Snow Strands Drivers on Haldon Hill

Those of us who believed that the snow event in 2009 was a oneoff, not to be repeated for several years, were proved to be poor forecasters on 12 January 2010.

Once again the snow came and stranded somewhere between 800 and 1200 vehicles on Haldon Hill. So for the second year running Chudleigh Town Hall was opened up as an emergency rest centre. We opened the Town hall at 5pm at the request of Devon County Council's emergency team. Whist the County Council and various voluntary groups like St John's Ambulance provide most of the staff I was hugely impressed by the number of councillors and local people who made their
way to the Town Hall to offer assistance.

I must also thank Chudleigh DIY, the Chudleigh Old Bakery and the Chudleigh Chippy for providing food, drink and various equipment that we needed on the night. Thanks also to the Coop for providing food and drink. In the event the police took the decision to keep motorists with their vehicles and managed to reopen the road late that evening. This meant that we only had 3040 stranded people in the Town hall.

The County Council finally closed the emergency centre at 1am. Finally, special thanks to Adrian Martin, our Estate Manager, who was here from 5pm to 1am coordinating all the activity. We couldn't have done it without him!

Jon Carlton - Chudleigh Town Clerk