Commercial gritting in Newdigate

School gates, pub car parks, church paths and farm unit yards, salted before the clay freezes.

Commercial gritting in Newdigate covers the car parks, paths, entrances and ramps that get busy on a dark winter morning. There’s the infant school, where children from the age of two come through the gate, both village pubs and their car parks, St Peter’s and its churchyard, the village hall by the Brocus, the village shop, and the farm buildings let out as storage and business units.

Our base is in Horley, 4.5 miles away, and our gritting services here run on a plan agreed before the season starts. Once the routes are set, we follow the forecast and come out when frost or snow is due, usually the evening before. After each visit you’ll get a note of what was treated and when.

What we salt at a school, a pub and a farm yard

At the infant school it’s the gate, the main path and the door where children are handed over, all done before the first parent arrives. At a pub, car park gritting means the walkway from the bays to the door, the step at the entrance and any garden path still open, with late leavers in mind. The church gets its porch path and steps treated ahead of services. On a farm yard we follow the walking line from the parking to each unit door, plus the fire exits.

Commercial gritting in Newdigate’s heavy clay

The parish sits on a flat stretch of the Weald, on clay thick enough to keep a brickworks going for nearly fifty years. Flat clay doesn’t drain. After a wet afternoon, water lies on hard standing and along path edges, and a clear night sets it into a sheet by morning. Salt laid while the surface is still damp does its best work, which is why we time visits for the evening. In snow, the agreed priority routes are cleared first and salted after.

Commercial gritting in Newdigate: your questions

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

We rent a storage unit at a farm. Who should book the gritting?

Whoever controls the shared yard, which your lease should spell out. Often the landlord books the shared walkways and each tenant adds the path to their own door. We’re happy to agree one plan with both of you.

Our village hall has evening events in January. Can you treat it beforehand?

Yes. Send us the dates at the start of the season and we’ll add them to the plan. If frost is due, the entrance, any ramp and the walk in from where people park get treated that afternoon.

Is a winter gritting contract better than paying per visit?

It depends on how you like to budget. A winter gritting contract sets the arrangement in writing for November to the end of March. Paying per visit means you’re charged only when the weather calls for it.