The Big Freeze 1963

capt_slog

On Saturday at 5:30 there was a program which was part of BBC's 'Winterwatch'. I missed the beginning the main part of the program was a documentary made after the really bad winter of 1963.

It was in the analysis style of the Tsunami/disaster type things we see these days, tracking back over the event and showing lots of footage from the time.

It was an excellent program and put this winters snow in some perspective :roll: Interesting to watch so many people toiling away digging trains and the like out of snow drifts wearing overcoats! It made me thankful of modern day clothing.

If you want to watch it (it's an hour well spent in my opinion) you can find it here.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ig_Freeze/

but only until Jan 26th.


(Look out for the 'production designer' in the end credits of the 1963 part. )

Gizmodo

I watched bits of that. Now I'm cold and I'm sitting in my centrally heated house! Brrrrr....

random man

It was a great programme. I was seven at the time and had my first proper bike for Xmas (BSA, Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub ). It snowed on Boxing Day and I couldn't ride the bike until March!
At that age I thought all winters were like that, but looking at the film it really brings home how bad it was.

team47b

Thanks for posting that.

I remember as a child our snowman made it to Good Friday!

For those outside the UK (not allowed to watch the BBC) you can watch it on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QM6_GqVWjA

mwf28

I saw that ,We are lucky that we have modern central heating thoughout our energy efficent homes although it costs a fortune to have it on nowdays ,greedy energy compnies allowed to raise prices on a toss of a coin :evil:
It makes me laughs how a little bit of snow or ice totally shuts down the transport,schools,services of this country,we have all become too soft.
We just do not cope or seem to plan in advance anymore? When i was younger ,i lived in scotland ,i used wake in the morning with ice on the inside of the window and icicles hanging from my nose..ouch!
Had parrafin heaters in two rooms ...AHHH! that smell is etched into my nostrils...probadly why i had bad asthma ,ahh the good old days...not!!!

capt_slog

team47b wrote:

you can watch it on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QM6_GqVWjA

Thanks for finding that, I guessed it might be there but hadn't looked for it.

Mrs Slog had a snow day today, she works in a special school, and I can see her point regarding the type of pupils she looks after and how they manage to get in (distance + severe disabilities). But I can't remember as a kid a SINGLE day that I had off due to the weather, and as you see form the film, 'it were real weather in them days'.

Other's recollections reminded of my first house in 1981, a two up two down terrace which just had one coal fire for the heating. The young Mrs Slog and I froze, I don't know how we kept warm :roll:
The trap to the bathroom basin used to freeze and I shaved in cold water most mornings (by the time the water ran hot, the sink was full) and this was regular event until we learned to put a candle under it each night. Happy times.

Mikey23

I thought it was a brilliant prog. I was 11 at the time and had to walk 2 miles each way to school and as a result got frostbite, which was definitely not nice....

Very interesting to see how the world was in those days, mostly no cars or mobile phones and of course the world was black and white

What amused me was the state of the art graphics at the end with the presenter holding up a series of boards with crayonning on...

Mikey23

... And did I notice Ridley Scott on the credits at the end?

cooldad

You did.
I was born in the middle of it, in the north east.
I don't remember a thing.

alihisgreat

Looks mental.. I'm struggling with the potential for two weeks off the bike.. can't imagine being snowed in for that long

tiredofwhiners

cooldad wrote:

I was born in the middle of it, in the north east.
I don't remember a thing.

Ditto, although my rather elderly mother reminds me that I didn't leave the house where I was born for two months.

The story comes out every time it snows, bless her

capt_slog

Mikey23 wrote:

... And did I notice Ridley Scott on the credits at the end?

Yes you did

He was working on things for the BBC at the time apparently, an episode of Z-cars and others.

dynamicbrick

Blimey.

Some crazy stuff on that programme; Three trains frozen in, took 80 men a week to dig them out.

peat

Great find.

Cheers.

Escadrille Ecosse

I was only one at the time, but one thing I remember my parents telling me later was the state of the electricity supply when everyone went home and put on electric fires. The voltage dropped so much that the picture on the old CRT TVs shrank to about 2/3 the size of the screen because there wasn't enough voltage to drive the scan. Mind you that might be because we were living out in the sticks at the time. Better than my Granny though, she didn't even get electricity until later in 1963.

I'll stop now. Realise I'm starting to sound like a Monty Python sketch :oops:

Mike Healey

Remember going to work from Leamington to the Wellesbourne garage of J T Thorpe Ltd one morning with freezing fog and black ice on my, even then, ancient Lambretta LD150. Black ice was so bad, I kept drifting/sliding downto the edge of the road and the fog got thicker and thicker til I could hardly see a thing so was spluttering along at about 10mph, tho' the ice disappeared.

Just before I got there, the car sales rep came bombing past at some rate of knots like a madman (IMHO).

Him: why were you crawling along?

Me: Thick fog you idot!

Him: What fog?

Me: That fog! (taking off my goggles)

Taking off goggles accompanied by tinkling sound as 1/8" layer of frozen fog fell off them. Apparently, the fog only lasted about 2 of the eight mile journey
Remember landlady's outside loo downpipe froze and blocked. Remember that nylon pacamac over ex-RAF greatcoat was inadequate protection against cold on scooter with max speed of about 38mph. Remember taking weekly bath at the Leamington Spa Pumproom public bath because of frozen outside downpipe for 2 months. Remember frozen fingers not conducive to co-operation from girlfriend in would-be tender moments. Especially bearing in mind that her house was as cold as mine. Like chapel hatpegs without me getting anywhere near.

Pross

mwf28 wrote:

IIt makes me laughs how a little bit of snow or ice totally shuts down the transport,schools,services of this country,we have all become too soft.

I agree with the sentiment but also back in 63 most people worked within walking distance of home. The problem now is that a lot more people work beyond walking distance of work (although people's perception of walking distance is now likely to be lower as well). Also, the economy was much more focussed on manufacturing back then so if people didn't get to work there would be much more impact on the economy (not to mention workers would be highly unlikely to get paid if they didn't turn up). Finally, we now have people who are terrified of being sued and therefore are overly risk averse hence schools will shut, buses won't try to operate etc.

daviesee

Pross wrote:

Finally, we now have people who are terrified of being sued and therefore are overly risk averse hence schools will shut, buses won't try to operate etc.

= soft.

I agree with the reasoning however.

kettrinboy

tiredofwhiners wrote:

cooldad wrote:

I was born in the middle of it, in the north east.
I don't remember a thing.

Ditto, although my rather elderly mother reminds me that I didn't leave the house where I was born for two months.

The story comes out every time it snows, bless her

Same here , born in mid Jan 63 and mum says she couldnt get me out of the house in a pram until April

Mikey23

Beer was a penny a pint ...

nevman

Watched it with the missus this week-we both lived through it and it remains the worst winter we can recall.I remember frozen pipes followed by a flooded house,and crossing the road wasnt easy as the snow was banked up so high you had to climb over it.My father had a diesel engined taxi and he had to light a fire under the fuel tank to thaw the diesel enough for it to pump to the engine.I dont recall the school ever closing but since we all walked there it wasnt surprising.I was seven.

Peddle Up!

nevman wrote:

Watched it with the missus this week-we both lived through it and it remains the worst winter we can recall.I remember frozen pipes followed by a flooded house,and crossing the road wasnt easy as the snow was banked up so high you had to climb over it.My father had a diesel engined taxi and he had to light a fire under the fuel tank to thaw the diesel enough for it to pump to the engine.I dont recall the school ever closing but since we all walked there it wasnt surprising.I was seven.

Yep, I was there too. Don't forget sleeping in a bedroom where ice gathered on the inside of the windows and a glass of water by the bedside froze before morning.

I know, I know, you were lucky.

Kieran_Burns

If this is the Winter my Mum told me about, when Lake Windermere froze and people were able to walk all the way across it

http://youtu.be/-K1ofbWYUrM

Good Lord - someone uploaded footage of it. Now sent to my Mum, so I can expect to get bombarded with memories! She's probably on the vid somewhere.

Apparently someone walked down to the ferry and fell through and drowned 'cos the cables made the ice thinner

peat

5m54s - That has me in stitches

freddiegrubb

I was 19 at the time & can honestly say I can't remember it, (I must have been asleep) although I live within 1 mile of the sea with the L/district hills in the background & the rest of the country's weather snow wise is very different from ours.