A FORMER mayoress of Tavistock who slipped and broke her ankle while walking deep on Dartmoor was found by a rescue search dog as light began to fade on Monday evening.
Jenny Sanders, wife of veterinary surgeon and former mayor Ken Sanders, was out with a fellow member of her regular Monday walking team the 'Game Birds' late in the afternoon when the accident happened.
They were in the upper reaches of the Walkham Valley when Mrs Sanders slipped on rock.
Weather conditions were too foggy to launch the air ambulance and the women were too far off the highway to be reached by road crew.
The five-hour rescue operation involved Tavistock police and about 20 members of the Dartmoor Rescue Group following an emergency call by the women from a mobile phone.
'The ladies were actually found by search dog Aitken,' said rescue group member Bud Francis .
'Unfortunately they were on the north side of the river and by the time we had got there the river had risen quite considerably,' he said.
Because of the injuries suffered by Mrs Sanders, the decision was made to walk off the moor in the direction of Peter Tavy, the casualty being carried by stretcher, rather than the more direct route towards Merrivale.
Mr Francis said the group were met by their four-wheel drive ambulance which was able to negotiate the track from the village onto the moor. She was taken to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital.
Mrs Sanders: 'It was quite a short walk for us. We set off from Cox Tor and two of us wanted to carry on a bit longer.
'We decided not to cross the River Walkham which was in full spate and continued along the right bank.
'I put my foot on a flat bit of rock and it gave way. I broke my ankle and damaged my shoulder. I started this walking group over 25 years ago and we hardly have had any mishaps.'
Recovering at home she praised the Dartmoor Rescue Group.
'They were just brilliant — they had to flog their way through fen, bog, river and slush in rain and fog. We were just as far as we could possible have been from a main road.
'All the other services were wonderful too and the whole thing was so well co-ordinated. I couldn't have got to hospital any quicker.'
On Sunday the rescue group was called out to find four boys from Shebbear College who were involved in a training expedition for this year's Ten Tors walk.
Mr Francis said: 'The lads were overdue by several hours — they were last heard of in the Legis Tor area.
'They in fact walked off the moor themselves about four hours later near Cornwood.'
'They were rather wet and bedraggled but in quite good spirits,' said Mr Francis.
While the rescue group were looking for the boys, a call was received from Blundells School to say two women were missing in a similar area.
Mr Francis said they were members of the Army Cadet Force and experienced moor walkers who had been monitoring other groups from the school.
'Unfortunately they just took a wrong direction. They were located in the Combe's Head area,' said Mr Francis, who added the women had decided to 'sit tight' and get into survival kit.
Mr Francis said several members of the group had only just returned from training in the Lake District when the first alarm was raised on Sunday.