In message ,
Lawrence Jenkins writes
On Tuesday, 6 September 2016 19:47:55 UTC+1, John Hall wrote:
I've just stumbled on a link to a PDF file of an interesting set of
slides (by the look of it) produced by Stephen Burt on the winter of
1962-3:

https://www.rmets.org/sites/default/...32013-burt.pdf

John. I see RD Blackmore's 'Lorna Doone ' winter of 1683/4 is on the
second slide and is the coldest of the lot for that said period.

Yep.


I too stumbled on a thread of mine on 'weather banter'about that winter
and novel from many years back when Philip Eden was very active and
seemed to like me then , you're in that thread as well.

I think I might have a vague memory of that thread. I believe RD
Blackmore was an amateur meteorologist, and it shows in his excellent
descriptions of the weather in that winter.


Anyhow interesting and nostalgic for like many of us I lived through
that winter in London and vividly recall the smog before Christmas and
very etched in my mind until the day I die is the moment it started
snowing in Camberwell , London on Boxing day 1962. The other thing
that strikes me is when recalling the conditions that we lived in those
days is how much better things are now in terms of comfort.

Absolutely. The only room that was reasonably warm was the living room
with its open fire, and even there one's front - facing the fire - was
warm but one's back was cold.


But that first snowfall of 1962 Boxing Day: I was ten and have to say
this was only the second big snow event I could recall up until that
tender age.

I was fourteen. I remember it started snowing very gently here in
Cranleigh around dusk on Boxing Day. By the time I went to bed there was
still probably less than an inch on the ground, so it was a big surprise
to wake up in the morning to 8 inches of the stuff.

Then three nights later we had another 7 inches, but whereas the first
snowfall had come with almost no wind this time it was as close to a
true blizzard as we are ever likely to get on low ground in southern
England.

I'm from what used to be known as a working -class family (now there
is a non-working class) however that Boxing Day in my fortunate large 4
Bed Victorian semi in Camberwell it was bleedin' perishing. We had one
2- bar electric fire in the lounge where my dad sat and a paraffin
heater plus the oven when it was on, oh and a gas 'ascot' water heater
in the kitchen. I know I've said this many times before but with
double glazing unheard of, central heating unaffordable (energy prices
far, far, higher then today and insulation not even on the radar; well
it had to be said the weather was always with you in the home let alone
outside. So winter when cold was always a bitter cold and miserable
experience yet I loved it and still yearn to live through that once
again , which is stupidly naïve as I can move somewhere like North
America and live in a barn and experience it all again.

Me too. One thing I miss is the "frost flowers" that used to form on the
inside of windows overnight.


So the scene is set 'Boxing Day 1962 ' My mother, sister and me are
waiting for my dad to come back from the Harrow Public House in Lettsom
Street just of off Camberwell Grove to go to our traditional Boxing Day
dinner and my Nan and Grandads, its about 1:30 pm bitterly cold as we
wait with our coats on for him in the kitchen trying to stay warm. He
is late and probable had well over the then non existent limit as drink
driving laws hadn't been yet legalised. So its around 1 in the
afternoon, bitterly cold indoors let alone out and if I'm correct the
early part of the day was sunny, but I do vividly recall those leaden
grey clouds starting to move down from the North and getting so excited
when the first snowflake fell.

Well me dad turned up eventually in his firms Morris flat front van
(not one seat belt) and we drove through the settling snow about two
miles to my grandparents. The other major social difference between
now and then was the fact not one shop was open as we drove up Lordship
Lane which was eerily deserted with my dads Morris tyres leaving the
only marks in the newly fallen snow. By the way the van was bloody cold
as well as vehicles than had fixed belt driven fans which cooled the
engine precisely when you wanted it to get to operating temperature .
So bitterly cold, dad driving us over the limit in a van with no seat
belts all now totally illegal or seen as unacceptable conditions and
it makes me wonder how did we survive it all . Well we did and we loved it all.


But that winter.......

I'm rambling now so I'm stopping right here


Great stuff, Lawrence! I remember posts like this on the occasions that
occur every now and then when I'm tempted to kill-file you.
--
John Hall
"Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin"
attributed to Sir Josiah Stamp,
a former director of the Bank of England