England Grinds To A Halt.

Today has been the worst snowfall in England for 20 years, 9" in some places. Barnstaple hardly ever gets snow so there was immense excitement in school when snow started falling mid-morning. At first it was dry pelleted snow that looked remarkably like polystyrene balls. Later in the afternoon it was big fluffy flakes but we had to stop the children from playing outside because everything was so wet.

After school many of the parents stayed in the playground enjoying the snow. As the weather had been worsening in the afternoon my Headteacher had asked if I wanted to leave early as conditions are always much worse up in the hills even though we only live 7 miles away. I hung on till hometime but opted out of the staff meeting (which got cancelled anyway). As I drove through Shirwell I could see by the various skid marks in the road of those who had gone before me, that the slush was actually freezing and causing problems so I drove carefully. Once I was off the main road and up by the Lewis' farm the road was white with snow and from Ashleford Corner the ice under the snow was very slippery and despite driving at 5mph I still managed to skid a couple of times.
There was less snow lying on the ground here than in Barnstaple but the roads were definitely more treacherous. Peter got home 1/2 hour after me and he found that the whole 3 miles to the main road had become very icy.




Nobody will be driving down this road to the stables while it is covered with ice like this. I think we've come off this road 4 times with the landrover since we've lived here.

The garden is slowly disappearing under a thin covering of snow. Other parts of England have had much more snow and schools, airport, public transport and roads have been closed all over the country. It is snowing right now here and the low temperatures predicted for this area for at least another day make my journey into school tomorrow doubtful. ICE! Another teacher at school lives even further out than me and if her husband has to drive her into work in his 4x4 they'll pick me up from the top of the lane. If not we'll have to phone and say we can't make it. If too many of us can't get in the school may have to be closed even though most of the children live within walking distance. My only other option would be to walk for 3 miles and hope that the main road has been gritted so that I could hitch into town. I have walked/hitched the 7 miles on quite a few occasions over the years when the landrover has had problems and usually have got a lift from someone I know vaguely. A couple of years ago , again in the snow, Peter managed to get the landrover nearly all the way up the hill until it hit a pot hole and went off the road into the fence. I abandoned my family as I had to get into work, walked up to the road and straight away along came a neighbour and offered me a lift. Fine until we slid round a corner and got stuck on the grass. Just then a 4x4 came by and I asked for a lift. It turned out that the chap was the brother of one of the teachers at school and he and his wife gave me a lift right to school. There used to be a bus out of town that dropped me off 3 miles from home but that has since been cancelled.

Watch this space to see if I get into work tomorrow.

PS Yesterday's tiny run did not do my knee any good and I lay in bed with a throbbing knee listening to a programme on R4 about ......... running, until at midnight I gave in and took some extra pain relief.