Tan Hill Inn: Guests snowed in at famous Yorkshire pub rescued by farmers with snowploughs

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).

However, four guests, including two German tourists and dog Agatha, decided not to risk the journey and stayed behind with the pub's six staff.

Pub owner Andrew Hields said: “We got a call at 2.30pm to say they had made it. The route is still treacherous, the staff will be going home as soon as it is safe for them.”

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.

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.

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

Pub manager Nicole Hayes was one of the staff members who stayed behind. Staff and guests settled down to a ‘curry evening’ on Tuesday night and watched Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-0.

She said: “It was a spicy night on both fronts. We have plenty of supplies, though we have ran out of sausages and the Australians have drank all the Malbec. We are safe and warm, but missing our families.”

Mr Hields praised his staff for providing entertainment, food and drinks for the guests, adding that their efforts were done in the finest traditions of the centuries old inn.

He added: “We are very exposed at 1,732ft and although it does not snow as often or as heavy as it used to problems can occur with snow drifts.

“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.