True grit!

Operations manager Tony Ryder (left) and the rest of the gritting team

The true grit of Oldham’s highways heroes has earned them a nomination for a Pride in Oldham award.

The team of 30 including 24 drivers, loaders and mechanics, worked round the clock over the Christmas and New Year holidays to keep Oldham’s roads clear of snow.

The longest local cold snap for 23 years began the weekend before Christmas, and included Oldham’s coldest day, January 7, when temperatures plunged to —11.7C (11F). Two days earlier Oldham experienced its worst road chaos for 30 years after up to 6in of snow fell and all but four of the borough’s 116 schools were forced to close

The continuous snowfall began on December 17 and it was the weekend of January 16/17 before life began to get back to normal.

Operations manager Tony Ryder, based at the Highways Department’s Lees Road depot, said the team was delighted with the nomination and added: “We got emails, calls and letters of support from a cross-section of the borough, from Failsworth to Saddleworth.

“Businesses thanked us and so did people like the Pennine Acute Trust and the Primary Care Trust.

“We worked closely with First Bus and all the services like police and fire service — it was a concerted effort. And our own colleagues in Street Scene, Highways and Waste Collection helped with clearing pavements.

“People were offering our drivers hot drinks and food, and we got a lot of support from councillors.

“We did get criticisms, and people said we get paid for it, but the staff all volunteer for the gritters and they worked 12 hours on and off over Christmas and New Year.

“We had no sickness and no one ducked their shifts.”

The depot’s gritter driver no 1, Tony Eastham, has done the job for 30 years and said: “I was gritting Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

“It’s nice to be appreciated and getting the nomination makes it seem worthwhile.”

The team was nominated by a grateful motorist who said: “They did a difficult job in really harsh conditions, when none of us enjoyed being on the roads, so they deserve to be thanked.”