But for those unfortunate enough to be trapped in dangerous and life-threatening situations, the sight of Calder Valley Search and Rescue will be seared in their minds forever.

As British Mountain Rescue celebrates 75 years, the local team, which has been in existence for more than four decades, has given an insight into the important work it does. Work which, on ocassions, like when the Lockerbie disaster happened, can take them far off the home patch.

Husband and wife, Wayne and Ann Ogden, have been members for more than 50 years between them.

They have endured more sleepless nights than they care to remember and their 15 years of married life has been peppered by emergency calls to rush to rescues.

When they boil a kettle it is often to fill a thermos rather than enjoy a lazy morning brew.

"It's a very strange feeling when that pager goes off," said Wayne, a 48-year-old assistant team leader. "We have to sort a babysitter out for our son and then just rush off, the adrenalin really kicks in.

"I suppose it has kept us together over the years and we've helped each other through the good times and the bad."

Calder Valley Search and Rescue was formed in 1966 after a reservoir keeper trapped in a blizzard on Gorple Moor, Todmorden, was missing for five months before his body was found.

Despite being run purely on donations it has grown to become a highly-respected organisation conducting rescues from its base on Thrush Hill Road, Mytholmroyd.

New recruits undergo an eight-month probation training programme to hone mountain rescue skills before being officially invited to join, and the latest two support vehicles boast a dazzling array of hi-tech equipment.

But volunteers, whose day jobs range from teachers to council chiefs to HBOS workers, say the team's most valuable asset is the solidarity that gets them through the often traumatic work.

As well as regularly attending call-outs in Calderdale, The rescue team has attended some of the worst disasters to hit the north over the past 40 years.

In its second year, mountaineers were faced with the 1967 Mossdale caverns disaster where six people died and more recently the catastrophic Lockerbie plane crash in 1988.

Eric Spofforth, a 60-year-old Todmorden plumber, is the group's longest-serving member, who in his 42-year rescue career has had to endure more than most.

"It's a family here to me and I have made some of the best friends I will ever make," he said. "There have been some bad times and I have seen some terrible things but for every tragedy there is always some happiness to be found.

"I remember when we went to the Lockerbie crash it was like a war zone with fires burning either side of the road.

"The first night I found 10 bodies, the second, two and for five days after that just bits of people everywhere. During a search I said to one farmer 'I bet this has ruined your Christmas' and he turned to me and said 'are you joking? It's the best one I will ever have.'

"He took me around the back of his farm and showed me a huge plane engine that had missed crushing his house by a whisker.

"I have learned a lot about keeping detached and just doing the best that you can."

In Eric's early days, equipment consisted of winter woollies and for a lucky few, waterproof jackets.

Technology was scarce and line searches where rescuers walk up to 25 people abreast were common place.

"We did a lot of searching and not so much rescuing", he said, "It's a far cry from what we have now."

Alex Day, a 35-year-old paramedic and deputy team leader, of Sowerby, is one rescuer who has enjoyed the latest developments but says the spirit is the same as when the first rescuers pulled on their winter woollies to brave the wilds of Calderdale.

He said: "Clearly there has been plenty of progress over the years, but something that will always remain is when you go to a night-time rescue briefing and the atmosphere just crackles.

"We are doing something we love and helping save people's lives, you cannot get much better than that."

The group celebrated the 75th year of mountain rescue last Sunday with an event at Ogden Water.

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