Big freezes

As it's started snowing, the Telegraph has posted some photos of the 1963 Big Freeze Here's the link to the article

The Telegraph article claimed at one point that 1963 was "the coldest winter on record" but I'm pretty sure that distinction belongs to 1947? The article has since been amended.

I was born the year of of one of the big freeze years, 1947 & so have little to say about that. The winter 1962/3 does stand out to me as the first winter that I remember as a freeze-up. There have been some bad winters since then, though. I worked with an accountant who was a bird watcher & I remember 1982 from his reports of a nearly complete wipe-out of our UK kingfishers. Philip.

A few pics from the "big" snow of December 1990 taken in Sewall Highway

Lovely to see the kids enjoying it JohnB, forgot what it was like to love it, instead of moaning!

Hi Dutchman, 1963 Winter indeed the coldest of the past 260 years with a CET (Central England Temperature) average of -0.3c for Dec - Feb, while 1947 averaged +1.1c. Coldest of all Winter 1684 at -1.2c. LINK

December 1968 freeze and heavy snow on the 6th? Not sure of that perhaps the poster got dates mixed up? An unforecasted White Christmas in 1970 but prior to that there were but no real early December snowfalls in the late 1960's. There was a severe March snowfall in 1970 that paralysed the city with a foot falling in places however: March 1970 Then 20 years later a foot or more fell in early December 1990 but without a freeze: The Great Midlands Blizzard 9th December 1990 Winters 1947 and 1963 the coldest historical winters as described above and forever etched into our folk conscience.

My memory tells me that it snowed heavily on Christmas Eve and we awoke Christmas Day to a heavy covering. Good news for me as I had got a sleigh for Christmas. I still have it now in fact. There used to exist a film of me being towed round the garden on it by our dog, I was 9.

Probably the most extraordinary winter I experienced in Coventry was the one I first moved there 1990/91 It started with a long cold fortnight or more at the end of November, beginning of December. Friday the fifth was very foggy and I got a lift close to the Novotel where I was staying. As it was almost my birthday I picked up a bit of a feast to treat myself if the weather deteriorated. It proved to be fortuitous because that night it began to snow and by 8 the next morning it was at least a foot deep. Prior to that I'd watched it get deeper and deeper with the traffic on the A444 (now the B4113) slowed to a stop. The last two cars to leave were a member of staff and a guy in a 4x4. I rang my parents who were due to come down and help me house hunt and told them not to bother. There was no snow at all with them so they needed the heads up. All morning it continued to snow and people started coming down off the motorway which was at a standstill. There were no steps at the time and they slid down an increasingly boggy path off the embankment near the bridge. The bulk of people were from two shows supposed to be at the NEC - the BBC Clothes Show and Crufts (or similar). Tall women in skimpy dresses and heels mixing with pedigree dogs and what dogs err do. As one of only six residents at the hotel I was allowed to remain on my own but everyone else had to double up. By Sunday I ventured out and was amazed. The snow was mid thigh by that point and from time to time large planks of frozen snow fell off the power lines. The main road towards Foleshill was like a post apocalypse scene. Cars and buses skewed across the road and abandoned. I had to walk to work on the Monday and was one of the few who made it in (because it was open 24/7, there were people there who hadn't been able to go home). The thaw took about a week but by the following weekend there was only a few patches of snow in the garden of the house I eventually bought. That inauspicious start wasn't the end to the winter and while Christmas was our usual fare, similar conditions struck in that February as I was due to move in. I was due to travel to Warrington so I could complete the exchange on the Friday. As I caught the bus into town at the end of work it was already snowing hard. The bus took about an hour longer than the normal 20 minutes as everything crept along. The train was packed but fortunately I got a seat when I changed at Birmingham International. We got through Birmingham ok but then stopped near Wednesbury for several hours. I was deeply worried by this point as my Dad was due to pick me up from the station. I had visions of him buried in an icy tomb in the car park. Once we got moving again we arrived at Crew, where the snow was about one to two feet deep. Then as we pulled out of the station it was like magic, Within a mile the snow went from deep and crisp to non existent. By Warrington it wasn't even wet. Dad was nice and snug in the car, having not set off until ten minutes before because he'd rung the station to discover the train was delayed. I returned to Coventry on the Saturday by car, the snow along the motorway was over a metre deep in big whipped cream swirls. The fast lane was still blocked by snow but the thaw was starting already. Apart from spending a cold night cautiously defrosting pipes, the rest of the move and the winter went without a hitch. What memories of winters past, spring to your mind?

Helen - my memories of this weekend are in post #53 of this thread

Oops, that'll teach me to do a search and put the wrong spelling in Thanks.

Coventry Times - Wednesday 10 December 1879 LOCAL NOTES. The skaters Coventry may look upon: themselves as fortunate and favoured individuals. With such a continued frost, and with so many pools as abound in close proximity to the city, the lovers of this enjoyable and healthful pastime are having a rare time of it. Many of the "oldest inhabitants" talk with evident pleasure of the time when they skimmed over the ice on Swanswell pool and say that "they could skate there," in a manner that implies that there is no ice fit to skate upon now; but if they had been but young enough and strong enough to have taken a trip to Wyken slough, on Sunday, they would have looked upon a sight such as was never witnessed on Swanswell, or any other pool within a radius of half-a-dozen miles of the city. The slough was covered with skaters, and anyone who knows its great size can easily imagine the animated appearance that it presented. Quinton Pool came in for a large share of patronage

The winter of 1939/40 was, I believe, the hardest winter on record with temperature falling to -25 degrees in places. I remember the Slough being frozen and we children playing on the ice. It was possible to walk the full length of the pool quite safely. After saying that I do recall a girl falling through the ice and losing her life but not sure what winter that was. Perhaps Kaga remembers that incident. It is surprising that Nauls Mill doesn't get a mention in the article submitted by MR, perhaps it didn't exist in 1879. Have occasionally wondered why Nauls Mill is so named as it doesn't seem possible for a mill to be there.

Have a look on this page, LesMac, which should answer your last question

Coventry Evening Telegraph - Monday 9 January 1939 FROZEN CANAL THE recent spells of severe weather, followed as they have been by the great thaw and the floods of the past week-end, have given rise to a widespread supposition that this is one of the hardest winters for generations. Intensely cold as it has been, this is not true, at least as far as Coventry and Warwickshire are concerned. Middle-aged Coventrians can remember a spell of weather during which the thermometer fell to zero