Weymouth's Wey Valley School in travel misery (From Dorset Echo)

Weymouth's Wey Valley School in travel misery

7:30am Monday 21st December 2009 in

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PUPILS returning from a school trip were caught up in the cross-Channel chaos as strikes and blizzards hit.

The 45-strong party from Wey Valley School and Sports College missed their ferry slot after being stuck in traffic for four hours at Calais.

They managed to catch the last ship out of Calais before the French port closed as a one-day strike by Border Agency staff took hold.

The party – of 34 students and 11 adults – found themselves amid the crisis over the weekend.

There was uproar after Eurostar trains become stuck in the Channel Tunnel, roads were closed near Dover and heavy queues built up on both sides of the Channel amid heavy snow storms. The ski party’s coach arrived back at the Wey Valley campus at 7.30pm on Saturday after making its way through the chaos.

Parents praised teachers for looking after the children and bringing them home safely.

Jenny Ingham said her daughter Lily, aged 13, was among the pupils stranded at Calais.

She said: “They were lucky really as if they hadn’t had got that ferry they wouldn’t have been back until Monday.

“The staff were really good. My daughter and another girl had left their money on the coach when they got on the ferry and a member of staff bought them a meal.

“Everyone rallied around. The staff at Wey Valley are really good, very dedicated and do a good job.”

Mrs Ingham, of St Lawrence Road, Weymouth, added: “We met the coach when they got back on Saturday night.”

The party had spent a week on the school’s popular skiing trip, which is held every year. They skied at the resort of Montgenevre in the Alps on French Italian border.

They left in a coach at 5pm on Friday evening to travel overnight to catch the 9.15am ferry at Calais to arrive back in Weymouth at 4.30pm.

Head of PE Mark Salmon, who led the trip, said that they thought the delays were because of the weather at first.

“The weather was quite bad in that part of France.

“We got to four or five miles outside the port of Calais and all the traffic was stacked up.

“We missed our ferry slot. The coach company said that we would have to sit there and wait as there were reduced services.”

The pupils slept overnight and then waited patiently on the bus, which had heating and facilities.

The party managed to get the 12.30pm ferry and ate lunch on board after missing breakfast because of the delays. Mr Salmon said: “The children were brilliant.

“They slept through the night. We also had back to back films on and the coach had water and we were able to keep giving them hot drinks.”

He added: “We got the last ferry out before the port shut, which was a stroke of luck.”

The party of children ranged in age through the year groups from 12 upwards.

Mr Salmon said that the ski trip went very well with everyone enjoying themselves.

“The skiing was good although it was very cold. The children were fantastic and there were no injuries.”

“It worked out all right in the end.”

Head Phil Thomas said that arrangements had been made on Saturday to inform parents and that the party boarded the ferry later on. Pupils also phoned parents from the bus and ferry to tell them of the hold up.

Michelle Barrell said that her daughter Shanice, aged 12, was also on the trip.

Shanice said that they were tired after the delays but that the skiing trip had been very good.

Condor Ferries said that its sailings were unaffected.

* HAVE you been caught in problems on the Eurostar or face being affected by the ongoing cancellations? Call the newsdesk on 01305 830999 and email newsdesk@dorsetecho.co.uk.