Wednesday Bbc4 Winterwatch

[237SJ]

The big freeze of 1963. Is anyone else looking forward to this? I am.

[ladybirder]

Were you there?

[237SJ]

No. Were you?

[Buenchico]

I suspect that quite a high proportion of AB's regular contributors remember the winter of 1963. (I certainly do!). The age profile here seems to be well-skewed towards the higher numbers ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

10 Years old wasn't a bad age to be during that was it Buen?

Not as much fun for the grown ups.

[Tilly2]

I was eleven. I had one day off school when we couldn't get out of the house for the snow wall. I was reprimanded the next day. :-(

[Buenchico]

I was 9, Mamya, and a fairly timid kid who was terrified of slipping on the ice, hated being hit by snowballs and to whom the idea of building a snowman was only attractive until I found out just how fast ice cold snow could penetrate through woollen gloves.

I also lived in poorly-heated house (with no heating at all except for a smelly oil stove, or sometimes a coal fire that choked everyone with its smoke, in the living room) and suffered badly with painful chilblains and frequent winter ear infections.

I don't remember enjoying that winter very much at all!

[ladybirder]

Yes I was there.

[calmck]

Yes I was there. Nursing in London but went home to East Sussex. Family were due to return from Majorcs and did not believe me when I said you will not be able to get home from the airport. I was right

[ladybirder]

Takes your breath away reading the report from the Met Office.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/case-studies/severe-winters

[237SJ]

We used to get some terrible blizzards in the South West. We tended to get them when the rest of the country didn't. I remember February 1978. That was really bad.

[rowanwitch]

I was six, and when we opened the back door the snow was as high as my head, loved snow ever since. But I've always hated the smell of wet gaberdine as all our raincoat were put on the radiators to dry. schools were open as normal and we just took a change of socks for when we got there as the snow filled our wellies

[piggynose]

My last memory of deep snow was in 1988, having to walk in snow as deep as 1 metre and deeper in some places.

[198kHz]

13 at the time. I remember the long slides in the school playground. Today it would be covered in salt.

[emmie]

i was there, too blooming cold

[dave50]

If anything similar happens again no doubt it will be down to climate change, man made of course.

[emmie]

we haven't had really bad winters really since, not that i recall

[waterboatman]

I'd not been long in the army then. I was on leave when the snow started, About half the Regiment couldn't get back to barracks!

[emmie]

it went on a long time as i recall

[emmie]

The Big Freeze of 1963. More than 45 years ago two feet of snow caused chaos in the capital and the mayhem lasted for two months!

[Theland]

I was 12. I remember it very well. At that age I enjoyed it. Weeks and weeks of fun!