MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Not through choice, obviously, they have to pay me, but tomorrow I need to get from a meeting in Matlock to another in Stoke - normally I cut across Winster, Newhaven, Hartington, Warslow and then head for Congleton or Leek depending where in Stoke I need to be.
Anyone driven around there today? Is crossing the bottom end of the Peak District after all this snow likely to be an unwise decision? Should I risk it in my own car with winter tyres on or just take the usual hire car and trust in a higher power....
Thanks for any advice
I went from Stone to Ashbourne and then Derby today.
Worst road was Uttoxeter to Ashbourne.
To sum up the higher up and more exposed the road the worse the snow was. If you can get into Derby you will have no problems.
The road from Ashbourne to Sudbury (on the A50) is OK now
Cheers
Think I'll push the meeting back and take the A38 to Derby and pick up the A50 - dull but safe
Picture of A515 at Parsley Hay from Sunday night on my facebook, A515 was 6 foot in snow. The person who took the picture had come through (to Belper) on a JCB digging their way through, and it took them two hours of digging to get through (I guess they really wanted to get back home!). From the picture it looked surprising they'd got through with a JCB even, snow up to the top of the drystone walls at the side of the road. So unless it's been ploughed a whole lot since then, then you're screwed.
I would go South then West then North, stick to very main roads, and only ones that aren't marked as closed on the site below. A6 looks fine here in Belper and I saw a plough on the A517 this morning, so I'm guessing that has been cleared to Ashbourne.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/derby
Also, maybe this is my naive city boy background coming through, but is it normal for farm-boy country types just to think, road closed with snow, no worries, we'll get the JCB out for our 20 mile journey?
Newhaven is likely to be very difficult. [url= http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/roads_traffic/road_maintenance/snow_info/latest_update/default.asp ]DCC road closures[/url]
Also, maybe this is my naive city boy background coming through, but is it normal for farm-boy country types just to think, road closed with snow, no worries, we'll get the JCB out for our 20 mile journey?
Yes!
Or you could go A6 to Buxton then to Leek and on to Stoke... shorter then A38, A50, and currently open...
Thanks for that link - Hartshorne and Bretby were possibly on the way home after calls in Burton as well.....
I used to do that journey often when I worked in Matlock and visited the now ex gf in Stoke. Never in conditions like this though!