The Cavalry of the Sands
(Filed: 14/02/2004)
As the cockling tragedy shows, Morecambe Bay's treacherous tidal flats must be treated with respect. Nobody knows this better than the area's dedicated rescue services, reports Richard Simpson

There is a wonderfully scenic short-cut from north Lancashire to Barrow and the Furness peninsula in Cumbria that saves so many road miles it's been in use since Roman times. But while the right of way that runs across Morecambe Bay could save you time there's also the strong possibility that it could cost you your life – as happened to the 19 young cockle pickers who last week perished amid the fast tides and shifting quicksand.

Despite the grave danger, a few walkers – and even drivers – are still tempted on to these siren sands; another group of (English) cocklers were involved in an incident only two days ago. When they get lost or stuck they're in great peril because, as local people know all too well, the tide races in "at the speed of a galloping horse".

The Coastguard and RNLI use boats to undertake rescues, although the peculiar thing about Morecambe Bay is that for most of the time it's equally inaccessible to conventional boats and to four-wheel-drive vehicles. That's where Bay Hovercraft Rescue (BHR) comes in, a local volunteer group that owns an Osprey 5 MkII hovercraft.

However, the bay is such a tricky environment that even the Osprey can't cover every inch, partly because much of the shoreline on the Grange-over-Sands side is infested with tough Spartina grass. The stuff is so stiff that it causes the Osprey's skirts to ride up in unbecoming fashion, resulting in a potentially serious loss of lift. And that is why BHR also owns a brace of Canadian-built 8x8 Argo Conquest all-terrain vehicles.

Stuart Hamilton is BHR's treasurer and, before a demonstration run, he talked me through the Argo's specification. "The engine is a 620cc, four-stroke Kawasaki V-twin that drives all eight wheels through high, low, neutral and reverse gears. You use a twist-grip throttle and it has a skid-steer system — just pull the left-hand lever back, the left wheels will stop turning and you'll turn left. It will do about 20mph flat-out." Hamilton adds that the Argo is fully amphibious, pointing to mounting point for an outboard motor at the back — or rather the aft.

Gary Parsons founded BHR after working on a particularly traumatic (but successful) rescue some years ago, and he allowed me to take a turn at the Argo's tiller.

It's actually pretty easy to get the thing to go more or less where you want it, although the on/off nature of the steering means that the novice driver tends to do "threepenny bit" turns. But the level of grip is extraordinary. On ground so lethally soft it would swallow a conventional 4x4 in minutes, the Argo didn't even break stride.

However, despite the £13,000 machine's extraordinary capabilities it can still be defeated by the bay's worst quicksands. Even with all eight tyres barely inflated (they run at only 3 or 4psi) it can get bogged down, which is why the Argos always travel in pairs, and a decent distance apart at that. It is also why BHR will soon be running them on 16 small wheels, which it hopes will be enough to make them quicksand-proof.

None of the BHR team takes the dangers lightly, least of all Derek Butler, a local net fisherman with a lifetime's experience of working on the bay between tides. Has he ever lost a tractor out here? "No," he replies with a deadpan look. "I know exactly where it is."

Butler explains that sometimes quicksand can be impossible to spot because an apparently firm crust can form in dry weather, although fortunately he and other members of the team know where the sucking sands are most likely to be. "Where you get the fresh water channels you often find quicksand on the inside edge of bends. And when one of those channels moves – and they often do – the gully can quickly fill with silt. And then if there's heavy rain you sometimes get freshwater springs underneath, which can cause quicksand to form." What all this means is that it's impossible to map the quicksands on the bay, which is why even the experienced BHR team approach the area with the utmost respect.

For evidence of that respect all you need do is look at the mountain of kit carried in the Argo. There's a VHF radio, a GPS system, a full first\u2011aid kit, umpteen lifejackets, a paddle, flares, a toolkit, plus all manner of ropes and pulleys to help extract people from the mud and allow them to be winched away by helicopter. But perhaps the most important pieces of equipment are the most low-tech — wooden crawl-boards that are used by the crew to reach casualties, and can also be used to help extricate the Argo.

It might be an ugly duckling, especially with a roll cage bolted on top, but if I were misinformed, unfortunate or foolish enough to get stuck out here, with dusk approaching and the tide charging in, I can barely imagine how elated I'd feel if I saw its dumpy outline trundling towards me. The Argo Conquest is a truly heroic vehicle and Morecambe Bay, despite its sublime beauty, must be one of its most challenging working environments. Having taken a test-drive I'm as certain as the BHR crew that it can be a lifesaver — but on terrain as treacherous as this, you can take never take anything for granted.

• Bay Hovercraft Rescue is a registered charity and is seeking local volunteers and donations to enable it to offer a 24-hour rescue service — contact Gary Parsons on 01539 561357 for more details. For more information on the Argo 8x8, go to http:///www.argoatv.com

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