Last weekend saw the dramatic rescue of a Hitachi digger from bogland close to Goles Forest on the Tyrone/Derry border.

At one point earlier in the week three diggers were trapped in the bog. Two were recovered, but the remaining digger, owned by Cookstown contractor Wesley Hamilton, proved much more difficult to remove. By Friday it was estimated that some 400 people were at the scene, many of whom were interested on-lookers.

It wasn’t until 5pm Saturday that the digger was finally recovered, but only after an all-night vigil to keep water pumped away from the engine and cab area of the sunken digger. The machine was finally manoeuvred and winched to safety under the direction of 82 year-old, Joe Rodgers, the legendary recovery expert from Draperstown.