Snow

Postman Pat hasn't made it to Shepperton all week, and our road in particular seems to be a no-go zone, but we've had visits from the local curry house, with their new menu, and similar from the pizza parlour and chinese banquet house.

And the bloody Jehovah's Witnesses turned up this morning.

I hope they fell over not soon after I spurned their requests to tell me 'the way'.

I managed to slip and slide my way into work yesterday, which was thankfully my last day until Sunday, but that is looking like it could bring more fun on the roads. Have to say, joking aside, that the bus drivers I've had this week (both Abellio Surrey now they've changed the company name and the Sky shuttle drivers) have been fantastic despite being bombarded by snow and ice-balls all the way along the route. Do these scrotes throwing these missiles not realise they could actually be messing with people's lives?

Meldrew out!

Well since the snow has come down and now we have ice I hardly used any other roads besides the Uxbridge Road, Horn Lane and then onto the A40. Everything else looks as slippery as an eel in a vat of olive oil.

There's my ungritted road.

According to the H/E 60 miserable boring old farts rang the police to whinge about kids throwing snow balls! What the hell`s wrong with some people, these kids haven`t seen snow for god knows how long, they get the chance too play in it and people are ringing up the police! They should hang their heads in shame, next time those people deserve to have snow balls filled with dog turd thrown at them, that give `em something to whinge about! Or charged with wasting police time, you almost here them " Oi you little sod put that snow ball down you`ll have someones eye out"! Does my bleedin` nut right in!

Well so glad the last four working days are over and I’m home now in the warm for the weekend I expected conditions in North Devon today, were going to be difficult and that’s how it turned out. There was not a lot of snow on the main roads (if you can call them main roads) but boy were they covered in black ice. It has to be the worst sort of ice you can get on roads, you just don’t see it and should you go just that bit to fast, or brake a bit hard, you will soon know its there for sure.

So a reduction in speed was required and making sure I did every thing in moderation, braking, steering and accelerating, all done just that bit more gently. It would be great if I could just use the main roads but to get around to the places I need to go up there, I have to use lanes and ones that only really get local traffic on them, not that there was much of that today.

Okehampton was not too bad, only the industrial estate proved to be a problem, but that was the case In Holsworthy, Bideford, Barnstaple, South Molton and Tiverton. You would think as people are employed on them, they would be cleared and treated after the main roads were. I also could not believe that the big name builder’s merchants I called on, all had the most dangerous yards to drive into, you would think as they have sand etc, they would put some down, but then maybe they felt it would be a waste of money as they expected to see hardly any customers during this bad weather.

I was pleased to discover the very steep road that goes around the old Bideford market (Butchers Row) had been treated and unlike Tuesday I was able to stop outside Prance Hire. Tuesday I just sailed past it and was expecting to go through the Pine shop window, but managed to get the van sidewards and the good old tall kerbstones brought me to a welcome stop, that’s the second time that has happened to me there.

-11 was the outside temperature and the shop was locked so I rung the bell and soon Alan Prance was there opening the door in his slippers as usual. His shop window was frozen completely on the inside and the ice was half an inch thick, shows how cold it really was.

Dolphin Tools in Bear Street Barnstaple also had the same problem and the owner had left a heater going over night in the shop. Had a great side in the van as I came out of Mole Valley Farmers in South Molton, I enjoyed that one. With my flask empty much earlier than normal I thought I would go to a café in a picnic area of the A361 between South Molton and Tiverton. The café is one of those caravan looking type ones, but it’s large and has plenty of seating in it.

I took Rolf from Holland in there once as they do a great breakfast, well it’s mostly drivers who use it, but it was closed and looked like it had been for a few days, never known it to ever close before. The toilets were open and so I used them and then walked back 30 yards or so to one of the picnic areas. It’s on a slope and when I walked on the snow (no other foot prints to be found) I discovered it was a good nine inches deep. For those who have seen me you will not be surprised to learn, I sunk into it nearly up to my knees.

So time to move on and do some calls in Tiverton and then onto Credition, via a place I love Bickleigh. I did a thread in the summer about a walk Carol and I did there and I know Merse knows the place, such beautiful cottages next to the river and there is one that is my favourite. I drove past it and just had to pull in at the only place you can stop nearby; it’s a good 150 yards away from the cottage. I walked back to get a picture on my camera phone, it looked lovely with snow on it.

On to Credition and after that Exeter and finishing in Exmouth, a good two hours later that normal. Unpaid over time and I worked out I may have only got paid for working four days this week( we did not go back until Tuesday) but I still worked a 40 hour week.

Its just something you do when you work for a small company, but I was so pleased when I got back that the first thing my two bosses did, was say a big thank you for all my effort this week and getting the job done and not putting even as much as scratch on the van. Sometimes it’s those little words THANK YOU, which really do mean so much





The picnic area



You can see the cafe behind the toilet block





A picture of the cottage at Bickleigh in the summer





Two I took today

Poor bloke. It was decidly nippy in West London last night. So nippy in fact that the scene I posted the other night has changed into a ice rink now. I had a bit of trouble getting out of the driveway this morning. The pavement dips down into the road and then the road camber rises back up again. I didn't give it enough speed this morning fearful that I was gonna risk clobbering a Subaru Impreza and I was rewarded with very little traction and I got stuck half on the pavement, half on the road. However a little gentle rocking in 2nd and reverse gear eventually gave me enough momentum to get back into the ice freeway drive and then I gave it a little more foot coming out the second time. Many more people on the road today though. So many of them driving without using any of the five senses.

Definitely not had 6" up my end, but we do have a very thin blanket laying down! Looks like the perfect excuse to take her up the Dumpling again mate! ;D