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Judging by our Forum string, I’m not the only one whose thoughts turned to their pride and joy as the snow kept falling and inching deeper over the last couple of days.

 

My pride and joy right now is a new Swift Kon-Tiki 659, which is on loan to me for a couple of months. I felt I probably didn’t have to worry too much about the weight of snow, but I’d planned to take the ’van for a spin and didn’t want some eager policeman seeing sheets of packed snow sliding off the roofline down my windscreen and deciding I was a risk to myself and to other, nicer road users.

 

I also didn’t want dozens of kilos of snow melting and pooling around the seals for the skylight, the air con unit and the like over the come days.

 

I probably deserve a rap on the wrist from Santa’s seasonal Elf and Safety team for this, but I decided I’d get up on the roof and sweep off the worst of the snow with a soft brush.

 

I checked the Kon-Tiki’s user manual for pointers on the roof’s load bearing capabilities, and I quote:

 

‘The roof areas, up to the over cab section, are capable of withstanding an average person’s weight (13 stone or 82.5kg). Note: do not walk on the over cab section.’

 

Well, I used to be an average person, but I’m slightly more than average these days. Nevertheless, I risked it. I’m glad I did. The snow was piled a foot deep up there. I inched around the perimeter, planting my feet slowly and firmly and clinging to the roof rack rails for safety when I neared the edges. 10 minutes later, I was safely down again, in the cab and on the road. And then I got the latest Met Office Warnings Tweet:

 

‘FLASH Warning of Heavy Snow for London & South East England valid from 1400 Sun 19 Dec to 2000 Sun 19 Dec’.

 

Ho hum, looks like I might be back up there tomorrow then…

 

Rob Ganley, editor