I nternet, commission and telephone bidding have flourished over the past few weeks, as snow and ice have kept numbers down at many of the sales of early 2010.

But on the whole life has gone on, with a combination of snow shovelling, resolute driving and lashings of hot coffee keeping the vast majority of sales on schedule.

Needless to say, in a world in which the Air Balloon at Birdlip is as much a star of the snow reports as Shap, the Snake Pass and the Cat and Fiddle, the auction houses of this part of the world have had more to put up with than most.

There have been casualties, and on Wednesday morning it looked as though there might be a few more, especially as several sales were scheduled over these past three days.

On this occasion, however, the snow disappeared almost as quickly as it had begun, and the likes of Moore Allen and Innocent, those country dwellers on the road from Cirencester to Bibury, breathed a sigh of relief for not the first time this winter.

Lawrences of Crewkerne gave up the unequal struggle on January 6, in the wake of nearly 20 hours of snow. But they reopened the following day, rescheduled their general sale for January 13 and went ahead with their hectic sale-a-day schedule this past week.

In Taunton, Stuart Triggol at Greenslade Taylor Hunt postponed his antiques and collectors' sale until last Thursday.

But Clevedon Salerooms made a very early decision to cancel their fortnightly sale of antique and furnishings, collectables and jewellery on the same day, and will be back on track on February 4, weather permitting.

Yes, weather permitting. You remember that snow in mid-April a few years ago, don't you?

Where postponements and cancellations have taken place, considerations even more important than a fear of snow have been the disruption of consignments coming in and low viewing figures. The increasing number of UK salerooms that offer live bidding via the internet are patting themselves on the back at times like this.

It's a reminder of just how crucial accessibility is to this business, and how much auction houses rely on the constant coming and going of trucks and vans.

These past few years have seen this fact recognised by any number of moves from town centre premises to suburban and even rural sites.

Henry Aldridge, Chorley's, Clevedon Salerooms, Dominic Winter, Gardiner Houlgate and Moore Allen and Innocent are just some of the region's prominent names that have taken that step in recent years.

It's made sense, with more space for parking and the chance to tailor-make facilities to the salerooms' specific needs.

Nevertheless, in the conditions we've had since the start of the year, there must have been times when the likes of Simon Chorley and Philip Allwood at Moore Allen have surveyed their whited-out domains and allowed themselves a seasonal shudder.