SMH online reported today that approximately 60 revellers were forced to drink beer and play cards for three days after they became stranded in an English pub cut off by snowstorms on New Year’s Eve.

The ordeal ended when a snowplough and gritter reached Tan Hill Inn, the highest pub in the country (527m above sea level)  in a remote part of the northern Yorkshire dales, on Sunday.

SHM reported  the pub’s landlady Tracy Daly as saying: ”There was a lovely, community atmosphere despite the fact nobody could get home. I suppose there are worse places to be snowed in than a pub.”

Mrs Daly, her husband and two staff had had the big job of keeping  guests entertained and fed with dwindling food supplies. The trapped punters all lent a hand, however, by peeling carrots and potatoes, helping with evening meals and running the bar.

”We had the rule that the bar could only open at 5pm,” said Mrs Daly. ” The guests were all very well behaved though.”

This is not the first time that the pub has been cut off by heavy snow storms. The Tan Hill Inn has been all but buried in snow over the course of its life with the current building dating from the 17th Century. The inn’s website has several images from the early 20th century depicting such weather, although, the site maintains that recent years have seen winters weather due to rising global temperatures.

Nathan Martin, 26, one of a group of 30 teachers and students from Leeds University stuck in the pub, was reported as describing this recent snow storm experience as the ”ultimate lock-in”.