Gritting and snow clearance in Earlswood

Front steps, short terrace paths and shared walkways, salted by hand between the common and the ridge.

Much of Earlswood’s gritting happens on the doorstep. Much of the housing here is Victorian, plenty of it terraced, and the slip people worry about is the one between the front door and the gate: a couple of steps and a short path. It’s the one that matters when you’re heading out in the dark for a train from Earlswood station, so we salt it before the frost and clear it when it snows.

We come up from Horley, about four miles south. Most visits here are quick, so several Earlswood houses can share one cold morning, and each of you gets a short message once your path and steps are done.

Gritting in Earlswood where the sand meets the clay

Earlswood sits where the greensand ridge drops onto Weald clay. The council’s plan for Earlswood Common describes streams rising from spring lines along that join, which is why some ground stays wet days after the last rain. Water seeping across a path or the foot of a drive is exactly what freezes into black ice on a clear night. It’s easy to miss, too, because the rest of the path looks dry. Point out any spot like that. We’ll salt it first every time and check whether it needs doing again.

Shared walkways east of the railway, and the slope up to St Johns

Royal Earlswood Park and the flats at Whitebushes come with shared paths, steps and bin stores. They belong to everyone, which is often why nobody does them. A managing agent or residents’ group can sit down with us in the autumn and mark out the routes, and we’ll salt them ahead of each freeze and confirm afterwards.

Up towards St Johns, on the free-draining sand of the ridge at about 110 metres, ice is less about puddles and more about gradient. A light frost on a sloping drive catches people out more than a hard one on the flat. We clear snow from the top down and give the steepest stretch the most care.

Gritting in Earlswood: your questions

Anything else, just ring. You’ll speak to the people who do the work.

Can you grit just the front steps of a terrace?

Yes, if those steps are how you get out of the house. They’re the part that matters on a frosty morning, so we salt them ahead of the freeze and clear them first when it snows.

We rent our house. Should the landlord arrange this?

That’s between you and your landlord, and your tenancy may say who looks after the outside. Either of you can book us. We just need to know which paths and steps to do and who to tell when they’re done.

If I have the path gritted, can I still be blamed when someone slips?

The gov.uk advice is that people who clear snow and ice carefully are unlikely to be held responsible, because reasonable care is what counts. We can’t promise nobody will ever slip. Salting before the frost and clearing snow promptly is what that care looks like in practice.