MOST of the schoolchildren in the Cotswold village of Snowshill had the longest Christmas holiday of their lives 50 years ago.

By the second week in February in 1963 none of the children attending the primary schools at Broadway had started back. Nor had the older children attending Moreton Secondary School.

The reason, of course, was the snowbound roads surrounding the village. The only children who went back to school were those attending Chipping Campden Grammar School. On as many days as possible, they were fetched by Land Rover.

The Moreton schoolchildren were normally picked up by a school bus, but this had been unable to get through to them.

Mr A H Babbage, the headmaster, told the Journal at the time: “I have discussed the matter with the welfare officer and he feels we gave no alternative but to leave them be.

“If we used a Land Rover, it would have to travel the full distance from Moreton each day, since there is no bus that it could connect with.“ Inspector Griffiths, of the Midland Red, Evesham, said Snowshill was the only place which had not had its regular service restored.

Asked when the service would be restored, he replied: “As things are now, the position is hopeless. There is hardly enough room for a van to get through, let alone a bus, and then there is the question of turning. I have never seen a road like it.”