I keep thinking of the 1963 freeze-up

Did you see 'winter watch' last night which was mostly about 'the big freeze' of '63?

I was 10 and it was very exciting........

But probably not for my parents!

I hated it then and I hate it now lol ;o)
It's not so bad here as some places though.

I think the small corner shops were better than the supermarkets. Sometimes I can't walk around them, because of my arthritic knees.
And you can't always get everything you want, for all the big size they are :o(

We're well stocked up here - there's plenty of cat food, so it's all right lol .... Never mind about the humans, but it doesn't do to run out of cat food !

I watched that programme Stickitoffee, all those birds that died. There is quite a bit of snow here in Newcastle so I am staying put until it goes away,luckily my son's are still at home so they did the weekly shop for me.I was about ten as well Diannebulley but can,t remember the big freeze very much.

I had no idea so many birds died, we lived in Luton then, maybe it wasnt quite so bad there but I know the lawn froze over [covered in snow] and we used to spin the washing up bowl across it.
The schools didnt shut, so I imagine the roads must have been passable?

That was my first winter at work, I can remember the excitement because the Welland froze completely over down near the town bridge, we went down and watched people ice skating on it and some of the older youths drove a car down it towards the gas works.
I can also remember helping my brothers drag a pushchair with a huge sack of coke from the gas works up the hills to home, the deliveries weren`t able to get through and with a toddler and a baby in our house it was vital to get the beeston going, oh the humiliation felt by a teenage girl having to do that, lol...

I was expecting my daughter, she kept me warm, but the bungalow we had was so cold, we lit a coal fire when we came in from work in the evening, how ever did we manage, I remember always putting the plug in sinks so that the waste pipes didnt freeze. We coped somehow.

Suet puddings for extra inner warmth, I loved Spotted Dick, I haven`t had that in years, casserole with dumpling, very pretty windows that you couldn`t see out of and being wary of huge icicles hanging from the gutterings in case they fell on you..... Chains on post vans wheels and milk floats, mind you in those days very few people had far to go to work as there was loads of local firms so for the majority it was a case of walking instead of cycling, not that much of a hardship as regards getting to work....

Watched the show last night, my mum remembers!
It amazes me how in years gone by - my childhood included that schools never closed, everyone just seemed to get on with things!
I wonder are we all too molly coddled now???
You can't beat good old stodgy food to keep you warm Lincs!!

Watching th ebig freeze on iplayer as the snow arrives with us again .

Monday and all week to be bad take care everyone.

I found it interesting how much had Not changed.......I mean when it first started not that it carried on for an awful three months........
Cars stuck, trains and areoplanes delayed, 50 years later it sounded rather familiar......

I have lived in this flat 12 years, and its the first time I have seen long icicles hanging down from the guttering over my kitchen window.
Remember the poem we learned at school when I was eleven - by William Shakespeare (you see Hywel we do remember what our teachers taught us !)

'When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood be nipped
And ways be foul
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Toowhit Toowhoo!
A merry note,
Whilst greasy Joan doest keel the pot. '

I was 5 and remember standing next to a fashionable young girl at the bus stop, she was in a very short skirt! Mary Quant had a lot to answer for. wonder if she was in league with the chilblain treatment companies :o)

I was pregnant and living in Kent in a freezing rented cottage in a village called Leigh. The village was cut off for several days until the snow plough got through from the main road. When we were finally able to drive through the lane the snow drifts on either side were 6 feet high and it was like driving through a tunnel.

I`ve just watched the pogramme on iplayer, it was fascinating, it reminded me of watching the news reports and thinking how lucky we were compared to some people in those villages cut off for days on end....
Seaburn I can picture myself and my mates, white ankle boots, we used shoe whitener to keep them that way, thick threequarter length white socks, they were ribbed and it was usual to twist them to make a pattern above the boots, black diamond mesh stockings, skirts just above the knee, (dad went mad and said it was indecent) and threequarter length coat with huge sleeves, always worn without fastening. In those days we always copied each other, bit like the uniform we`d hated whilst at school, lol....

dads never change OH regularly says things like 'if you think you are going out dressed like that.....' roll of eyes as the girls alter their dress. {i used to roll my skirt up at the waist band to get a shorted length}
I remember my mum being shocked at the introduction of tights. According to her only theatre girls wore tights and they were no better than they ought to be. I think that was a slight. never really understood it.

I don't really remember it. I was 20yrs old, living in a village in south Yorks and working in the next village. Went to work on either my bicycle or motorbike but nothing really stands out. Maybe S. Yorks missed the worst, don't know but found the program to be interesting.

I'm a similar age to Pamg. We lived in a coastal town but our house was on a hill. It was the only year we had enough snow to be able to ride a sledge down the hill.
And the sea froze.

Diane - that poem brings back memories as well.

I watched the programme in fascination, love the old footage.
I was 2 months in my Mum's tum! She told me that the summer of '63 was one of the hottest on record!!

Funny - I don't remember the hot summer, only the cold winter. Now 1976, THAT was hot summer ....

i remember 76 ~ there was one wet week ~ we went on holiday that week!!!!

the rest was sweltering!

We went on hold to Cornwall, had a fantastic time in'76!