The Big Freeze Of 1963 Tonight At 9Pm On 5

[Bobbisox1]

Eh ba gum, they don’t ‘ave Winters like that anymore :0/

[rowanwitch]

I remember opening the back door to find the snow was higher than my 5 year old head. We still had to go to school every day. If you were in class early you were able to dry your gaberdine Mac on the radiators so it was dry in time to go home. The school milk was frozen solid. It was brilliant!!!

[barry1010]

Togo, coal was in short supply that winter before the snow. There were huge shortages, mines closed and so did power stations. There were electric cuts, up to 6 hours a day. Trucks and lorries couldn't get through and farmers couldn't farm
Many people really struggled. Food shortages, too.
Public transport couldn't run, villages were shut off and the RAF had to drop in supplies.
I don't know if we'd cope any better today but it was a huge struggle then

[Bobbisox1]

I’ve no idea 237SJ

[Togo]

davebro mentioned an earlier cold one. That was 1955 and I remember that too. We all wore our coats and balaclavas in class in primary school ... even the teachers. None of them, or us, ever sued the Government. I was 7 years old.

[Togo]

Barry ... in Stoke we were living on perhaps the biggest coal supplies in the Country. No one lived more than 5 miles away from a mine( we lived within a mile of on and 2 miles of another. The stockpiles that could not be taken far were easily delivered locally. We did not have fuel issues but the water supplies were precarious.

[237SJ]

If it's the same programme, I liked the footage of the two old ladies who only left their properties on Exmoor because they were bored.

[Buenchico]

237SJ:
This evening's programme, like so many these days, appears to be one of those which thinks that history revolves around celebs:
https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-b43qod/the-big-freeze-winter-63/

Anyone wishing to see the Winterwatch version can view it on YouTube:

[237SJ]

Yes I agree Buenchico. It will be the same footage with certain people having their say. I`m glad I recorded the original version for posterity.

[cashier]

That's what putting me off watching it Buenchico. Was reading about it in my t v guide and saw Gloria Hunniford and was put off immediately.

[davebro]

64/65 also saw heavy snow. I remember helping my sister dig her car out of the garage. (Actually we have had no lying snow here this winter - there was a flurry today but it didn't stick.)

[237SJ]

February 1978 had really heavy snow as well (in the South West) I remember coming downstairs in the morning and the house was dark because the snow covered the windows. The RAF were dropping bales of hay to animals in the fields and many sheep suffocated because they sheltered under hedges which were covered by snowdrifts. When I hear Mr Blue Sky by ELO it always reminds me of that time bacause it reminds me of when the snow thawed and we went back to school after a week.

[derekpara]

Thanks for BA, Bobbi.
We just took everything in our stride in those days, and earlier. The London smog, with conductors carrying flaming torches walking ahead of trams and buses. Still managed to get to work or school. Shank's pony is a great means of travel ! A 2-3 mile walk each way was nothing.
D x

[Bobbisox1]

Great memories Derek , thank you

[dave50]

And all many years before climate change was invented.

[douglas9401]

Dangerous climate change, please.

[ladybirder]

I was pregnant in 1963.

Well I had to do something to keep warm.

[Mamyalynne]

They just mentioned something I'd almost forgotten about.

That year brought the Football Pools Panel into existence.

[grumpy01]

Yes Mamyalynne and I think it was led by Arthur Ellis,a football referee and later of It’s a knock out fame.

[Mamyalynne]

He was in at the start, yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_pools#Pools_Panel

[Ken4155]

I was 7 going on 8 at the time and had just begun supporting my home town team, Burnley. The only thing i remember '63 for was having to wait a hell of a long time for Burnley to play a game after Christmas. I believe it was early March when a match was finally able to go ahead.
Other than that, i don't recall much at all about how cold it was or whether or not i got to school. I probably had a one track mind in those days:-)