It never ceases to amaze me how just 10 cm of snow brings the uk to it's knees.
This week I have faced working 6am to 2pm and doing a 30 mile each way commute from Leominster to Worcester. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fine, but then came the snow of Thursday and Friday.
Thursday.
I got up an hour early at 3-30am to check the conditions and sure enough we had about 6cm on the drive. so I got on my way by 4-30am to go the 30 miles to Worcester over one of the heighest points in Herefordshire (Bredenbury) on the A44. being the third car on the busy A44 didn't bother me and by driving at a sesible pace (30-40Mph) I got to work only 3 mins later than normal.
When at work everyone said "I didn't expect to see you". Later that morning at 10-30, five of my collegues decided they needed to go home back to Bromyard which is halfway along my route, because of the now 10cm of snow. i said I'd stay as the factory was nice and warm and by 2pm (normal leaving time)the council would of had chance to do their gritting.
I left at my usual time (2pm) and got home in under an hour for a change (normally takes an hour and a quater), because the roads were clear of traffic and the gritters had been out.
Friday.
The morning was quite normal and with just a frost to contend with on the preious day's snow meant a 45 min drive to work with no drama's along the way. Then came the snow just in time for the start of the Friday get away from work. From about noon onwards everyone leaves work and head's off to a weekend rest.
When my turn came at 2pm, thats when the fun started!!
The roads were full of packed snow because people had crawled over the snow at less than 20Mph which just turns car tyres into steam rollers. If you do 30-40 Mph then the snow breaks up in the tyre treads and readuces the ice situation. Then of coarse came the plonkers who think it's fun to wheel spin all over the place totally out of control.
After taking an hour to do 9 miles I got to the foot of the Bromyard downs, well a couple of miles before actually as I jointed the que of traffic because lorries had got stuck on the two significant hills before Bromyard. After an hour of chugging a couple of yards at a time I got to the first offending hill to find a que of a dozen lorries and about 30 abandoned cars. A lorry driver explained that a lorry had jackknifed on the hill and they were waiting fro help.
Help came in the form of a huge tractor curtousey of a local frmer, but trying to get him past the traffic was a nightmare. You see, us car drivers had to park up between the lorries to let some down hill traffic pss to allow the tractor to go up to the rescue. A rather big bloke tapped on my window and asked if I could park my little Renault 5 between the two lorries 15 yards back. I said "no worries mate" and the poor bloke was gob smacked!! He then proceeded to tell me that at least two motorist's had threatened to "dot him" and many more had argued blind about a very sensible request and he did use "please and thankyou".
I did say to him that, he should of booted their doors in. After all he was one of the drivers from the stuck empty lorries who were trying to get us car drivers home, when they faced a night in the cab waiting for the ice to thaw.
After another 45 mins we got up the first hill and then again due to the assistance of the farmer and several lorry drivers we made it up the second hill. This time they had to persuade the traffic coming the opposite way to stop and wait to let the backlog of our up hill traffic to drive up the hill past abandoned cars and trucks, which we did under our own steam.
Once out of Bromyard the only obstical between me and Leominster is Straw bank, a 1 in 8 down hill then the same up. Sure enough yet more traffic stuck, but we only lost about 20 mins there.
From the top of Bredenbury on it is gentle down hill driving for 8 miles to Leominster wnich went without drama.
The whole journey took over four hours and was quite horendos. Not so much from the driving point of view as my trusty little Renault was a better performer than most 4X4's which were actually wheel spinning at times. Though I guess that was more to do with " the nut behind the wheel" than the vehicle capability. But the biggest concern to me was the lack of consideration and patience displayed by those who were needing the help of the volenteer army of stuck truckers who just because they were stranded did not see that they should allow us to be stranded too.
My next concern was just how ill prepared motorist's were. My tiny Renault 5 has got a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, two torches, a thick blanket, an old fleece, a rain proof yellow jacket, gloves and a thermal hat, and a tow rope all stashed inside the car ready for emergencies. All I added Wednesday night was a shovel for good measure. But I saw folk obviously fresh out of town sat in cars with no extra clothing and they even got out several times to clear the windows without any coats on.
I'd wager that only a hand full of the couple of hundred vehicles had got only half my survival kit onboard. Then better than 75% have never driven on snow.
Planning, patience, preperation is all that's needed and also having a kind word for the guy's trying their best to help is all thats needed from us to make hazardous situations pass by without accidents or assaults!!
Steve.
This week I have faced working 6am to 2pm and doing a 30 mile each way commute from Leominster to Worcester. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fine, but then came the snow of Thursday and Friday.
Thursday.
I got up an hour early at 3-30am to check the conditions and sure enough we had about 6cm on the drive. so I got on my way by 4-30am to go the 30 miles to Worcester over one of the heighest points in Herefordshire (Bredenbury) on the A44. being the third car on the busy A44 didn't bother me and by driving at a sesible pace (30-40Mph) I got to work only 3 mins later than normal.
When at work everyone said "I didn't expect to see you". Later that morning at 10-30, five of my collegues decided they needed to go home back to Bromyard which is halfway along my route, because of the now 10cm of snow. i said I'd stay as the factory was nice and warm and by 2pm (normal leaving time)the council would of had chance to do their gritting.
I left at my usual time (2pm) and got home in under an hour for a change (normally takes an hour and a quater), because the roads were clear of traffic and the gritters had been out.
Friday.
The morning was quite normal and with just a frost to contend with on the preious day's snow meant a 45 min drive to work with no drama's along the way. Then came the snow just in time for the start of the Friday get away from work. From about noon onwards everyone leaves work and head's off to a weekend rest.
When my turn came at 2pm, thats when the fun started!!
The roads were full of packed snow because people had crawled over the snow at less than 20Mph which just turns car tyres into steam rollers. If you do 30-40 Mph then the snow breaks up in the tyre treads and readuces the ice situation. Then of coarse came the plonkers who think it's fun to wheel spin all over the place totally out of control.
After taking an hour to do 9 miles I got to the foot of the Bromyard downs, well a couple of miles before actually as I jointed the que of traffic because lorries had got stuck on the two significant hills before Bromyard. After an hour of chugging a couple of yards at a time I got to the first offending hill to find a que of a dozen lorries and about 30 abandoned cars. A lorry driver explained that a lorry had jackknifed on the hill and they were waiting fro help.
Help came in the form of a huge tractor curtousey of a local frmer, but trying to get him past the traffic was a nightmare. You see, us car drivers had to park up between the lorries to let some down hill traffic pss to allow the tractor to go up to the rescue. A rather big bloke tapped on my window and asked if I could park my little Renault 5 between the two lorries 15 yards back. I said "no worries mate" and the poor bloke was gob smacked!! He then proceeded to tell me that at least two motorist's had threatened to "dot him" and many more had argued blind about a very sensible request and he did use "please and thankyou".
I did say to him that, he should of booted their doors in. After all he was one of the drivers from the stuck empty lorries who were trying to get us car drivers home, when they faced a night in the cab waiting for the ice to thaw.
After another 45 mins we got up the first hill and then again due to the assistance of the farmer and several lorry drivers we made it up the second hill. This time they had to persuade the traffic coming the opposite way to stop and wait to let the backlog of our up hill traffic to drive up the hill past abandoned cars and trucks, which we did under our own steam.
Once out of Bromyard the only obstical between me and Leominster is Straw bank, a 1 in 8 down hill then the same up. Sure enough yet more traffic stuck, but we only lost about 20 mins there.
From the top of Bredenbury on it is gentle down hill driving for 8 miles to Leominster wnich went without drama.
The whole journey took over four hours and was quite horendos. Not so much from the driving point of view as my trusty little Renault was a better performer than most 4X4's which were actually wheel spinning at times. Though I guess that was more to do with " the nut behind the wheel" than the vehicle capability. But the biggest concern to me was the lack of consideration and patience displayed by those who were needing the help of the volenteer army of stuck truckers who just because they were stranded did not see that they should allow us to be stranded too.
My next concern was just how ill prepared motorist's were. My tiny Renault 5 has got a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, two torches, a thick blanket, an old fleece, a rain proof yellow jacket, gloves and a thermal hat, and a tow rope all stashed inside the car ready for emergencies. All I added Wednesday night was a shovel for good measure. But I saw folk obviously fresh out of town sat in cars with no extra clothing and they even got out several times to clear the windows without any coats on.
I'd wager that only a hand full of the couple of hundred vehicles had got only half my survival kit onboard. Then better than 75% have never driven on snow.
Planning, patience, preperation is all that's needed and also having a kind word for the guy's trying their best to help is all thats needed from us to make hazardous situations pass by without accidents or assaults!!
Steve.