Winter hero Cheyenne's got grit

The 27-year-old was named as part of a new national initiative celebrating the UK’s unsung winter heroes.

When snow and ice strike, relief driver Cheyenne often heads out in the early morning before anyone else is awake, to clear the road through Glencoe in fast-changing weather and confronting some of the most challenging driving conditions to be experienced anywhere across the whole of the UK.

Proud Cheyenne, who earned her HGV licence when she was just 23, was praised by Econ Engineering’s Grit & Glory Awards’ judges for her courage, commitment and her willingness to go above and beyond, even stepping in on days off and sacrificing Christmas plans to keep roads safe.

"It’s really nice to be recognised. Gritter drivers work as a team, and the job is open to anyone who’s prepared to work hard and push themselves to succeed. We do it to keep people safe, and while we can’t be everywhere at the same time, we always do our best," she said.

While gritting Glencoe is never predictable, Cheyenne recalls several standout moments that showed first-hand how doing her job had made a difference.

The one that caught the judge’s attention was when she received a police escort through the Glencoe gorge, known as the Meeting of the Three Waters, travelling up the wrong side of the road so she could salt beneath the tyres of vehicles stuck on an icy incline.

Cheyenne added: “Seeing that many people get going again because of something you’ve done, that’s when you really feel like you’re making a difference.”

She also remembers gritting her own route so she could reach a Girl Torque ball charity event for female lorry drivers, joking that it felt like a real-life “Cinderella moment.”

Shift work is a major part of the job, with early starts, late nights and on-call duties triggered by weather forecasts. Cheyenne remembers Christmas Day 2023 as an example of the dedication the role demands.

 “I’d just sat down for Christmas dinner when the phone rang. I knew I was on call, so I wrapped up my dinner in tinfoil and said yes. I wasn’t going to say no, it’s part of the job and it has a purpose,” she told The Lochaber Times.