THE response of West Devon communities was said to be ‘absolutely amazing’ as motorists caught out by the heavy snow found themselves stranded on the roads.
Stranded motorists were put up by landlord David Luxton at The Fox and Hounds Hotel after being rescued by local farmers on patrol in tractors. After a night’s hospitality at the inn, staff and local teenagers helped dig out their cars and get them back on their way on Monday morning.
‘We had 28 people staying the night,’ said David. ‘They had all got stuck a mile one way and a mile the other. A couple of my local farmers, Harry Cole and Marcus Haywood, went and found them in their tractors and dug them out and picked people up. The first people came in at 1pm on Sunday, and the last ones came in at 2am on Monday. There were a lot of families with children. We had them sleeping everywhere, sharing rooms, sleeping in front of the fire in the bar.
’On Monday morning I had a 13-year-old and his friend who is 18 with shovels digging everyone’s cars out.’ He said a local family just along the road had also put people up.
Okehampton-based North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team were also on call throughout Sunday and into Monday, with reinforcements provided by Tavistock Search and Rescue Team and a team from Cornwall. Running an operation from their base near Okehampton, they attended minor accidents which occurred along the A30 as the snow intensified, helping police and fire crews.
‘We got called out first by the police at 2am on Sunday morning and we set up a control centre at our base, helping with RTCs on the A30,’ said rescue team spokesman Dave Stoneman.
‘A lot of the accidents were due to people not being aware of the hazards in front of them, and approaching a bit too quickly. It was a different type of snow from last time. Although there was a lot of snow then, there was also a lot of grit. This time, we noticed that it was a lot slippier. As it got worse and worse, our priority was getting stranded cars back on the road or helping clear the blockage.’
Police reported that the traffic ground to a complete halt on the A30 by 7pm on Sunday night. They said some 80 vehicles were escorted down into Okehampton to the emergency rescue centre set up at Okehampton College. A newly married couple, a baby and a number of children were among 100 people given sanctuary at the college.
They were given hot food, duvets and blankets by volunteers who answered a community appeal online to come to the centre as the snow turned heavy late on Sunday morning.
The centre in Okehampton opened in the early afternoon as Dartmoor rescue teams, highways workers, firefighters and the police working to escort people off the A30.
As visibility worsened and the snow got heavier, there were a number of minor accidents and by 7pm the traffic had ground to a halt. The emphasis then was on getting the motorists to drive down in convoy into Okehampton to stay at the rescue centre. Others abandoned their cars at the side of the road, and were driven down by volunteer Steve Bolt in a 4x4.
Volunteer centre manager Richard White, in charge of the centre, said: ‘We had 82 people registered as staying with us but in fact it was more than that, because we didn’t count all the children. We had at least 15 children on top of that, and one was less than a year old.
‘We set up a reception centre and made everyone who came in welcome, finding out what their needs were. Some just needed the reassurance that they were safe now that everything was ok. A lot of the people were cold, some had been in their cars for eight hours and cars cool down very very quickly if they have not got a heater on. We had some little children come in that could not stop shaking, they were that cold. It was heartbreaking.
‘We soon warmed them up, though, with nice warm soup and food and gave them blankets and duvets. The Manor House Hotel were fantastic, they gave us duvets, and Waitrose were absolutely fantastic, donating food, and all our volunteers did so much.
‘We literally moved all the desks to one side, picked the rooms that are softer and warmer and most comfortable to sleep in and people bedded down there. Then in the morning we gave them breakfast – bacon baps, teas, coffees, fruit juice and cereals – and sent them on their way. The last ones left us at about 11am.
‘The community resilience we have got in Okehampton when something like this happens is absolutely amazing. My wife put out an appeal on the Okehampton website and we had people walking up and saying what do you want me to do?’
Among the first people given sanctuary after the centre opened on Sunday afternoon were newlyweds Sara and John Lund, who were on their way down from Bristol heading for their honeymoon destination on the north Cornwall coast.
‘They are a lovely couple,’ said Richard. ‘They were driving down the A30 and saw the tailback at Whitehouse services, so they came off the road and headed into town. So they spent the first married night together with 20 other people on the floor of a French classroom. They said they wouldn’t have changed it for the world!’
Kindness was also shown to strangers at pubs on either side of Okehampton, which rallied to put people up who had been caught out by the weather.
At The Tors Inn in Belstone, landlord Kevin Vogan received calls from the owners of the Whitehouse services on the A30 and transported the stranger motorists back to the inn.
Barman Richard Penny said: ‘Kevin has a 4x4 so he was able to go and pick them up at the services and bring them back here. He put five people up overnight and others were put up at Dartmoor House down in the village. They all had a very convivial evening, and agreed that if they had to be snowed in they had picked a very good place to do it!’
The A30 and the A386 remained closed until late on Monday morning, to allow gritting to take place. Tavistock Search and Rescue Team were called out to help on Sunday afternoon and evening.
‘At around 9.30pm our members set off to return to Tavistock, as there was no further traffic movement on the A30 due to the snow and icy conditions, with around 80 vehicles unable to progress further,’ said a spokesman.
‘Over 80 motorists were escorted to spend the night in a welfare centre set up in Okehampton College. It took two hours for our team to [get back to] Tavistock, having to make detours on several roads to find a way past abandoned vehicles and impassable snowdrifts, and finally reaching home ten hours after starting their callout.’
Other members of Tavistock Search and Rescue Team were called out to search for a man who had got lost while walking on the moor near Burrator Reservoir. They joined colleagues from Plymouth and a search and rescue dog team to search open land near Sheepstor and Yellowmead Down in driving snow. They stood down after the man was located safe and well.
The police were on Monday morning were urging people not to travel unless absolutely necessary, as the roads remained icy.
PCSO Lisa Smith, of Okehampton Police, said the police wanted to thank all the volunteers who had helped get people to safety. ‘People showed great community spirit in helping people who were stranded during the heavy snowfall,’ she said.