Coming from a working-class background, Paul Besley knew the worst and best of life in a Yorkshire steel town. He had always been drawn to the solitude of the hills, but that life nearly ended when a fall while hillwalking left him critically injured and alone in the mountains of the Lake District. Paul was found and brought to safety by a mountain rescue team. This was the trigger for him to transform his life, first by joining his local team, then by finding Scout, his very own Border collie puppy, and training him to become a mountain rescue search dog. In The Search, Paul writes with humour and honesty as we follow him and Scout through their complex training, with searches and rescue incidents sometimes tragic and often funny.
Coming from a working-class background, Paul Besley knew the worst and best of life in a Yorkshire steel town. He had always been drawn to the solitude of the hills, but that life nearly ended when a fall while hillwalking left him critically injured and alone in the mountains of the Lake District. Paul was found and brought to safety by a mountain rescue team. This was the trigger for him to transform his life, first by joining his local team, then by finding Scout, his very own Border collie puppy, and training him to become a mountain rescue search dog.
In The Search, Paul writes with humour and honesty as we follow him and Scout through their complex training, with searches and rescue incidents sometimes tragic and often funny. Paul’s demons and headstrong characters threaten to derail them, until his past finally catches up with him and his life inescapably unravels. It’s up to Scout to keep an eye on him now as Paul tries to build the best life he can.
Paul Besley began exploring the British landscape while at school in the 1970s. His focus of work is the interaction between humans and the land. His work has evolved into the study of how the physical environment imprints itself on humans and how we as a race respond. His belief that walking is a simple activity has led him to support the effort of many just starting out on a lifetime of pleasure. He has a desire to show people that walking does not just have to be in the hills and mountains of national parks or rely on expensive equipment but can be enjoyed from the front door of home through our urban landscape and out in our local countryside. His books, Day Walks in the South Pennines and 1001 Walking Tips for Vertebrate Publishing, and his three Peak District guidebooks for Cicerone Press, are well respected by walkers and explorers of all ages. He joined Mountain Rescue in 2013, becoming a dog handler with Scout, his Border collie mountain rescue search dog. He now writes full time. He lives close to the Peak District in The Outdoor City of Sheffield with his partner, metalsmith Alison Counsell, and their three dogs Monty, Olly and Scout.
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In The Search by Paul Besley, Paul takes you on an emotional personal journey through his first hand experience of having to call on mountain rescue and the subsequent ups and downs of his joining and working with a team ultimately training and working with his own search dog. He gives voice to the undoubted star of the book, Scout, the border collie and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the bond that forms between them along with the challenges, time, patience and dedication required to train a search dog. Woven into this are aspects of Paul’s own life story and how decisions and experiences in the past can impact us many years later.
The Search is thoroughly recommended, a fabulous and moving read, difficult to put down and a credit to both Paul and Scout.
I defy you not to fall in love with Scout, the canine half of the mountain rescue search dog team. A wonderful book that takes you through both the physical and emotional trials of becoming a qualified team. Beautifully written, you imagine yourself on the hill with Paul watching Scout find and follow the scent. This book was hard to put down and, like with all good books, I feel a bit lost now I've finished it.
Paul Besley's 'The Search' encapsulates the devotion and holistic experience of M.R hill-goers and their unrivaled, loyal, companions.
His narrative offers a refreshingly immersive - and movingly-human, mode through which to appreciate, acutely, the efforts and genuine experiences of M.R volunteers and their families and in particular of MRSDE (SARDA) dog handlers.
Having had the privilege to have met Scout personally on an operational incident, where his immaculate work ethic and professionalism were showcased in our close proximity to a hovering S92 Coastguard helicopter, I feel justified to say that I think Paul has done his pal a very worthy honour; not only through his companionship and mentorship, but very much equally through this, now: Scout's Mountain Rescue narrative; from start to end.
Thank you Paul - Scout -, for all you have given to Rescue. The countless you have aided skillfully while customarily; extending out to include all those you may be unaware quite how much you have supported and inspired.
Scout is a credit to Paul and his family, as he has been to Mountain Rescue.
It was amazing to hear news of this book, a surprise indeed; but I was unprepared for how moving it would be.
A fantastic read, there's something so special about the bond between collie and owner, that bond between Paul and Scout is extra special! The time, patience and skill put into all the training by Paul and Scout really comes across, a pleasure to know them both and read their story.
we have had the pleasure of " working " with Paul, my wife is the " seemingly innocent lady", we both spend Thursday evenings bodying for Ken, Wardy and Mark H. - I call it heather bathing as it is such a relaxing experience.
Great to get the bigger picture !