 by his cousin, when he had failed to return from climbing Ben Nevis. His cousin had had left him some distance from the snow-covered summit and turned back while Mr Manir continued. Over 900 man hours and eight Mountain Rescue Teams from Lochaber, RAF Kinloss and RAF Valley, Cairngorm, Torridon, Dundonnell, Assynt…

Cyclists Kevin Beck and Stuart Welsh have raised £809.53 for the John Muir Trust, by climbing Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, totaling over 11,000 ft, while covering the 533 miles between the mountains by pedal power. The pair, who both work for Serco in East Kilbride, took just eight days to cover the distance, finishing in September 2010. Kevin said: “The weather to start with in North Wales was dreadful with heavy rain but as we reached Scotland we were bathed in sunshine.Most days we covered just over 90 miles but we did manage one at 101 miles.” “We…

Forestry Commission Scotland will be hosting an evening for stargazers in Galloway Forest’s Dark Sky Park on Monday 14 February. The event is organised as one of the Commission’s Astrofest programme of activities to celebrate the first anniversary of the forest park being awarded Dark Sky Park status. The Valentine’s night event will start with a talk at Glentrool School Hall at 7pm and weather permitting, a guided tour to spot distant galaxies. Keith Muir, the Commission’s recreation and tourism manager said: “The Dark Sky Park events to date have been very popular indeed so it is great news that…