Freed after 4 days, pubgoers who had UK’s coolest lock-in
AS parts of the country shivered under a first proper taste of winter, only one set of trapped celebrities was entertaining TV viewers – and they were nowhere near a Welsh castle.
While the cast of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was evacuated after the onslaught of Storm Arwen, it was left to the 61 snowedin guests at Britain’s highest pub to take the limelight.
The three nights of isolation endured – or, in truth, enjoyed – by the stranded drinkers at Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales made headlines as far afield as Sydney and New York.
Their once-in-a-lifetime experience locked in with an Oasis tribute band ended when farmers ploughed through snow drifts to reach them yesterday.
Reveller Gary Bimpson, 42, said: ‘To be honest, I think the main worry was if the beer ran out really. It’s like I’m a Celebrity... but at the Tan Hill Inn pub.’
He had travelled from Hull with his girlfriend Becky Longthorp, 36, to watch Noasis on Friday. They pitched their tent outside the pub 1,732ft (528m) above sea level only for Storm Arwen to bring down cables and dump up to 5ft of snow.
‘It was absolutely crazy,’ he said. ‘We’ve been camping on the floor in the Tan Hill ever since.
‘We had a bit of a sing-along and everybody got their guitars out, which has been a good bit of fun. It’s just been a good atmosphere really – good old British spirit and all that.’
Architect Mr Bimpson said staff at the pub ‘deserve a medal’ for making them all so comfortable, including generous roast dinners on Sunday.
Pub manager Nicola Townsend told ITV’s This Morning: ‘People have been willing to share rooms, we’ve got people on sofas and on the floor. All of our guests have just been wonderful.’
As they left the pub to return to normal life, the cast of I’m a Celebrity were also preparing to be back on TV screens tonight.
The cold temperatures did not deter a bunch of wild swimmers near Edinburgh yesterday although they did don their woolly hats. In London, other brave souls took to the waters of the Serpentine for a dip.
There was a dramatic rescue when a lifeboat from Tynemouth battled 6m high waves for 18 hours to rescue six fishermen whose vessel suffered engine failure 70 miles out to sea.
As insurers braced themselves for a £300million bill from Arwen, 155,000 properties were still suffering power cuts in rural areas of Scotland and the North of England yesterday.
Retired teacher Harry Foster, 83, slept in his gas-heated camper van to stay warm during the three-day black-out at Longhorsley, Northumberland. ‘I’ve lived here for 45 years but this has been the worst,’ he said.
The Energy Networks Association said the damage to electricity lines was the worst seen in Britain for over 15 years.
‘Good old British spirit and all that’