{"id":454,"date":"2024-02-08T10:26:04","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T10:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/?p=454"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:17:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:17:35","slug":"what-a-daft-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/what-a-daft-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Daft Idea! Conquering the Woodhead Pass Snow Storm!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All week I\u2019d been passing signs. Big, yellow, electronic ones flashing a polite warning: the A628 Woodhead Pass<\/strong> from Manchester to Sheffield is best avoided. “Interesting weather” is coming, they said. Not a problem, I thought. It\u2019s just a single road. There\u2019s a whole network of motorways and A-roads throughout the British Isles I can use, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stars aligned, some mischievous godly force intervened, and a last-minute job for a client in Sheffield with a “must go today” deadline found me on that very road, in the thick of that very storm. What a daft idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ascent: A Lesson in Frozen Slush<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was\u2026 interesting. The roads went from wet to a treacherous, icy slush faster than you could change the radio station. The slush was freezing as it was falling<\/em>. I could hear the strained revving of engines and the helpless spinning of wheels on black ice ahead of me. Gripping the wheel, crawling along in a low gear, I had a feeling this might end up being a very long night. A cold, hungry, long night. And I hadn\u2019t even got any food \ud83c\udf72\ud83d\ude10\ud83d\ude2d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a tense, slow-motion drive of slipping, sliding, and generally hoping not to become a permanent feature of the Pennine landscape, I finally cleared the pass and breathed a sigh of relief that fogged up the windscreen. Sheffield never looked so welcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Return: Bloke Logic vs. Common Sense<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Job done in Sheffield, I faced the return leg. I had options. The sensible, grown-up thing to do would be to use the motorway network. Soak up the extra miles in exchange for guaranteed gritted tarmac and fewer cliffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that would be boring. \ud83d\udca4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As blokes, we generally thrive on doing things we really shouldn\u2019t. There\u2019s an unwritten obligation to dash along the knife-edge between genius and stupidity. Often, the latter is the winner. However, occasionally, our stupidity compels us to knock on the door of genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is why I pointed the van back towards the Woodhead Pass<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully for me (and for everyone else on the road that evening), the snowplough and gritter had done their heroic rounds. The pass was transformed. The deadly ice was now just a crisp, white blanket. The perilous climb became a serene journey through a snow-kissed tree line and a landscape silenced by the storm. It was breathtaking. This was the reward for the earlier ordeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Courier’s Verdict on the A628<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s be clear: I don’t recommend storm-chasing for fun. But knowing a road like this\u2014really<\/em> knowing it, in its best and worst moods\u2014is part of the job. It’s local knowledge, but for the long hauls. It’s understanding that the “interesting weather” warning is serious, but also knowing that once it’s been treated, it’s one of the most stunning drives in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS \u2013 Google the A628 Woodhead Pass<\/strong>. It\u2019s an amazing driving road with breathtaking views all year round. One day I\u2019ll have someone with me to take proper pics. For now, this is all you get. \ud83e\udd13 But if you ever need something delivered between Manchester and Sheffield and wonder if your courier knows how to handle the Pennines, you\u2019ve found him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, do you need a courier that strives to find some genius in the most daft places? Why wouldn\u2019t you \ud83d\ude1c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on www.frigate-express.co.uk<\/a>  and use the calculator to quote you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions???? Get in touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stars lined up, godly forces intervened and I found myself on that very road in the midst of that very storm!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[18,39,20,21,23],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-moans","tag-courier","tag-extremeweather","tag-logistics-2","tag-sameday","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1574,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/1574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frigate-express.co.uk\/ourblogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}