[Closed] clearing snow - nobs

WTF is a snicket ?

Your course of action is clear, shovel the snow back from the cleared path onto his drive. And if that doesn't work you will have to take off and nuke him from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

WTF is a snicket ? Its the countryside, slightly more middle class version of a ginnel

hels - it's a ginnel!
Where was that flamethrower photo?

I thought it was three ginnels to a wirit and four snickets to a pikit?

Snicket is a new one on me. Treat them to some yellow snow?

If Waitrose made ginnels, they'd be called snickets

I've done a quick google and it turns out that a snicket is a twitten.

Wait till tonight, then hose his drive down.

A ginnel goes between houses, snicket goes up the side

Clearing snow as an act of neighbourly solidarity in a steep street is one thing; what makes me laugh is the people who come out immediately after snow and clear the pavement in front of their own houses or a little track from the pavement to their front door. I read recently that more heart attacks happen during snow-clearing by unfit slobs than at any other time.

Pook

What is going through these people's heads? The selfishness astounds me.

That's nothing. A huge sycamore (maybe 6ft dia) came down and blocked the single track road to my folks house last winter. Neighbour, dad, brother in law and myself went down with chainsaws and tractor to clear the road.

Our "new" neighbours were having guests over (I don't mean to generalise but they are city folk) who drove up to within a few feet of where we were working and just sat watching us in their car. After 15 minutes or so the guy driving got out of the car, to help us move some logs I thought, perhaps. "How long will you be?" he asks. "As long as it takes" I replied, and told them they'd be better off going back to the house they were visiting all of 200 feet away.

So there they sat for another hour, just staring at us work, at which point the guy got out and did the same thing again. I thought my dad was going to cut his head off with the chainsaw, so I politely suggested they go back to the house. "No we're fine here, we'll wait" came the reply. I had to bite my tongue and tell him in the politest possible way that if they didn't remove themselves I'd drive the tractor over their car.

[img] [/img]

I spend ages clearing the whole street, which is a steep ish cul-de-sac about 80m long with maybe30 houses. The only person who came out to help was the neighbour from 2 doors up who's from Zimbabwe, so hardly experienced at dealing with snow.

However, everyone was happy to drive up and down it after we cleared it, without so much as a thanks.

When it snows I clear my drive, my retired neighbours drive (old lady, husband died last year - he used to clear his drive), the shared drive and the pavement as far as the next house. It's good exercise and makes everyone's life easier.

I'm old and unfit and have died many times doing it.

Pook you need milk bottles (empty beer bottles), rag, petrol and matches. With luck the burning houses will melt the surrounding snow.

(A month ago I wouldn't have suggested this but the price of petrol has fallen).

I live in a block of private appartments a few older people and lots of able people, snow arrives i cleart the steps and ramps, put salt down, and clear a path to the car park, nobody helps.

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared, strange they can float above icy roads and paths, yet worry about falling on cleared paths with grit and salt on.

Oh OK , thanks. That's much clearer now.

project - Member
Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared, strange they can float above icy roads and paths, yet worry about falling on cleared paths with grit and salt on.

Yep, health & safety ... bureaucrats will blame you if they can.

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared

Does seem to be a bit or an urban legend....

We live at the bottom of a steepish shared driveway. There's six houses. Neighbour near the top is keen as mustard and clears his bit, and the top section of the shared bit. Fair enough, what he does of the shared bit gets him out, and helps us all out. It's also the steepest bit, so when conditions are 'marginal', if that's the only clear bit, that'll often be good enough for us all to get out.

Most of the rest of us clear our own bits, and the shared bits we need, which mostly covers it.

Last night, it froze, and the drive is like an ice rink. Neighbour at the bottom next to us couldn't be arsed to clear anything and took the "rev the arse off it and try and power up the thing" approach. After quite a bit of skidding about, his car is now bumper-deep in our front lawn. Wife not too happy about that.

I think what pissed her off more than anything was that once he was good and stuck in our garden, rather than stopping and considering a different plan (a push? a tow?) he proceeded to spin his wheels until he was properly dug in.

..."How long will you be?"...

One of the cute things about townies is that they simply believe that if something needs doing, there will someone whose job it is to do it.

this is re-enforced every time they see someone doing something - it's clearly their job.

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared

That is complete bollocks.

It did the rounds in the Daily Wail and the like but has been discounted as made up nonsense.

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared

Does seem to be a bit or an urban legend....

Indeed, iirc it's covered on a "H&S myths you've read in the Daily Mail and should ignore" section on the HSE website.

Yep, found it, in response to the Bristol Evening Post, as it happens, not the Daily Mail (this time):

[url= http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/record/2010/bristolep220110.htm ]linky[/url]

No one has ever been sued for someone slipping on a cleared path. Compete urban myth/Daily Wail H&S click bait.

Iirc either the government or HSE said such a case would be thrown out as not in the public interest.

We had snickets in the pit village I grew up in. Definitely not middle class.

I love shovelling snow.

In my old street up on't moors of Derbyshire our street was always perfectly clear. All my neighbours and I used to go and and do it in force, whether there was an inch of snow or a foot and a half.

Unfortunately this gave one a bit of a false sense of security, and several times I drove out of my house and along my road only to get stuck further down in the village 😳

I want to live somewhere that owning this makes sense;

Brighton just doesn't get the icey precipitation to justify it.

Isn't Twitchell the middle class version?
Snickets and Ginnels here and definitely not middle class (ex pit village)

On the day after boxing day I was outside clearing approx 150m of snow at 8am even though we'd had a 2am finish from the beer the night before. It had nothing to do with staying at the mil's for another night either....

I want to live somewhere that owning this makes sense;

We have jitty's in Derbyshire.

[i] I was outside clearing approx 150m of snow[/i]

That's deep, we're lucky to get a few cm around here.

rusty90's mate, earlier;

[img] [/img]

I've done a quick google and it turns out that a snicket is a twitten.

I chuckled, because that's the first post that actually made sense to me!

I was at western powers Derbyshire gaff yesterday morning and it started to snow quite heavily. What should appear behind me? A little counter balance forklift with plough attachment, I was hugely disappointed as he'd spoilt the ensuing fun of a snow covered car park!

That snow shovel wheel thing is rubbish. It's leaving the bit that would go icy.

Not enough snow round our way yet, but we do have lots of trees so have to rake/sweep up leaves, pine needles, branches etc every 2-4 weeks. Ours is a small cul-de-sac with 7 houses so everyone knows each other to some degree.

I generally rake, sweep, and pile it all up and fill the garden waste wheelie bin, if there's excess I take it to the tip. The guy over the road gets a blower out and blows it all out into a pile in the street (a road sweeper comes once a month, presumably the pile is for them to pick up). A couple of months ago I had the day off and saw the bloke from a few doors down with a blower, he cleared his entire garden and driveway onto the street and blew it across the road so it was in front of the house opposite, which is occupied by an old lady of about 80 years. What a charmer!

gobuchul - Member

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared

That is complete bollocks.

It did the rounds in the Daily Wail and the like but has been discounted as made up nonsense

I know that, and most people who should help know that, buts it a good excuuse for being a miserabale bastard and not helping those in need. One or two of the older lot said thankyou though which makes it worthwhile, alsong with a good fitness workout.

Best thing for clearing fresh snow is a powerful back pack blower. This is what we use after trying all sorts of tools / techniques. You need head to toe waterproofs though and to get in there while it is fresh. Works brilliantly even for deep stuff.

Edit - not me above blowing it on to other peoples property!

[url= https://www.gov.uk/clear-snow-road-path-cycleway ]Snow clearing [/url]

back pack blower?

You need one of these;

de-ices the points at the same time.

This morning (at 6 bloody 30 I hasten to add) I cleared my drive and the old gimmers' across the road too. Then it rained and the snow melted, so they won't see how awesome I was. Next time they can nob off.

Meh.

wheel barrow mounted pulse jet?

I was staying with a mate in Munich this time last year and was woken by the sound of someone shovelling snow outside the house. Turns out that householders have a legal responsibility to clear the stretch of pavement outside their property.

The result is that the pavements, in residential areas at least, are uniformly clear. Of course the trade-off is that you have to live in Germany on a diet consisting mostly of beer and sausages, but at least the pavements are passable and they don't have threads like this.

molgrips - Member
I spend ages clearing the whole street, which is a steep ish cul-de-sac about 80m long with maybe30 houses. The only person who came out to help was the neighbour from 2 doors up who's from Zimbabwe, so hardly experienced at dealing with snow.

However, everyone was happy to drive up and down it after we cleared it, without so much as a thanks.

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO #

Next year my missus and i happened to have winter tyres. No digging required.

Neighbours, then tell me i will be laible if someone falls on the paths ive cleared
Does seem to be a bit or an urban legend....

Aye and most people know deep down its bullshit too but it reinforces a belief in "elfin safety gone mad" and give an excuse to be a lazy bastard. So it hangs around

It isn't a twitchell, snicket, twitten, ginnel or jitty... you lot are all weird 😉 It's a [b]cut[/b] as in cut through.

Of course the trade-off is that you have to live in Germany on a diet consisting mostly of beer and sausages

You say that like it's a bad thing! No snow on paths/road and beer/sausages, i'm in!

I live in scumsville. Every single person in the cul-de-sac comes out to clear the road when it snows. There is always beer involved.

Cxxxxxxx Drive for the win?

And its a Gennel round here, never been a snickers or whatever. 🙂

jimjam - Member

That's nothing. A huge sycamore (maybe 6ft dia) came down and blocked the single track road to my folks house last winter. Neighbour, dad, brother in law and myself went down with chainsaws and tractor to clear the road.....

To be fair they may have thought you were contractors and not know you were their friend's neighbours doing off of your own back and hence not want to get involved, insurance e.t.c.

My neighbour does a bit of freelance plowing for the local authority with his tractor. It's quite refreshing these days that they just let him get on with it and bill them later. Does mean our road stays quite clear too 🙂

Guy opposie me spent 2hours cleaning his drive and car parking area so it was compleetely snow free. And by snow free , i mean spotless like he had rolled back a carpet and taken every flake with it .

Dozy so and so didnt bother with the pavement ( which was the first thing I did swept and gritted about 100m up and down road as there are hundreds of coffin dodgers round here )

An hour or so later his misses is walking back home from the bus stop and gets to within 10m of sanctuary when 'wallop' over on her backside. Traffic stops to help her up etc , I was washing up and saw everything from the kitchen window.

Skiing holiday once they stuck a note on our car saying move it or we will as we want to plough the car park. French guy next to us is out there first moving the considerable amount of snow from his car onto ours. Not so fast frenchy .tried to explain in pidgeon french that it would be quicker if the 3 of us and him cleared a single central channel we could both steer out of. He decides to not understand . Que the British snow shovelling team moving all of the snow he had shovelled infront of our car back in front of his ,plus all the snow from our car. Entant cordial was non existant as we drove out first leaving him with about 1 ton of snow to move again . tosser .

TheBrick - Member

jimjam - Member

That's nothing. A huge sycamore (maybe 6ft dia) came down and blocked the single track road to my folks house last winter. Neighbour, dad, brother in law and myself went down with chainsaws and tractor to clear the road.....

To be fair they may have thought you were contractors and not know you were their friend's neighbours doing off of your own back and hence not want to get involved, insurance e.t.c.

Er, I highly doubt it. The tree fell blocking us all into the cul-de-sac where we live. Only two ways in, through a forest or by river. Anyway, they knew exactly who we were. Two men in their 60s two more in their 30s and a 4x4 Ford tractor with a link box. Trust me, we didn't look like contractors.

When I stayed in Orkney the end of our road where it met the main singletrack was prone to drifting. I'd clear it by hand only for the County snow plough to refill the space with quick setting concrete style snow.

I wish it snowed enough here to justify one of these Unimog snow blowers. It has an air cooled motor on the back to power the augers and blower.

[img] [/img]

McMoonter that's awesome, a thread isn't a thread without a MOG in it.

I can't see the point in clearing snow to be honest, never have done. It melts quick enough by itself.

And where people do clear it, the melting snow then freezes at night leaving ice. IMO pavements etc have much more grip when left alone.

FD - not sure about that approach fella. In the big winter of 3 or so years ago, the snow got all compacted down, pavements and roads both, and it was left pretty much as is; result was it turned into an inch or more of near ice that was really hard to shift on road or pavement. Agreed that partial clearance can lead to really icy patches so needs to be cleared entirely for best effect.

Oh im so glad im not the only who get the hump over lazy arses , I have lived on the side or Mordor for the past 5 years and when it comes to snow we struggle to get off the street , for the past 5 years myself and the couple next door always do the sleeping policemen out side the houses because the are a bugger to get over ,and not once has anyone else bothered, well this year I haven't touched a bit of it neither has Dave next door.

Reason Subaru all wheel drive and his Defender don't seem to have a problem , shame the selfish sods all drive BMs and Mercs its was fun watching them slide

FD - that's why I went to get a sledge full of grit to bring up. And it doesn't clear quick enough. We've been stranded up here for two days with a stir crazy 2 year old and a boss who doesn't get working from home.

FunkyDunc - Member

And where people do clear it, the melting snow then freezes at night leaving ice. IMO pavements etc have much more grip when left alone

Depends tbh. If you clear it well and salt or grit it, it should be fine. But I know what you mean, I did a winter on crutches and I'd rather have uncleared snow than the well-meaning death ice people insisted on building in front of their houses. Probably better for prams, wheelchairs and the like.

When we get proper snow, the ploughs end up pretty much burying the pavement so it's tricky, it's a lot of work just to dig cars out and knock out a reasonably passable path and if it snows again, it gets ploughed again anyway. I like shovelling snow so I don't get too uptight about other folks not doing it but what drives me nuts is the fannies that clear their driveway and throw the snow/ice onto the pavement, or into the road, I mean wtf?

If you shovel well the left over dusting melts quickly (around here) and leaves clear tarmac. The compacted snow however turns to a thick layer of solid ice that lasts ages and is very slippery.

It's a cut as in cut through.

You'd get a shock if you took a detour through the cut anywhere in Lancashire - it's a canal.

Living next to another stw_er, our street is deep in ice and snow still... 😉