Twist Issue 157 January 2024

County’s
gritting plans
for local roads
C
HESTERFIELD residents can keep up-tospeed
on responses to snowy and icy
conditions on the county’s roads.
During the winter period, Derbyshire County
Council provides 24-hour cover using a fleet of
specialist salting and other vehicles.
Teams grit and clear snow and ice from around half
the adopted roads and pavements in Derbyshire,
except for motorways and trunk roads, which are
dealt with by National Highways, and roads in Derby,
which are the city council's responsibility.
Regular gritting routes are split into two categories
− primary and secondary.
Primary routes, which cover around 1,000 miles of
road, are treated during the day and night and 'pretreated'
before bad weather hits. Gritting continues
24 hours a day if necessary.
Secondary routes, which cover around 550 miles of
road, are generally only treated in the day with the
first run being completed by mid-morning.
In heavy snow and freezing conditions, the main focus is on
keeping primary and secondary routes open.
The council also works with farmers and external contractors to
Discover the Wild
Peak with new
challenge routes
D
ERBYSHIRE Wildlife Trust has launched three new
walking or running routes.
The Wild Peak Rounds connect wild spaces across the Peak
District to create a year-round challenge for walkers and
runners.
They take in some of the most stunning scenery in the Peak
District, connecting up to 16 of the trust’s nature reserves.
There are three round routes which start from Bakewell – of
120km, 55km and 15km.
The routes highlight how isolated and fragmented some of
the nature reserves are but give an opportunity to raise
awareness and enable wildlife corridors to be developed to
better link up biodiverse gems.
The Rounds are not waymarked between the reserves and
there is no fixed route to follow, leaving the route choice
entirely up to walkers or runners.
Good navigation skills, understanding and preparedness of
the grounds and changeable weather conditions are essential,
stresses the trust.
Equally there are no manned checkpoints along any of the
routes, so people must take enough provisions and, or know
where to get supplies from along their route.
For more information, visit wildpeakrounds.co.uk
Tw st
clear snow from some roads not on main routes and with
volunteers from town and parish councils to help keep
pavements and footpaths clear.
You can get information about gritting via the council’s website
and social media.
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