‘I’m one in every of UK’s uncommon feminine gritters and when the snow hits one factor makes me cross’

One of the UK’s only female gritters admitted that she’s ‘cross’ she missed the first snowfall of the season after revealing the truth on the hard as nuts trucker job.

Letty Fenlon, 27, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, is somewhat the Hannah Montana of the gritting world. When she’s not working into the night saving Britain’s roads from Baltic conditions, she’s competing in the glitzy world of international horse riding.

But, she wouldn’t be able to gallop around the globe if it wasn’t for her grit-spaffing truck and her orange hi-vis jacket. Letty entered the world of weather road maintenance three years ago after looking for a job that would fit around her devotion to all things horse – riding them and chauffeuring them around for Johnston Racing.

READ MORE: UK snow mapped as roads ‘impassable’ and schools close in ‘taste of winter’ – full list

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And her decision to make a few extra bob with her HGV licence she already had to hand has made the Yorkshire lass one of the only female gritters in the UK – and most likely the youngest too.

As the UK gets their ‘first taste of winter’ with schools closing and roads reckoned ‘impassable’ due to the Met Office described “disruptive snow”, Letty is “cross” she’s missing out on her call to duty – that’s because she’s on the other side of the world enjoying a New Zealand summer for the next few days.

“This is my third season of gritting, and it’s a pretty easy job really,” Letty admitted to us in an exclusive chat. She continued: “I don’t enjoy the very early mornings though that’s for sure.

“We do a week of morning and a week of nights and weekends alternating. We’re on call all winter but we can roughly guess if we will be out or not.

“Most of us have second driving jobs so with snow forecast or very cold weather we’ll stand down from them to make sure we’re not running over hours. I’m very lucky that my other driving job – I work for Johnston racing driving – are incredibly flexible so I can call in and out.

“I’m so cross [that I missed the snow]! Though I think we didn’t actually get the snow in Ripon, it’s very boring we rarely do. Very tempted to move to a hill in Scotland just to get more chance to go out.”

Gritters often work unsociable hours, endure below freezing temperatures and extreme conditions just so our roads are safe to use – hence why they’re known as ‘invisible heroes’.

They work through the night and leave us a present of de-iced tarmac in the morning, it’s like Santa if he drove a plough, right? And for one of the most important jobs of the years requires extensive training. As Letty already had her HGV license, she only had to go on training sessions regarding winter conditions, the science of gritting and how to plough.

Although if the newbie to the gritting world ever needed a hand, then Letty shared that there’s plenty of blokes who are veterans to all things ridding of snow.

And she says that’s without the ‘women driver’ snarky remarks.

Letty explained: “I love it, the guys are all fantastic! No ‘women driver’ comments and they’re always super quick to offer to help or give advice. Most of them have been driving trucks longer than I’ve been alive so I just do what they tell me.

“I feel I’ve learnt a lot from them. But, coming from horses, most of the truckers there are women so it’s not strange to me. Definitely do it if you have no social life like me, it’s a great top up for wages and rather fun really.”

Gritting has not only let Letty open up the roads of the UK, but has also opened up her opportunities to travel the world with her love of competitive horse riding.

Without her job of the night, Letty wouldn’t have enough to pursue her dream of jumping fences with her noble stead. However, that doesn’t mean that the juggle of it all comes without downsides.

While she balances riding, driving and gritting in order to fill both her passion and upkeep cups, Letty does acknowledge that it can take a “toll” on her.

Gritter by night and a galloper by day, Letty endures the ‘slog’ but considers herself ‘lucky’ to be living a Hannah Montana-esque lifestyle – though understands how the fictional popstar felt with navigating two opposite worlds…

Letty admitted: “I’ve been competing for years but only did my first international in 2022.

“Sometimes they [my two jobs] fit very well, sometimes it’s very stressful and I feel like I’m doing nothing well but without the driving I couldn’t afford the horses so I just have to keep slogging along.

“After a full week of riding racehorses, gritting and driving I sometimes don’t want to see my own horses and then it’s really just a matter of dragging myself out there anyway.

“I’m lucky I have the ability to keep going so I just try really! Riding is so prohibitively expensive, without two and a half jobs I couldn’t afford it but working that much takes its toll on how much I can work with them.

“I understand how Hannah Montana felt, that’s for sure!”