By Lynne Stewart

A GROUP of hillwalkers from Brechin, including musicians due to play at a hotel in the Angus Glens on Saturday night, were rescued from the beauty spot early yesterday after enduring 12 hours of freezing, wet conditions.

The group of five adults and two youngsters, aged 11 and 13, had set off from Glen Esk at around 1.30 pm on Saturday and had planned to walk to Glen Clova but, as the weather deteriorated, they became disorientated and found themselves lost in the Loch Brandy area.

One member used a mobile phone to raise the alarm at 8.30 pm and was able to inform the police of their intended route, which allowed the search team to pinpoint areas where they may have become lost.

Some of the group were musicians scheduled to play at a jamming session in the Clova Hotel on Saturday night.

Teams from Tayside Mountain Rescue Team and Tayside Police search and rescue were raised and began searching for the group with the aid of dogs.

Helicopter assistance was requested but was not deployed due to the poor weather.

After several hours of searching, the group were found safe and well at 1.20 am yesterday.

Mountain rescue team leader Alf Ingram said the group were cold and wet but no one required any medical treatment and they were all able to walk off the hill.

They later returned home after they had soup and sandwiches laid on by the hotel.

“One of the party had a mobile phone and fortunately they managed to get a signal, which was lucky as there are very few areas up there where you can manage to get a reception,” said Mr Ingram.

“That was an aid to us. They phoned in saying they were lost and they were on some sort of track.

“It was very misty and the conditions weren’t good. There had been a lot of rain and visibility was down to 10 or 20 yards a lot of the time.

“It turned out to be a nice night but on high ground it was extremely misty.

“We joined up with Tayside Police search and rescue and assembled at Clova around 10 pm.

“We discovered that they had been coming from Glen Esk and were walking to Glen Clova.

“We knew the direction of travel then, which helped as we were able to work out where they may have gone wrong.

“Five groups were sent to different areas up Clova.

“We asked for support from a helicopter but that was not possible because of the poor weather conditions.

“About 1.30 am one group picked up one of the tracks and they were all there sitting telling jokes trying to keep each other occupied.

“They were in good spirits but were very cold and pretty wet.

“They were escorted off the hill and arrived at Clova Hotel around 3 am.

“They were a group of friends. Some of them were musicians and had been due to play at a ceilidh at Clova Hotel on Saturday night.

“The driver wasn’t on the hill and was able to drive them home.”

A police spokesman said, “At 8.30 pm on Saturday we were notified of a group of seven overdue in the area of Loch Brandy.

“It turned out to be a party of five adults and two youngsters, aged 11 and 13.

“They had started off at 1.30 pm from Glen Esk and planned to walk to Glen Clova but, due to a change in weather conditions, they became disorientated in the area of Loch Brandy.

“They had the good sense to stay in the area until they were found at around 1.20 am.”