Stormy Weather

[mercia]

this is such extraordinary weather

lovely photos Mr Monty - I love it when the trees meet across the road

[Uncle Monty]

I remember it clearly, Chris, I was in West Sussex too, but you were lucky, as we didn't get any time off school at all!

The morning after all the snow fell, this was at the very end of 1962, my father and I fought our way four miles through the drifts on foot to get to Church in Chichester. This seems sheer lunacy to me now, not to mention dangerous, but at the time there seemed to be no question of not going. It was horrible, exhausting, rather scary and very painful. I date my serious disenchantment with organised religion to that experience

My other main moan about that time was that I and my chums had all been given smart new fishing tackle for Christmas, but since the lakes were still frozen solid when the close season started in March, we couldn't use any of it till the following June!

[Uncle Monty]

lovely photos Mr Monty - I love it when the trees meet across the road

Thanks, hercule. It was actually a bit unnerving driving along there, but you have to suffer for your Art, don't you?! :cool2:

[Chris Newman]

Wonderful photos, Uncle M.

I see them and realise how different the microclimates are in Wells and Salisbury. We rarely get much snow here and real bonecrunching frosts like that in your pix are rare too. I guess the difference between Chichester and Horsham is much the same. That drive to church sounds very hairy. Generally the Sussex coastal plain and the area south of Salisbury (which are both south of the SouthDOwns) come off lightly in winter.

In the mid-seventies I was a mature student at Bognor College (Now the Uni of Chichester) and we had the first snow in living memory. Even the Principal and his wife joined in the biggest snowball fight I have ever been in. It was about the time that Bishop Otter College (Chichester) and Boggy College were merged as the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education.
Best wishes
Chris.

[salymap]

By 1963 I had left the music library and worked at Augener in Great Marlborough Street. Everyone else seemed to be on an Underground tube route and as I staggered in after hours on the notorious Kent lines I got dirty looks and comments about time keeping. To add insult to injury, we were asked on the radio to leave forhome early. Fat chance.

[salymap]

Meant to say, lovely photos Uncle Monty. Let's see some Spring ones later on.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Marvellous photos Monty.

There was a Radio 4 doc about the '63 freeze a couple of years ago. Might have been in the Archive slot. Anyway, it was fascinating and makes the current conditions seem like a walk in the park.

Imagine also the very small percentage of homes that would have any kind of central heating.

I worry now that with the reliability and high spec of cars we have that drivers are becoming innured to terrible conditions and potentially placing themselves at unneccesary risk.

I trust that wasn't you, Monty!

[sigolene euphemia]

Uncle Monty,

Hoping you have a stream of sunlight with the hoarfrost. It will bring such beauty to your eyes with the dancing prisms. I enjoy the photos here. Anna's as well. Weather is so ancient for us to talk of it is how our crops grow.

[Uncle Monty]

I worry now that with the reliability and high spec of cars we have that drivers are becoming innured to terrible conditions and potentially placing themselves at unneccesary risk.

I trust that wasn't you, Monty!

No, fear not! That was the only stretch of road round here with anything wintry on it at all, give or take a few minor lanes that haven't been treated or used. I'm far too much of a coward to take any serious risks

[Uncle Monty]

Hoping you have a stream of sunlight with the hoarfrost. It will bring such beauty to your eyes with the dancing prisms. I enjoy the photos here. Anna's as well. Weather is so ancient for us to talk of it is how our crops grow.

Yes, it's been a very sunny afternoon, and much of the frost has disappeared. On the other hand, it's now very clear out there, and I expect temperatures will fall away sharply -- though nothing like what Scotland has been seeing, of course.

Our crops certainly aren't growing at the moment, however! I just trudged up to the allotment to put the chickens to bed, and my cauliflowers were looking decidedly sorry for themselves. . .

[sigolene euphemia]

Uncle Monty

:o

[sigolene euphemia]

Where is everyone on this thread this Thursday morning ? Our thread that is #one ?

Putting on the ice grips - yaktracks ?

Scraping off ice from your auto's windscreen with your debit card?

Under the duvet ?

keep warm and please be safe,
Sigolene

[antongould]

Nothing really to report from the frozen north.
We have been promised a thaw so we are "all expectation"!

[Stillhomewardbound]

Some more Blackheath views, non contemporaneous as most of our snow is gone:

[salymap]

i've been enjoying a few hours with my lovely Devon Coz's [what's the plural of coz?] who helped me to back up my photos on the hard drive I've had for some time.
Snow melting slowly but bitterly cold still.