The Reason Customers Were Trapped In This UK Bar For 3 Days

After one very long weekend, patrons of the Tan Hill Inn in Yorkshire Dales, England have finally been able to leave and go home. According to the BBC, the 60 or so guests had arrived to see an Oasis tribute band on Friday night, November 26. However, Storm Arwen deposited three feet of snow on the roads outside, making the roads impassable and trapping people inside, adding an element of "The Shining" or "Shaun of the Dead" to an otherwise pleasant outing.

But, instead of turning on each other in a desperate attempt at survival, the guests made do — and actually seemed to have a good time. In addition to music and drinking beer, Daily Beast details other enjoyable activities in which the scores of people passed the time, like karaoke, pub quizzes, and watching movies like "Grease" and "Mamma Mia!" One of the wayward guests, Martin Overton, described the scene to BBC Radio Leeds, "There's been instruments and games, and in many way it has been a unique and enjoyable weekend," adding, "but I think we are all ready to go home now." 

While most want to return home, many seem to have had a positive experience, despite the sudden change in plans. "Some still don't want to leave," Mike Kenny, the co-owner of the inn, told The Yorkshire Post. "People are taking each other's numbers and promise to be back next year and hope it snows again." Perhaps the lock-in will become a new tradition for the Tan Hill Inn. 

To accommodate the very real needs of people who spent multiple nights in the pub, which is a 17th century building about 1,700 feet above sea level, says the BBC, bar staff worked hard to set up air mattresses and makeshift bedding on the floor and arranged buffet meals, according to the Yorkshire Post. There are also fireplaces inside where people could cozy up and get warm. "The chefs have all been fantastic, cooking what they can. Today they hope to bake a few cakes and give them out whilst people frolic in the snow," said co-owner Mike Kenny. 

Though this morning — Monday, November 29 — was set up for a competition to see who could make the "best dressed" snowman, along with some mulled wine and hot chocolate on the menu, the BBC reports a snow plow was finally able to get through to the area and clean up the roadways so people could go home.

The Tan Hill Inn, however, is not the only spot to have come out of a snowstorm better than it was going in. LongHorn Steakhouse also had an equally anomalous snowstorm in 1982 that covered the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said it was one of the few places that survived the "Atlanta Snowjam" with electricity. The staff served the community for the next four days while they waited for the snow plows to arrive. "It became folklore," owner George McKerrow told the paper.

Perhaps there is something to it — being snowed-in can have its benefits and speak to how people appreciate being able to congregate with drinks while the world outside freezes over.