Snow warden ‘does his bit’ (From York Press)

Snow warden ‘does his bit’

10:42am Monday 13th February 2012 in Letters By Reader's letter

THE recent snowfall has been the first time the City of York Council-trained snow wardens have been able to try out their new skills and equipment. I’m a warden and I enjoyed “doing my bit”.

The bright red hat and reflective jacket are great, and the gloves, though not waterproof, are better than nothing. However, the plastic scooper may work for freshly fallen snow but is inadequate with trodden icy snow. It isn’t as good as a metal spade for chipping away at ice.

The experience of the past few days reveals another trick. If snow is forecast, or as it begins to fall, sprinkle a small amount of grit-salt on to the path you wish to clear later, once the snow has stopped. This will make it a lot easier to scrape away the snow, even trodden down snow.

However, I collected my grit salt in a couple of carrier bags from a salt bin a ten-minute walk away, and it is very heavy, so I have used it conservatively and have plenty left for the next fall.

I cleared and salted the pavement in front of ten houses. Another householder, not a warden, did a few as well.

If one in ten householders did this, every pavement in the city would be free of snow.

John Cossham Hull Road, York.

• Coun Dafydd Williams, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods: “I’d like to thank all the snow wardens who have been working hard during the bad weather. This is the first year that the warden system has been in operation and we are keen to hear what we can do to make things easier for the wardens. Any wardens who have comments – good or bad – should email michal.czekajlo@york.gov.uk”