Off course I was born during the November Pea souper in 1952, and that
probably expalins a lot!

Doesn't explain why your calendar was a month slow, though.
I visited London in the middle of that great smog, 6 Dec 1952 (age just
10). It was *very* thick but don't believe all those idiots who tell
you "you couldn't see your arm in front of you - literally!" You could
see at least 10 yards and few people I know, even Arsenal supporters,
have arms that long. The dirt was extraordinary. In a heated building
in central London the visibility would have been less than 100 yd (had
the building been that big) just due to soot and smoke. Most of the
smoke was due to domestic fires with a fair contribution from industry.
Above the fog (ca 400 ft) there was a clear blue sky. At the time I
remember thinking "cor, this a really good one!" but there were plenty
of others not quite in the same class.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.