Guests snowed in for five days at Britain’s highest pub have exchanged phone numbers and vowed to keep in touch.
Freddie Swift, 39, was traveling with his partner, boss and friends when he stumbled upon the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire, which is 1,732ft above sea level.
They were part of a group of 23 guests and six members of staff who were trapped in the pub for five days.
Staff, who had been in the pub since New Year’s Eve, were trapped along with the two remaining guests until Thursday when another shift was finally able to relieve them.
Relieved workers included hospice caretaker Babs Phillips, 51, who missed the birth of her new granddaughter Amelia, and barmaid Kelly Dunn, 42, who missed her daughter’s 18th birthday.
“It was nice to get stuck and it snowing, back in reality, there are people everywhere in London,” Swift said. “It was a great experience and a great adventure, but obviously we have to come back to reality at some point, but it was a bit of a shock to be honest.”
Swift said Tuesday’s escape came with almost no notice as guests were told to be ready to make a quick exit.
“The cook told us there would be a small window where we could bail out and get out, there would be farmers coming with a snowplow, but they didn’t know what time,” Swift added.
We just had to be ready, we had to pack our bags and be ready to go when they got there because they weren’t going to wait, it was like ‘get in your car and go now’, and that was the case.
“My partner, Nathan, was in the shower at the time and I was like ‘you’ve got to get out of the shower now, we’re going.’
Once they were on the road, the exit was anything but quick.
It took bar patrons an hour to travel the seven-mile journey from the pub on the A66.
“It’s so bendy and windy and obviously there’s ice under the snow, so we just had to take it slow and be careful, and just follow the tractor really,” Swift recalled. “All you could see was white fields, the visibility was better because the sun was out, but all you could see was white fields.
Swift is delighted to finally be able to eat something different.
“There were just some things when you try to go through the menu, it’s nice to have a chicken fajita or some noodles,” Swift said. “We’ve had most of the starters, we’ve had the Yorkshire puddings which is one of their specialities, fish and chips, all the typical pub classics, working our way through that menu being there for four days.”
“It’s been a long and difficult week for my staff and I’d like to echo the praise for them from the guests who were snowing with them,” said Tan Hill Inn owner Andrew Hields.
“The isolation of the inn creates unique problems, not just from the weather, and you have to be a special person to work there.”
The owner said the staff went about their daily tasks making sure the 23 guests were comfortable.
“These traditions date back to a time when the door of Tan Hill was never closed to a traveler in bad weather. It’s not something we’re going to start doing now,” Hilds said.
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Image Source : nypost.com