ChatterBank17 mins ago
1963
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Anyone watch the Big Freeze , Winter of 1963 Bbc 4 last night, how the hell did they cope. Amazing.
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danny - a slight diversion, please, since you said you were a beat constable. Back in the day I remember Dixon of Dock Green wearing his helmet with the chin strap just under his mouth. This always looked odd to me as I thought it should be under his chin but I saw an explanation that it was done to stop baddies from choking policemen with their helmet strap. Nowadays actors playing policemen invariably have the chin strap under their chin which surprises me, since actors are normally very aware of small details. Is my memory playing tricks or did you wear your strap under your lip?
We moved house in the January of that year from Merseyside to the mid Wales coast. I was 16. The sea was frozen over in Cardigan bay and still had ice on it in April. My sister in law was born in the January of that year as well. She did not get out of the house until June because of the cold and depth of snow.
I was in London at the time. Still at primary. Sis at grammar. They closed the schools we went to because teachers couldn't get in and busses weren't running reliably. My mother taught part time at the school I went to so she was at home with us. The house we lived in was heated by two coal fires downstairs (kitchen and living room) and oil stoves everywhere else including the outside toilet. We slept with our coats and dressing gowns on the beds to keep warm and woke to ice on the insides of the windows.
Yes I recall the winter of 1962/3. In London It first snowed on Boxing Day and everybody said “Ah! What a shame. If only it had snowed yesterday.” By the end of February everybody was absolutely sick of the stuff. Large amounts of snow fell almost everywhere and there was only a brief spell of one or two days in February when a brief thaw occurred. It was not until the first week of March that a prolonged thaw occurred.
Personal experiences obviously vary. Sport was obviously badly affected. The football season had to be extended for about a month and the “pools panel” was set up to provide the football results for the pools competitions. There was no racing in England between Christmas and the beginning of March. But where I was (in Central London) life went on with difficulty but largely normally. I cannot recall my school (in Islington) being closed at all though we may have been sent home early a few times if heavy snow was falling. My teachers seemed to make it in. My Form Master commuted from Pangbourne in Berkshire and he was in just about every day as far as I recall. We were still expected to slog out to Totteridge in North London for our weekly games sessions, where we played football on a pitch harder than concrete.
The comparison between that winter and 1947 is difficult. All the meteorological records suggest that the 62/63 winter was worse overall. It certainly produced the colder temperatures but I believe 1947 involved the greatest amount of snowfall. One unfortunate consequence of this was when the thaw eventually came it produced some devastating floods, more so than in 1963. But the effects on people may have been worse in 1947 anyway. The country was still recovering from the war, fuel was in short supply and infrastructure was still suffering from war damage.
However, whatever the comparison shows one thing is for sure – if such a winter occurs now the effects would be devastating. Schools would close immediately (they do so at the drop of a hat now); railways would be crippled with “snow drifting up to a centimetre in places” whilst the top of the rails remained clearly visible; many roads would be impassable for the duration. Live would be very difficult.
Personal experiences obviously vary. Sport was obviously badly affected. The football season had to be extended for about a month and the “pools panel” was set up to provide the football results for the pools competitions. There was no racing in England between Christmas and the beginning of March. But where I was (in Central London) life went on with difficulty but largely normally. I cannot recall my school (in Islington) being closed at all though we may have been sent home early a few times if heavy snow was falling. My teachers seemed to make it in. My Form Master commuted from Pangbourne in Berkshire and he was in just about every day as far as I recall. We were still expected to slog out to Totteridge in North London for our weekly games sessions, where we played football on a pitch harder than concrete.
The comparison between that winter and 1947 is difficult. All the meteorological records suggest that the 62/63 winter was worse overall. It certainly produced the colder temperatures but I believe 1947 involved the greatest amount of snowfall. One unfortunate consequence of this was when the thaw eventually came it produced some devastating floods, more so than in 1963. But the effects on people may have been worse in 1947 anyway. The country was still recovering from the war, fuel was in short supply and infrastructure was still suffering from war damage.
However, whatever the comparison shows one thing is for sure – if such a winter occurs now the effects would be devastating. Schools would close immediately (they do so at the drop of a hat now); railways would be crippled with “snow drifting up to a centimetre in places” whilst the top of the rails remained clearly visible; many roads would be impassable for the duration. Live would be very difficult.
