Snow?! This is snow....

A Wakes bus stuck in the snow on the Fosse Way in Somerset
The media have been full of stories of heavy snowfall, complete disruption, chaos etc etc. Those of us of more mature vintage who remember '78 clearly and even 1963 know that this is nothing.

On Boxing day 1962, I was with my brother, Mum and Dad as we drove the couple of miles back home from my uncles, where we had spent the afternoon. I was excited when heavy snow began to fall, hoping there would be a decent amount, enough to make snowmen. The following morning, I couldn't see out of my bedroom window for the snow stuck to the glass, outside there was a complete blanket of snow with only trees and the tops of hedges showing through. There had been strong winds which created drifts, 6' of snow across half a road, and just 6" on the other side, an impossible task to clear quickly. I thought it was brilliant! Hard frosts prevented a thaw for weeks, creating a firm crust on the snow, I could walk along the top of the drifts over the hedges. And school stayed shut for 6 weeks.

In 1978 I was working as a staff nurse on nights at Cheddon Road Hospital in Taunton. Driving to work on Friday evening in February, I heard the weather forecast warning of heavy snowfall overnight. During the night I remember looking out of the window towards a car park as I took my coffee for a break, snow had been falling gently, now the wind was whipping it up. When I walked back, there was at least 24" out there! I realised I wouldn't be going anywhere in the morning. I usually did Friday and Saturday night, this week, I carried on and did Sunday and Monday as well, staying in a absent student's room. I walked home on Tuesday morning, it was only about 4 miles. The streets in town were passable by now, but as soon as you reached the country lanes it was difficult again. My husband and daughters met me about a mile from home. We got milk from our neigbouring farmer as he was having to pour it down the drain as the milk lorries couldn't get through to collect it. And the pub stayed open all day.


This is the scene at Bishops Lydeard the day after the Great Blizzard
© Stephen Edge

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