Snow thawing fast

The snowplough has been through and the snow on the road is melting fast. Access to the tearoom and Roaches should no problem.

More **$%^** SNOW

Got about 2inch of snow here and it has just stopped snowing. It was a lovely day yesterday, cold but sunny. There were lots of visitors to the Roaches, the car parks were almost full by about 1pm. This is by far the biggest turn out since before Christmas.
I've now got to get my car up the very steep drive to go and get some bread. That will teach me not to keep a good eye on the weather forecast at this time of year.

Foggy and Foul but saw a Partridge

It's thawing at last, yippee! I'm fed up of the snow.
However today is wet, foggy and foul.
Talking of fowl, I saw a partridge today for the first time in 20 years.

Another inch of Snow

We've had another inch of snow which has made driving even more difficult. There has been a slight thaw which has made the new snow particularly slippery.

Snow drifting

Access to the Roaches is still difficult with the road being ridges of ice now. There is a bit of drifting too which is narrowing the road in places and making passing difficult especially as some drivers even in 4x4s are too scared to deviate from the middle of the road! If you aren't confident in the snow give the Roaches a miss or park further down the road. Even the walk up the road is pretty at the moment.
Three mini buses of kids from Stanley Head Outdoor centre made it up here on Thursday. They did not stay long as it was bitterly cold but I have to take my hat off to the drivers they did very well to make it to Roaches gate.

Bloody Cold

The sun was about to set so I thought I'd have a walk along Roach Rd to see what the snow situation was. However once outside I revised my plan. It was bloody cold, -3deg with a 10+mph wind, so I'll give it a miss..... The snow plough went through early this morning but snow was drifting back in by early this afternoon.

I've called the photo 'Snowy cushion'

Thick snow

In common with the rest of the North of England and Scotland there is lots of snow here - 8 inches. I have been snowed in all day so no photos today. I saw the snow plough come through so the roads to the Roaches will be passable for 4x4s and good snow drivers with capable cars. Walking however will be very heavy going as the snow is so deep.

Another Dollop of Snow

It snowed most of the day yesterday - 2nd Jan - giving another 5 inches. This is on top of 2 inches still there since the last lot. It is only just at zero degrees so there is not much thawing going on. The next few days are forecast to be cold so this lot is going to be around for a while. Roach Rd has been ploughed but as usual not gritted. It will however be gritted up to the tea rooms if not today then tomorrow. A couple of hardy 4x4s have been up today.

Lots of snow on the Roaches

It will definitely be a white Christmas on the Roaches. There is 5 inches of standing snow so there is no chance of it melting before Santa comes. The roads have not been gritted beyond the Roaches tea rooms and are very slippy. A Curtain side lorry decided to try his luck on Monday against local advice and got stuck for about 4 hours. Similarly a mini bus was stuck all night. These are not the vehicles to come up here in the snow. Cars are also getting stuck so if you decide to come up bring a shovel and don't go beyond the Turning area or you will probably regret it. This is the domain of the much maligned 4X4 in this weather!

Lots of Interest in Wallabies

There has suddenly been lots of interest in the sighting of the Wallaby back in March this year. First it was the Macclesfield Times and then the Daily Mail published a piece on the 9th July. The Derby Telegragh then did a piece a couple of days later. And to cap it all Radio Derby got in on the act. I'm not sure what has sparked all this interest so long after the sighting. It is weird though almost every contact starts with "This isn't just a joke is it?" or words to that effect.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198642/Return-wallabies-Pictures-prove-Aussie-marsupials-hopped-oblivion--Peak-District.html

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Wallaby-sighting-Peak-District/article-1155915-detail/article.html

Buzzards Aloft

There have been three buzzards circling round the north west area of the Roaches for most of the day. One decided to have a rest, rather dwarfing the tree.

Less Snow than London

There has probably been lower snowfall on the Roaches than in London, but the Roaches wears her white coat far more impressively than the capital. Much of the snow has blown off the fields and the road but there's still enough to sledge on.

Winter Wonderland

It's very beautiful here today with icy formations on all the trees and shrubs. It is also bitterly cold. It was -5degC last night and has only crept up to -3degC by 11am. Thankfully there is no wind but it still feels colder than it should because it feels damp.

Mini Tornado on the Roaches

There is about an inch of very dry snow on the Roaches this morning. The wind situation is very weird with quite strong gusts very intermittently. I saw one of these gusts turn into a mini -tornado about 8-30 this morning. It was about 15ft across and carried snow about 30 ft into the air. It lasted about 30 seconds before being dissipated in some trees.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The New Year came in with some very low temperatures. -7.1degC was the lowest temperature in the night- the lowest for a number of years- and yesterday it struggled to -3degC with freezing fog. It was nice early on and it looked as though we were going to be above the fog but by midday it had engulfed us. It was sunny all day behind the Roaches so those brave few that visited us and went up would have been rewarded.

Best Wishes for the New year!!!

PANORAMIC SUNSET

The sunset over the Roaches was particularly pretty tonight.

SNOWY DAY

What a difference between dogs and cats! This morning the dogs ran out excitedly and were quickly playing snowploughs with their noses in the snow. The cat - well I now know where the phrase pussy footing around comes from.
In common with the rest of the area we have snow on the Roaches today but the roads are clear as far as the Roaches tearoom.

Spotted Sandpiper at Tittersworth Reservoir

There is much excitment at Tittersworth, even the BBC regional TV have been down because of a tiny little leggy bird. It's a spotted sandpiper which is normally only found in North and South America. It is not spotty at the moment as it is in winter plummage. This picture was taken by Irene Kirkpartick.

Sun on the Roaches

This weekend has been very sunny on the Roaches in contrast to the gloom at lower levels. Those few that battled through the fog to visit us will have risen above it all to see the cotton wool cloud in the valley lit by a bright sun in a cloudless sky. This topsy turvy weather often happens in November.
The top picture is looking down Roach Rd towards Hen Cloud with the low cloud to the right. The second picture is the valley at sunset.