Has this country gone mad?
Yes there was a bit of snow. Yes there were some blizzards for a short while. A plane overshot the runway at Newcastle airport. Some cars went into the ditch. Durham City was closed for a bit as a car had slewed into a bollard. There were some traffic jams. But life went on.
Conditions were nasty. But the good news was that the gritters did a fine job and kept most of the roads open. The weather improved and at times the sun was warm enough to make the snow melt. The place looked beautiful.
So when you read the papers today, you could be forgiven for thinking you were not in the same country as they were describing. It was Domesday.
There is a school of thought amongst the old folk in the North Pennines which says if the roads are that bad, you shouldn't be on them. That may be being wise after the event, but this time there seemed to be plenty of warning from the weather forecasters.
I will find out later. I'm driving a bus down to the North West. It could be interesting.
"Never worry," a local farmer once told me. "You will get there quicker in one of those new fangled four wheel drives. Not because they're faster. They're heavier and slide better - so you will go quicker."
As he told me this, he was nodding at the recent hole in his stone wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment