This evening’s snow made Bathwick Hill impassible for many drivers including the 18 bus.

The road is normally gritted but the afternoon snowfall resulted in a wet and slippery surface, worst uphill of Cleveland Walk. Many drivers parked where they could and walked home as fellow motorists slid in the slush.

First were also compelled to leave their bus parked on the hill as it could not drive up safely. Passengers had to walk the rest of the journey as the snow continued falling. The bus was rescued an hour later, being gently slid backwards down the hill to turn around at Cleveland Walk.

The ‘Big Freeze Update’ from the council is abridged below for public information purposes. Whether the ‘big’ refers to the length of the update or the severity of the freeze is not made clear.

• it is cold and will remain such for some considerable time; it has and will snow, road and pavement conditions are described as extremely hazardous
• grit was delivered to the council on Friday; it will be used sparingly on major routes and in grit bins, not on residential roads or pavements as per this map
• most schools will be open on Monday, though Bathwick St Mary’s is currently unsure; updates on the council website
• there will be no waste collections on Monday; none was collected on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday so this should be brought back indoors. The Christmas trees left in the street are quite festive though

Quarry Rock Gardens has been in the news a little lately, first in the Chronicle and then on BBC Points West.

The static home caravan site houses 90 residents aged 50+ at the top of Widcombe Hill. Being a privately run site it is not eligible for council gritting (not that many other residential roads have been gritted either!), but the owner of the site has not made any provision for snow and ice. Consequently many residents are housebound and have been for the past week.

I went up to Quarry Rock this morning to check that residents were alright and was pleased to see that most were able to drive out or walk to the bus stop - carefully - and that neighbours were looking out for each other.

However, I was not alone - the fire brigade had also come up to help! With few fire to attend in the cold and wet, Bath Blue Watch drove two of their rescue tenders up to Quarry Rock to dig the residents out. I explained some of the problems to the crew then picked up a broom to help out.

Suitably inspired, my flatmate and I spend another hour that afternoon clearing the pavement outside our home on Bathwick Hill.

As the cold snap continues, here’s a public service announcement relayed from BathNES council:

• schools are closed
• main routes (Bathwick Hill, Claverton Down and North Road) will be gritted, roads not gritted now will not be in future
• there are NO rubbish or recycling today; please take the waste (and christmas trees) back in

information and updates are at http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/bathnes, but this has crashed a few times.

Happy New Year

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is in Bath this week for a free public meeting. The town hall style event is open to anyone to turn up and ask a question.

Having seen Nick at conference, I know that he is a very impressive public speaker. What’s more, having done almost one hundred town hall meetings since becoming leader, he’s pretty good at them.

The meeting is at St Michael’s, Broad Street (by Waitrose) starting at 6:30pm this Thursday 7th Jan. You can turn up on the night, but seats are being booked fast; you can reserve for you and your friends at http://www.nickclegg.com/2009/12/meets-bath/ for free.

Whether you are an instinctive liberal democrat or a floating voter, he’s well worth a listen.