Mountain rescuers save lone sheep stranded on cliff ledge at Derbyshire beauty spot
Eagle-eyed rescuers spotted the sheep and tried various techniques including lassoing the woolly creature, and distracting it with a stick and sheepdog
Mountain rescuers were called to save a stranded sheep after it got stuck on a cliff ledge at a beauty spot.
The Edale Mountain Rescue team was called to retrieve the ewe which was trapped above Stanage Plantation in the Peak District, Derbyshire.
Volunteers first tried to lasso the woolly creature but when that proved unsuccessful they lowered themselves down and placed it into a sheep rescue sack.
The uninjured sheep was then checked over by its farmer before being released back into its field to graze following the rescue at 4.21pm on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
Sharing details of the incident on social media, an Edale Mountain Rescue spokesperson said: "We were called to assist a cragfast ewe on a ledge above Stanage Plantation.
"Team members set up a rope system back from the edge in order to access the ledge above the sheep.
"We left the lasso-the-sheep challenge to our newly qualified MCI mountaineering instructor but he failed.
“So we reverted to the trusted technique of distracting it (with both a stick and a sheepdog) from below whilst two team members lowered down to it and wrestled it in to the sheep rescue sack.
"It was then quickly lowered to the floor uninjured where the farmer and his son checked it over and released it off back to graze.
"Thanks to Nick (farmer) and Will (his son) and also to the super helpful climbing community who spotted the sheep with their bouldering mats in case it turned in to a woolly jumper."
After saving the ewe stuck on the ledge, the team were then informed of a young sheep further down the crag with a broken limb.
Members also caught the second sheep in need and carried it down in the rescue sack.
An Edale Mountain Rescue spokesperson added: "Our best wishes to all of our casualties today. We hope ewe all get well soon.”