to think that if everyone in town cleared their bit of pavement then buggies could get through

[giantkatestacks]

I mean it only takes a few minutes to clear your own bit of pavement and your elderly neighbours and if we all did it then the pavement would be clear.

Round here some people have and some people havent - and they're not elderly etc which means that I still cant get my buggy out to the shops or do the school run - have been stuck in the house since saturday arrgh.

where is the community spirit?

Thanks Madame Castafiore, I was wondering about that because one of our neighbours cleared their front garden but didn't bother with the pavement outside and at the time I thought it was a bit of an odd thing to do.

I have 3 children under 5 stuck at home as the school is closed - the snow is falling heavily here in Bedfordshire and I have a detached house on the corner with a front garden and drive so the amount of pavement to clear is very large - so no i have not attempted to clear it - it may well be reasonable in a town - but here it is pointless and I would not manage it alone.

No one else is clearing their pavement either here. So no yanbu in a town or city but in rural areas it is a big ask and requires equipment I haven't got. No grit or salt either. I am going nowhere today

I noticed that the council gritter was out the other day gritting the parking bays in the council car park. Nice to know they're looking after themselves hey?
The nursery that ds goes to is near to the council offices but the bloke only gritted the nursery car park after he'd finished the council ones, by which time everyone had dropped their kids off. It was like a skating rink.

clearing the snow is damn good exercise!

We used to live in Asia where all the expats have help for everything. Then we moved to Bulgaria and although we had lots of snow my cleaner's husband used to clear it for us (it was his winter job for a few families). Then we moved to Budapest and DH has a 4 wheel drive and I don't so first snowfall here, he heads off to work at 6.30 no problem and then I have to dig out the driveway (garage in basement so uphill) to get DS to school and then dig out the path and outside the house as it is also illegal not too here afaik. I did phone DH and complain that something had gone horrible wrong with my expat-wife lifestyle!

Liffey - no teabags! Oh no! I used my last Barrys yesterday . Have been ekeing them out over the last week or so. Been using Twinings for DH and keeping the Barrys for me!

I reckon I would have to clear about 24m2+ to cover the area in front and to the side of the house - that is so not happening.

DH can't help as he is in Brum god knows how he is getting back?!

I dont think its pfb to want to get the buggy out to do the school run tbh. Or to get to the shops.

and once you have cleared a foot wide strip then overnight it melts round it to a much wider area.

no pavements have been done round here by the council and only a few of the roads - they havent even done all of the roads with schools on.

I tried to clear ours yesterday. It took me an hour to do just enough to get our car out. Seriously solid ice and very hard work to shift. I don't think I could physically manage the remaining 12 metres or so outside the house.

At the inspiration of some kind owners who did clear the pavement outside their houses, I tried chipping away at the hardened snow outside my own. Crap, after 15 minutes hacking with a shovel, I managed to clear a small strip from my front stoop to the edge of the pavement.

Gave up.

I guess you need to do it before it gets hardened.

tbh I think thats true blueshoes - you need to do it while its snowy still or wait until it has begun to melt then you can get in underneath it with the shovel and it comes up in great big ice sheets.

I think I've been inside too long am becoming obsessed..

giantkatestacks, I have to admit to being fascinated with the properties of snow/ice too. Perhaps it is snow insanity. My Swedish aupair wisely decided not to join me in waging war on snow and watched safely from our front window whilst I was throwing up showers of snow chips with my shovel.

I like your thought of cleared snow begetting more snow melting ...

I would consider clearing snow now it has stopped snowing (just sleet now)so should be easier - but the fact I would be the onlyone makes it seem a little bit pointless and I would not be able to supervise the kids properly - so putting that thought in the too difficult file for now and will get of puter and do some bloody housework.

cat64 - I agree but where the pavement has been cleared down our road its like normal pavement - if I could be assed I would get the camera out but am welded to the computer chair.

Did think about the backpack but the possibility of falling over is just too great...

And I did mine after being inspired by the people across the road so maybe it has a cumulative effect.

cat64, to sue someone successfully for inadequate clearing of snow (I wonder whether whether this falls under negligence or occupier's liability?? What is the cause of action?), they'd have to prove that the homeowner actually cleared the snow. Not that easy.

My sister broke her arm years ago after slipping on the pavement our neighbour had cleared but left the snow in a heap by his wall. He hadn't gritted the pavement.

so the council could be sued if someone falls for clearing the tiny bits of pavement that they have managed to do - round the library/council building etc?

I understood that as long as you don't salt or grit, then if someone slips, they can't sue you because they're just slipping in weather conditions (which is hardly a person's fault) BUT if you DO put down grit or salt on an area of path, school entrance/office entrance etc and then somebody falls over, they WOULD be able to take legal action. This is why a lot of offices/schools etc don't put grit down because it's actually safer sometimes not to....happy to be put right if this is not actually the case..?
Grew up in the middle of the peak district where we had thick snow every winter (in them good ole days!) and schools didn't shut like they do nowadays!We'd trudge to school knee deep with our sledges behind us and fall over many a time without our parents thinking of taking legal action!!!
Live by the sea now and we don't have any more snow today

Frankly, shame on the litigious mentality that turns pavements into ice-rinks or uber-manky slush ponds. We deserve all the problems we get.

I have spent the last few days contemplating attaching dustpans to front of my buggy as a make-shift snow-plough. Now there's an idea for Boris and a small army of mummys

ah thats ok then - because I have used my shovel I should be free from litigation? phew.

The front of my house is a huge stretch of pavement and to clear it I would have to lock my 6 year old DD and my son with SN in the house on their own. It is just not possible or practical.

I have seen people struggling to get buggies down our street and i am opposite a school who had gritted the pavement but it made no difference.
I have also seen loads of people slip over. it is just a ridiculous amount of snow and ice here which is meliting and refreezing and no one can keep up

blarst.. 30 seconds on the drive with the shovel then dd2 starts squarking for a feed - I will try again when she is full.

squarking... squwauk squeek oh you know what I mean...