The idea of spending the night in a pub doesn’t sound all that bad, but that was the reality for nearly 40 people.
BBC reports a snow storm in East Sussex, England, forced dozens of people from all walks of life to seek refuge in a pub called The Bear Inn. Cars were left abandoned on the street because of the heavy snow.
Among the crowd of stranded motorists was Dr. Alexandra Loske, who told the outlet, “It was quite extraordinary. Fifteen minutes of snow, that’s all it took for us to get completely stuck.”
She described the scene of people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, seeking shelter in the tiny inn “biblical.”
Landlady Pauline Wilson said the inn’s eight rooms quickly filled up, but she moved heaven and earth to help those who came through her door. “Once we were full, we quite quickly realised that these people have got to go somewhere, they can’t stay in their cars all night,” she said. “We had three ladies sharing a room that hadn’t even met each other before.”
In addition to shelter, she had a fire going and hot drinks for the chilled kids. The inn stayed open all night to help its stranded guests.
Wilson said she was happy to receive phone calls the following day from those she took in to say they made it home safely.