Roger Smith wrote:


I cannot quite remember the 1947 winter but I vividly remember the 1962/3
one as a student, and the extreme weather conditions (even in north Kent)
still come back as vivid memories. However exciting they may have been
for me though, it is easy for me to forget the hardship and disruption to
all communication that they caused - and in our rather less robust
infrastructure I hate to think what even a rather less extreme winter
would have on the economy of this country and the comfort and well-being
of its
inhabitants. I also remember one genuine white christmas, probably in the
late 1960's, but only for the disruption caused to plans for family
reunions because everybody was marrooned at home!


Although I was only two and a half years old I remember one incident from
the '47 winter. I turned round from looking out the window at the snow to
see my dad throw a shoe on the fire. You see, there'd been a coal strike
before the cold weather and we'd run out of coal so were burning what we
could.

Life went on in spite of the snow. A friend of my dad worked in Northampton
and had to walk from Rushden every day cross-country through waist-deep
snow else he'd've lost his job. Dad also made it to work every day - only a
couple of miles though - and also made it to the Windmill Club of an
evening, arriving on one occasion with - he said - six inches of snow piled
on his hat!

When the thaw came, water started dripping into my parents bedroom so Dad
went into the loft and shovelled out seven bucket-loads of snow. Shows the
house wasn't too warm.

In 62-3 winter, our house wasn't too warm at times. One morning the
thermometer in my bedroom read minus 10 DegC. Even in the previous winter I
had snow lying on my bedroom window-ledge for three days - inside that is.

I had to travel to work on largely unheated buses during the 62-3 winter -
journey times of almost four hours. I heard years later that a friend of
mine had made a two-hour journey every weekend during that freeze to see
his girl-friend - in a mini with no heater. That's true love.

Sometimes, at RAF Wyton, where I worked, we had no water for two or three
days at a time. No washing or shaving and at the Met Office we melted snow
to make tea. Incredible how long it takes to melt snow when you're waiting
for a cuppa.

The snow, ice, and persistent frost (10 weeks of it in 62-3), made life
awkward but not impossible. People just got on with things and managed one
way or another. I don't see why we should be any less able to cope now.
Houses are better insulated now - make that "houses are insulated now" -
and cars have heaters! One problem I can see is that some houses don't have
fireplaces, so there's nowhere to burn old shoes if the central heating
goes on the blink.


Graham