In article ,
Pete B writes:
But apart from the wider 'more developed' Society aspect, locally,
schools, workplaces etc didn't shut down in Jan/Feb 1963 like they do
now though. The extra travelling bit may be more applicable to those
working in Cities such as London, Birmingham etc but there is still a
large amount of local (20min travel time) workers in very many towns
like Malvern etc and many of the children walk to the 2 main local
schools so why do they close for days on end?

A good question. I never missed a single day's schooling in 1962-3, even
though it involved an eight mile coach journey, though admittedly the
worst of the snow came in the Christmas holidays.

One factor is that many teachers now seem to live a substantial distance
away from the schools where they teach, and struggle to make the journey
in bad weather. Another is our health and safety culture, and the fear
of schools that they might be liable if a pupil had a weather-related
accident at school or just outside the premises. Of course the pupils
are actually likely to be safer at school than they would be if they had
the day off, when they would probably be out playing unsupervised in the
snow.
--
John Hall
"I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly,
will hardly mind anything else."
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84)