The Tan Hill Inn, following fresh snow fall, in Richmond, Yorkshire Dales. Photo / AP
The Tan Hill Inn, following fresh snow fall, in Richmond, Yorkshire Dales. Photo / AP
Dozens of customers who stopped for a drink at Britain's highest altitude pub got a longer stay than they bargained for, after the building was cut off by a blizzard.
Sixty-one people woke up on Monday after their third night at the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales, 435kmnorth of London. They have been unable to leave since Friday, when a late autumn storm brought snow and heavy winds that felled power cables and blocked roads.
The pub sits 528 metres above sea level and is used to being cut off by bad weather.
Manager Nicola Townsend said staff had organised movies, a quiz night and karaoke for the stranded guests.
They have also been entertained by an Oasis cover band, Noasis, who have also been stuck at the pub since their gig on Friday night.
The trapped patrons have jokingly dubbed them "Snowasis".
The group, who have embraced the moniker, offered an update to fans on their Facebook page.
"We're still here! The roads are still very icy and the main road is still shut, it's not gritted or ploughed yet as those vehicles have to get past the downed power lines. No way we are leaving here until at least late afternoon they say - if at all today!"
Not all 61 pub-goers stayed, Townsend said, revealing that a group with off-road vehicles launched a mercy mission to help a few parents get home to their young children.
A local mountain rescue group also helped evacuate a man who needed medical treatment for an "ongoing condition".
Townsend said the guests were "in really good spirits."
"They've formed quite a friendship ... like a big family is the best way I can describe it," she said. "One lady actually said 'I don't want to leave'."
Townsend said she hoped people would be able to head home once roads had been cleared.
