GETTING to school was snow joke for teacher Mike Hindley who trekked nine miles across the moors from Darwen to make sure he was in class.

Schools across East Lancashire were closed on Friday after snow made conditions hazardous but the majority of the schools in Bolton remained open.

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Mr Hindley, who is head of geography, walked from his house in Darwen to Smithills School braving the wintry conditions.

He said: "I was struggling to think of how to get to work.

"I had walked my three children to school only to find that, like most schools in Darwen that day, it had closed so I had to walk them back home again.

"The town is very hilly and where I live, you cannot get your car down the hill when it snows so I decided to take the bus.

"I stood waiting for almost an hour with no bus arriving when I thought I might as well just start walking. It was pointless standing there waiting and getting cold."

And the walk doubled up as a bit of a training exercise for a run he will be taking part in.

He added: "It has to be said, it was pretty hard going over the moors on the way to Egerton, the snow was about 15cm deep.

"I’m training for the Darwen half marathon so I did a bit of running down the hill through Egerton and Dunscar Bridge, I promised myself I didn’t have to go out for a run that evening.

"I arrived at Smithills at 11am which meant it took me about two hours to make the journey.

"I was soaking wet and hungry but luckily I was rewarded with a sausage barm before I had to get down to teaching."

The teacher says he did not think what he did was out of the ordinary.

He said: "I kind of quite like long distance walks, I spent a day over the half-term walking over 20 miles along the coast near Whitby and did the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk with many of my Smithills colleagues a couple of years ago.

"I’ve always fancied doing the 24 hour Isle of Man Parish Walk, although the 85 miles to complete it might be a bridge too far," said Mr Hindley.

"I thought nothing of it and would gladly walk to school every day if I had the time."

The teacher's efforts did not go unnoticed by his pupils.

Head girl Caitlyn Thompson, aged 15, said: "Mr Hindley's efforts on Friday shows the extraordinary dedication that staff have in making sure that pupils achieve here at Smithills.

"We the pupils of Smithills School are really thankful for lengths that the staff go to making Smithills the happy and fulfilling school that it is."