The southern England blizzard of March 1952
 

"Scott W" wrote in message
...
On Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 4:55:49 PM UTC+1, Bernard Burton wrote:
"Scott W" wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 30 March 2017 10:52:29 UTC+1, John Hall wrote:
In message ,
Scott W writes
On Wednesday, 29 March 2017 19:14:05 UTC+1, John Hall wrote:
In message ,
Scott W writes
I am indebted to Bruce for flagging this up but I've written a few
lines on this event that happened on this day 65 years ago: 10
inches
of snow in Northolt and sub-zero temps across a large part of
southern
England.

Thanks, John. I was rather hoping you were going to post your own
memories of the blizzard :)

:)

I was three at the time, and sadly don't have any memory of it at all.
That's in spite of the fact that we apparently moved house from
Cranleigh to Effingham (about 15 miles away) on the day of the
blizzard.
According to my father, it snowed all day, but the following day -
which
he reckoned was the 1st April - the weather was glorious and all the
snow was gone by noon. I don't think his memory is quite in accordance
with the facts, but of course that's common with memories of past
weather.

Thanks, John, could I add that to the blog - memories of the event are
very sketchy, unlike the January 1987 cold spell.

I remember the day very well as the Oxford/Cambridge boat race was held
that
afternoon. I was 14 at the time, and my brother-in-law gave me a ticket
for
a place on a launch to watch the race. My home was in Tooting at the
time,
and I took the bus to Westminster pier to catch the launch. I recall
sitting
upstairs on the bus with a thick layer of snow covering the front facing
windows, but the roads and pavements were mainly slushy. I then spent one
of
the most miserable afternoons I can recall. There was a 'lounge' on the
boat, which was warm, but was also full of diesel fumes and was very
noisy.
I alternately stood outside on the deck until the cold got too much, or
went
below for warmth until the fumes got the better of me. I recall bleak
views
of London with snow on roofs, in a poor grey afternoon light, but I think
it
was mainly dry at that time, although there may have been slight sleety
rain. The boat race itself was a close one, but the crowds that usually
lined the banks of the river were absent, just a few hardy stragglers,
and
by the time of the race I had a headache, probably brought on by the
fumes.
For my part, I couldn't wait to get back to Westminster and back home to
thaw out.


Very interesting, Bernard. Would you be happy for your comment to be added
to my blog?

Yes, Scott, you are most welcome.

--
Bernard Burton

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