Anyone any memories?
It was said that there is an old Hallett Silberman Scammel and trailer down the bottom of one of the gulleys, that ran out of brakes in the 50s.The crew jumped clear.
Also, a story went around in the 70s that a Jaques driver’s mate clambered out of a Scammel cab and back along the low loader rear knock out trailer to wind on the hand-brakes, thus saving the load. Both stories are probably apocryphal, but fun.
Tone
I’ve used the A57 Snake Pass instead of Woodhead many a time as it was always handy for running home without the man from the ministry seeing you. 
I don’t know about Hallet Silbermann’s escapade on there but I know a man who might.I had a mirror smashed by an over zealous Blue Circle Scammell driver once and I’ve seen many car accidents on there as well.
hiya,
If like me you used the “Snake” on the rare occasion, it was designated for daytime running only in my book, must have been a nightmare in the black if “inexperienced” like myself, it was’nt a good idea to use that one, the anchors sure got some stick.
thanks harry long retired.
IHiya…I uesd the snake three times a week(Sheffield-Bangor)with a big cam 14 litre ERF 13 speed fuller so the snake was,nt a problem.
at 32 tonne.
One day i,am bobbing on a bit past the dam,It was a shi…y day,there was a cop car sitting in the layby, as i passed at 50 ish OOPS.
he did,nt follow PHEW.As i got about half way up snake it was sleeting,keep going old girl i just managed to get to the top.
best end of a foot of snow at the top.So all there is to get down again.Well i was,nt going to stay up there. so i came down the Glossop
side verey steady, i got about 1/2 a mile from the right hand bend(with the barriers) and stopped again(8th time) i ratched the hand
brake 3/4 on. I got round the bends to the golf course and the job was done. at the houses i let the brake of and was away.
I bet that copper thought I,d turn round. He should have stopped me going over as it was about impassable. it was me been a Pr…k
going over there,but there was no warning of the snow.
John
Hiya,
About 1990 i was doing a favour for a friend of a friend whose driver had called in sick. The job should have been a steady morning’s work - bobtail from Wakefield to Sutton-on-Trent, pick up a trailer for Glossop, change trailers and bring the empty back to Wakefield. It was late November, a really crappy day with a cold wind, low cloud and drizzle. On top of that, there were roadworks all over the M1 around 29/30, and a few minor collisions holding the job up. The Volvo F10 had a leaking roof hatch and the heater fan didn’t work, so I had to run with the cab window open if I wanted to see out of the windscreen. When I got to Sutton, I discovered that the trailer was 15’4" high, so that ruled out the A38/A6/A624 route because of the low bridge at Chunal. I set off back north, through the roadworks and accidents on the M1, hoping to go up the Stocksbridge by-pass and over Woodhead. By this time, drizzle had turned into monsoon, my left side was soaking wet and my right was freezing cold. Just to add to my enjoyment, Radio 2 told me that the Stocksbridge by-pass had just been closed because of a serious accident - deep joy! My only realistic option was the Snake, so off I went. About 2 miles on from the Ladybower Dam, the monsoon turned to sleet and the temperature dropped noticeably. The Volvo was starting to show its age and mileage and beginning to struggle on the hill, not often managing to get the needle north of 20 mph. After a long, long climb, I got to the top and cheered up slightly at the thought of a cup of tea in a few minutes time. As I went round the right-hander at the top of the drop into Glossop, I came out of the shelter of the bank and the wind caught the curtainsider. In the mirror I could see daylight under all three offside trailer tyres and thought I might not get that cuppa after all. I banged hard down on the accelerator hoping to ■■■■■■ the thing straight and level, and thankfully, it worked. The rest of the job, apart from being cold and wet, went without any drama. The Snake Pass is a lovely stretch of road when the weather’s good, but it can be deadly when it’s not.
Used to tip Manchester with a crappy tilt & load regularly at that steel works on the left as soon as you got to the bottom of Snake Pass on the Sheffield side. It was Winter forever & the works had four or five loading sheds. Sometimes you copped four of them. It was always raining or snowing & dark. Every shed meant pushing the tilt back to load thru the roof & then pulling it back to go to the next shed. And then you had to go to the weighbridge & if it was overweight it was another strip-down to take some off. Sent me bonkers! It was my idea of hell. What we put up with in the old days…must’v been mad?
harry:
Used to tip Manchester with a crappy tilt & load regularly at that steel works on the left as soon as you got to the bottom of Snake Pass on the Sheffield side. It was Winter forever & the works had four or five loading sheds. Sometimes you copped four of them. It was always raining or snowing & dark. Every shed meant pushing the tilt back to load thru the roof & then pulling it back to go to the next shed. And then you had to go to the weighbridge & if it was overweight it was another strip-down to take some off. Sent me bonkers! It was my idea of hell. What we put up with in the old days…must’v been mad?
Hi harry.That would have been Samuel Fox’s (BSC) at Stocksbridge when you ran into Sheffield via Woodhead mate,not the Snake.
Chris Webb:
harry:
Used to tip Manchester with a crappy tilt & load regularly at that steel works on the left as soon as you got to the bottom of Snake Pass on the Sheffield side. It was Winter forever & the works had four or five loading sheds. Sometimes you copped four of them. It was always raining or snowing & dark. Every shed meant pushing the tilt back to load thru the roof & then pulling it back to go to the next shed. And then you had to go to the weighbridge & if it was overweight it was another strip-down to take some off. Sent me bonkers! It was my idea of hell. What we put up with in the old days…must’v been mad?Hi harry.That would have been Samuel Fox’s (BSC) at Stocksbridge when you ran into Sheffield via Woodhead mate,not the Snake.
hiya,
T’other Harry namely me, has a sat-nav that sends me along the wrong route too.
thanks harry long retired.
Chris Webb:
harry:
Used to tip Manchester with a crappy tilt & load regularly at that steel works on the left as soon as you got to the bottom of Snake Pass on the Sheffield side. It was Winter forever & the works had four or five loading sheds. Sometimes you copped four of them. It was always raining or snowing & dark. Every shed meant pushing the tilt back to load thru the roof & then pulling it back to go to the next shed. And then you had to go to the weighbridge & if it was overweight it was another strip-down to take some off. Sent me bonkers! It was my idea of hell. What we put up with in the old days…must’v been mad?Hi harry.That would have been Samuel Fox’s (BSC) at Stocksbridge when you ran into Sheffield via Woodhead mate,not the Snake.
Yes, you’re right. Snake was a lot more scenic.
There used to a another steel works a bit further down than Fox’s- are they still going?
After getting soaked stripping down it was straight out to Swiss- Knackered before you started! 