Gavin Staples wrote:

"sarah" wrote in message
...


It was 1982. We'd recently arrived from western Canada and were living
in a bedsit in Surrey (large Victorian room with bay window, heated only
by a small 3-bar gas fire; shared bathroom and kitchen were unheated). I
have never been so cold in my life before or since!

Great point Sarah:-) Did you move from Vancouver? If so I have a freind of
mine there now whose is from Singapore doing a PhD. I bet she feels the cold
as they have just had several days with maximums below 0C She has not
experienced anything below -2C and that was when she was in London doing her
Masters in 1995. She felt the cold then. God knows how she is managing now.

No, in fact I'm from Edmonton, Alberta. Decent continental climate. I
used to *enjoy* x-country skiing at -35C, so I know what cold really is
:-) Never doubt the truth of the statement that the British cold feels
colder because of the humidity -- I swear it's true!

I know what you mean Sarah. I don't know what it is about UK
student accommodation and bedsits etc. They had, and probably still have a
reputation for being unbearably cold.
I was a student at this time and was finishing part of my A levels and
as I lived in Cambridge knew many students and this cold spell as we know
was in a class of its own. Everywhere was freezing indoors. It was no joke,
and I mean that. You could not get warm indoors as at some points it
was -10C by 3.00pm on several days. A lot of places did not have double
glazing then. It is an industry standard now, thank goodness.
This apart from 1987 and 1981 was the only cold spell I have known that
has had ice on the INSIDE of windows DURING THE DAY and I mean ALL DAY. This
was remarkable as it persisted for over a week at a time.
Communal areas in student houses were notorious for being unheated as
when you were a student you paid for your own heating in your own room and
communal areas, well, no'one paid for those so they just froze, literally.
It was dire.
The only thing I can say in its favour is that it taught you to
appreciate things when you were older and then could afford better for
yourself later on in life.
I don't regret this experience at all. However, I really wonder how
today's lot would cope with all this now. I also think sometimes that our
health was at risk in this bitterly cold and inadequately heated
accommodation. I look back on it with a mixture of nostalgia and also
amazement.
If I had kids, would I want them to go through that? I don't think so
somehow.

Oh, I agree. Absolutely. When I remember the three years we spent in
that place I never doubt that we're entitled to our comforts today. But
it was a *terrible* introduction to Britain. At least, with British
parents and having read British books, I knew that bedsits existed, but
I never imagined just how unpleasant it would be (the lack of heat was
only one of many nastinesses). I gather that only a couple of years
after we left (for a caravan in someone's back garden! sheer
desperation) the house was renovated to provide more modern
accommodation.

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.