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As we have been asking every day this week, please update the blog on the road conditions.  Although it appears that the thaw is maybe starting, there are warnings of icy roads again.   The information that you send in is extremely helpful to other drivers.  Thank you.

11am – Roads are generally OK but slushy, spray from lorries can temporarily reduce your visibility – drive with care & your lights on.

5.45pm – The A515 is like a pea soup, visibility down to about 50 metres.
Also from the Church up Creamery Lane is slippery in parts (certainly in a car).

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Please keep the blog updated about the roads – of particular interest – A515, Alsop Rd, Bradbourne/Kniveton, Longcliffe.

8.30am
Alsop Road is slushy rather than icy.  The A515 to Ashbourne and Buxton is OK, but take care especially with the fog.

Bradbourne to Ashbourne is also OK but with care.

Delighted to see that some of the worst potholes have been filled.  Remember to ring Call Derbyshire 01629 533085 or 08456 058 058 to report any other potholes that you consider need urgent attention.

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Black Ice – Danger on roads and pavements.

18:40 – Please keep the blog up to date with road conditions, especially as yesterday the A515 seemed to deteriorate during the day.

Thank you to Alice B & Christine G for letting us know that the pavements and roads are extremely icy this morning, so a danger to drivers and pedestrians.  The problem is that the the ice looks wet rather than icy.

It has been snowing in Ashbourne since 8.30am and the road via Bradbourne and Kniveton was treacherous – Thanks Cheryl.

Ian P reports no problems at all in Ashbourne this morning.

Road to Buxton and Matlock drivable with extreme car – Black Ice – Thanks Graham & Amanda.

Some snow is settling on the A515 and the Alsop Road, but they remain usable with care (thanks Sue H and Ian P). Having said that, there was an accident this morning, at the junction with Crosslow Lane/Oxdales Farm at Alsop Moor, which involved three vehicles and temporarily blocked both carriageways.

4.30pm – A515 from Ashbourne was OK but there is snow covering the Alsop Road, so take care.  This morning a 4WD was unable to get up the hill to Longcliffe.  What are conditions like now?

6:30pm – Graham J reports a bad drive back from Buxton on the A515, which doesn’t appear to have been gritted for some time. That and a combination of compacted snow/ice has made for some of the most treacherous driving conditions so far this winter on this road. Buxton-bound was completely snarled up at Alsop Moor, with wagons queued up and unable to get up the hill toward Buxton.

If you’re planning a journey, we recommend checking the BBC Derby travel updates, as these cover our region and are kept fully up to date. We’ve added a permanent link to this page in the “LOCAL LINKS” section, on the right hand sidebar of the blog.

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Please keep us updated, this is particularly useful for those in 2WD.

Just spoken to someone who has driven from Chesterfield to Monyash and they had no problems, the road through Monyash just needs to be taken carefully.

12.30pm – Just come back from Monyash and the A515 is OK, there is a lot of snow drifting onto the southbound carriageway between Parsley Hay and the Biggin turn off,  with the fog coming down, just drive with care.

The gritter has come down the Alsop Road this morning after 8.25am and before 12.15pm, so that is good.

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Last updated: 18:40. People returning to Parwich have so far reported no particular problems. Within Parwich itself, the sleet turned into rain this afternoon, before stopping. The temperature has settled at around zero, and the two main roads into the village are basically OK, even though they haven’t been gritted. Conditions on most roads in our immediate vicinity are slushy, slippery and wet, although the less used thoroughfares are becoming more glassy and hazardous as night falls.

A nasty ice ridge has developed on the Alsop road, not far from Emma and Rob’s on the edge of Parwich. Matt H felt plenty of scraping under his car this evening, and thought that it could easily damage some.

As no more sleet or snow is forecast until tomorrow afternoon, we can reasonably expect that tomorrow morning’s driving conditions will be a little bit better than today’s.

As from 15:24, the A515 south of Buxton has been reported as re-opened.

The Alsop road wasn’t gritted last night, which left it initially passable to 4X4s only. Jean C had to turn back earlier on, and Debbie W told us that the school bus couldn’t make it through – raising worrying questions as to how the emergency services might reach us.

However, according to Brian B at around 12:45 (in a 4WD), the Alsop road was much improved and “very clear”. Peter T confirmed that the road has improved, although the growing number of potholes is problematic and the final ascent to the A515 is still nasty; Brian F in his front wheel drive made it only on the third attempt. And once again, do beware of that ice ridge near Emma and Rob’s. So if you’re taking the Alsop road out of the village, the verdict seems to be: fine for 4WDs, probably manageable but still best avoided for 2WDs.

We don’t yet know whether the Alsop road will be gritted. A request has been made to the County Council, but no one was able to confirm or deny whether this will actually happen. If you see a gritter, please let us know!

As far as we know, the A515 was closed today in at least three places: northwards only from the market place in Ashbourne, at the Longnor/Monyash junction (B5055), and in both directions between the A5270 (Brierlow Bar) and B5035 (King Street) in Buxton. It was also flagged as “hazardous” around the Hartington area. However, the stretch between the top of the Alsop Road and the Via Gellia turn-off at Newhaven has remained open and usable throughout, and the southbound stretch of the A515 from the Alsop road to Ashbourne is “fine with care”. We think the A515 has now been fully re-opened in both directions.

The road through Monyash was reported this morning as “very bad”.

QEGS in Ashbourne closed at 11:45am this morning.

Conditions around Bradbourne have been described as slippy and treacherous, with cars this morning struggling in queues to get up and down the hill next to Netherton Hall. However, cars have been making it to Parwich from Bradbourne, with the gradient of the road working in their favour. The TM Travel 411 bus service between Parwich and Ashbourne has been running a regular (if heavily delayed) service through the day, and this also makes use of the lane between Bradbourne and Knockerdown/Carsington Water.

The latest word (17:00) on the Bradbourne lanes is that although the road condition is pretty good, problems occur when pulling over to let other vehicles pass – as you never quite know what you’re pulling over into.

Non-4X4 vehicles have been managing all day to get into Parwich via the southern road from the B5056. However, the road has been very slippery – particularly by the Red House (near the junction with the B5056), so the advice is to go easy on the brakes.

The builders at the Memorial Hall made it in this morning from Ripley & Ashover via Longcliffe in a car, but they said it was only passable with great care.

The milk van made it into the village, but it ran into difficulties on Monsdale Lane, just up from Spenedge (Don & Aud). A team of helpers managed to turn it around.

Postal deliveries were made as normal this morning. Thanks to our new postman for making it through.

The upper section of Creamery Lane (between the Monsdale Lane junction and Rathbone Hall) is more or less impassable to traffic – with the exception of the Peak Oil truck, which sprinted up to Val and Nick’s at 14:50. Kiln Lane is in a poor but slightly better state, but Matt H’s vehicle has become stuck by Rathbone Croft.

The estimated travelling time to Derby this morning was two hours. 2WD vehicles managed to make the journey, via the Via Gellia and the A6 through Belper. Matt H tells us that the return journey (via Ashbourne and Alsop) was problem-free.

The estimated travelling time to Buxton this morning was also two hours! Graham J managed to make the journey via Matlock.

It took Ian P 1.25 hours to travel from Parwich to Sheffield this morning: leaving at 6:25am and travelling via Longcliffe, Grangemill, Bakewell & Baslow. Ian tells us that his return journey was much easier.

The road at Longcliffe has been bad, and at one stage only passable by 4WD, but Ian (a 2WD driver) tells us that the road is now much better. The climb up to Longcliffe had been reported earlier as particularly tricky. We also heard that a lorry jack-knifed at Longcliffe during the morning.

The A6 to Buxton is OK, but side roads in Buxton are “lousy”. For Buxton-related travel and weather news, the rolling “ticker tape” at the top of the ever-reliable Buxton Weather site is being regularly updated.

Thanks to Rich G for alerting us to the BBC’s traffic updates for the Derby area, which are being regularly updated. It’s well worth bookmarking this page for future reference.

Do please keep us updated with any information you might have – it will be very gratefully received.

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