Guest snowed in at 'off the grid' Britain's highest pub says it was a 'great adventure'

Watch the dramatic rescue mission (click to play above) as two farmers led a convoy from the Tan Hill Inn, in North Yorkshire, along a twisting moorland road to safety on Tuesday afternoon (Jan 7). The rescue came as 23 guests, including three Australians, faced another day of being snowed in at the inn, which is 528 metres (1,732 ft) above sea level.

A great adventure being snowed-in at pub

The Inn had even started the process of booking a helicopter to rescue the stranded guests, alongside six staff who had been there since before New Year's Day. The plough first got through on Monday but wind drifted the snow behind it. In a separate attempt, a local sheep farmer in a Land Rover tried to reach the stranded pub but was beaten back.

Now, guests who are back home with their families describe the snow-in as a ‘great adventure’ and vow to keep in touch. Freddie Swift, 39, was travelling with his partner, boss, and friends when he became stuck at the Tan Hill Inn, North Yorkshire, which is 528 metres (1,732 ft) above sea level. Freddie, who lives in East Dulwich, London, said: “It was nice being stuck and snowed in, back to reality, there’s people everywhere in London.

It was a great experience and a great adventure, but obviously we do need to get back to reality at some point, but it was a bit of a shock to be honest.”

Rescued by snowplough

Freddie said the escape on Tuesday came with barely any notice, with guests told to be ready to make a speedy exit.

He added: “The chef told us we would have a little window where we could be rescued and get out, there were going to be farmers coming up on a snowplough but they didn’t know what time. We just had to be ready, we had to pack our suitcases and be ready to go when they got there because they weren’t going to wait, it was kind of 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 need to get out of the shower now, we’re going’. We literally had to just chuck everything in the car and get out and follow the other cars and the tractor out.”

‘Snow kept blowing on the road’

However, once they were on the road the exit was anything but speedy – taking the freed guests an hour to travel the seven mile journey from the pub to the A66 road.

Freddie added: “It’s so bendy and windy and obviously underneath the snow there’s ice, so we just had to take it really slowly and be careful, and just follow the tractor really. All you could see was white fields, the visibility was better because the sun was out, but all you could see was white fields.

“The snow kept blowing on to the road.”

The owner of the Tan Hill Inn, Andrew Hields, 40, said: “It’s been a long and hard week for my staff and I’d like to echo the praise for them from the guests who were snowed in with them.

“The inn’s isolation throws up unique problems, not just from the weather, and you have to be a special sort of person to work there. As well as doing their day-to-day duties they laid on entertainment for the 23 visitors and they managed it in the finest traditions of Tan Hill hospitality.

Ran out of sausages and wine

These traditions date back to a time when the Tan Hill door was never closed on a traveller in bad weather. It’s not something we are going to start doing now.”

The pub had enough food to last 40 days, but it had already run out of breakfast sausages and Malbec wine.

“We are miles away from villages and towns and the roads can be fine there but it only takes one big drift to cut off the road. We have bad weather in the past when there is no warning, we have had weather warnings and then it’s been fine at Tan Hill.

“Often, when the main A66 is closed, traffic diverts and stops at Tan Hill. It might not be the norm or the done thing by some people’s standards but we offer hospitality in the oldest sense of the word and have done for centuries against the weather and we are not stopping now.”

The pub, which is completely off-grid, is well-prepared for such emergencies.

In 2017 it was chosen for the filming of Waitrose’s Christmas advert, portraying guests being snowed in and making their own seasonal dinner.

In November 2021, 61 guests, including an Oasis tribute band, were trapped by heavy snow during Storm Arwen.