1976 HOT, DRY, SHEFFIELD

[Heartshome]

Hi all. Remembering when we had that real hot, dry spell in '76. Going on the bus to work past Endcliffe Park, 

it was dreadful seeing the field just dry, cracked earth, with hardly a blade of grass other than under a tree.

The trees were suffering too, dying before their natural time. Anybody got any photo's of Sheffield at that time?

(According to the scientists, we can expect more of extreme hot weather in future, looks like it might be the norm.)

[johnm]

If I remember correctly we   couldn't use a hose pipe on garden at our house on Maple Croft Rd.  . Had to use bath water  ! I spent lots of time on Teesside (where I moved to  later in the year) & up there  they were using sprinklers on gardens as they had no shortage because of the large Kielder dam. 

[Heartshome]

Yes! you're right, no hose pipes, sprinklers or any gardens allowed to be watered unless it was with waste washing water.

All our waste water went on our cottage garden plants. I believe some areas had tap water turned off for a length of time.

Where Mum and I lived, the cold water supply came down through pipes under fields to 4 cottages.

We had no bathrooms, central heating or hot water. Just outside loos, a tin bath and a coal fire,

so hot water needed for a bath had to be boiled in a big 2 handled pan anyway. So as we were only a few,

dwellings with just a basic supply already, we were lucky and didn't suffer to much. In the past when there had

been problems with the water supply, we had been able to use water from an old spring fed trough on the drive,

but in '76 that had completely dried up as well. 

[History dude]

There was a Channel Five documentary about the summer of 1976 recently and it featured film of Sheffield City Centre.

I remember it well. We had stand pipes in the street. One of the reservoirs was that low for the first time ever you could see the sunken village!  The Peak District moors were always on fire!   

[Lysanderix]

The cricket match at Headingley was abandoned on account of snow, A couple of days later we awoke to blue skies and sunshine…and so it stayed for weeks, if not months. Happy days ….even with empty reservoirs, water rationing in some areas and watering plants with dishwater!

But did we learn from the experience? I wonder how much larger is our water storage / supply and, by how many, has our population increased? True, some MASSIVE users of water like our steel industry ,are no more…..but we just take water for granted….and allow our ,by now ,privatised water companies to make profits for what was once a matter for local authorities and God!😕😕😕

 

 

[History dude]

A lot was learned from the heatwave of 1976. First more plants were introduced that removed salt from seawater. Water supplies are more centralised. So it's less common to run out of water. Leaks are far less common and are generally fixed quicker. We recycle water more. Toilets in the home use far less water in the flush, unless you have some really old toilet. Back in 1976 most people had a MASSIVE copper boiler that was filled by another cold tank higher up. These are just about gone now. Replaced by an smaller gas boiler that heats a smaller tank.  The weather service is much more able to predict hot dry spells than in 1976. Back then a few days was all they could do.  And people can have water meters. Showers are much more common in people's home too. 

The UK's weather and climate is largely determined by the Gulf Stream. We might think that heat-waves are the problem to come, but if the Ice Caps melt much more, we would be glad of any warm weather. For that could divert the Gulf Stream away from the UK and put and end to the warm climate we have. If you follow the same point we are in the globe around to other countries that don't have the Gulf Stream, you finish up in places like Canada (such as the Hudson Bay area) not the warmest place to live.   

[Lysanderix]

A few observations:

1)I  never realised we had desalination plants in this country……and we should be aware those that exist in semi desert areas are huge consumers of energy.

2) The jet stream is now known to be a major influence on our weather. …at least as important as the Gulf Stream. Doubtless, there is a correlation.

3)Heat waves happen in summertime when the need for the use of a central heating boiler is minimal ….so the actual effect of more efficient boilers on a drought are minimal and, of course, back in ‘76 many of us lived without central heating relying on a kettle to provide hot water or an immersion heater. Few of us  in those days still had a “back boiler “…..with the need to sweat profusely if we wanted hot water in a hot summer!

4) I agree we tend to shower more these days than bathe……but in the old bath we could collect dirty bath water and use it for watering plants. As far as I am aware no similar method is common with a shower…although I am sure a bit of imagination would make one possible. Back in 1976 not all of us had showers. 

5) In our area we started to extract water from the Yorkshire Derwent but where are the new reservoirs and have the privatised water companies eliminated leaks…at least to a reasonable level?

6) Is supply in balance with average summer demand?…..I suspect this is not the case and we get by on account of our normal weather…but the increase in population should be a warning sign for those companies whose purpose is the supply of potable water,…the very basis of most life on our planet.😳

[Bikeman]

I seem to remember that 1975 was a long, hot summer as well, as me and my girlfriend (now wife, God bless her) went to see some friends in Gloucester in my little Reliant Van. I remember the heat on the journey down there. 

[History dude]

On the leaks thing, mains water leaks were much more common back then. You would regularly see water pouring out of the street, which was not repaired for ages.

Most of the council housing had boilers and central heating by that time. To have baths you needed to heat a lot of hot water, and people had dirty jobs back then. Most firms didn't have showers. And with that heat the sweat would have made people smell a lot. So baths and hot water was still needed.

One thing that still is a problem is the insulation levels on many houses. Many of our houses are cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Leading to big fuel bills. Even with decent boilers the house still suffers from cold spots. And in the summer you need a fan running, especially in the upper rooms. Of course there were few fans back then. But now as soon as there is talk of a heat wave, the shops are advertising the latest fans and stocks soon vanish!

Bath water which contains the soaps and chemicals from bath products would not really be suitable for the garden these days. You would be putting on chemicals that could do damage to the environment.  Look at the ingredients of your shampoo. Head and Shoulders for example contains several Glycols - Propylene glycol is a synthetic liquid substance that absorbs water and Copper Sulfate!  That can kill bacteria, algae, roots, plants, snails, and fungi.

I have always thought that urinals should be installed in houses. This would save a huge amount of water as flushing a toilet to remove a quarter of a pint of urine is a shear waste. But most people are not very keen on the idea of urinals and apart from public toilets you would be hard pressed to find one in a home.    

[Lysanderix]

With Southern Water ,today ,announcing a hose pipe ban ,it is sad to note they are ( and presumably others)losing almost a hundred million litres of water, daily, through leaks. Have lessons really been learned…despite water companies being fined or with one director last year receiving over £ 1 million……do they really care?😕😕

[Athy]

On 29/07/2022 at 18:20, Lysanderix said:

With Southern Water ,today ,announcing a hose pipe ban ,it is sad to note they are ( and presumably others)losing almost a hundred million litres of water, daily, through leaks.

They should measure it in proper gallons. It would be far fewer.

[History dude]

It's not surprising that the Thames area is in trouble, London has so many people in it the water consumption is greater than any other part of the country. Given the higher temperatures down south, which are set to continue this week, plugging leeks isn't the issue. The real issue is doing something about the concentration of people down there. London is like a sign to what is happening to the whole planet. Too many people in one place will use up resources and water is one of them. Commercial companies or public bodies can only patch up the pond, they can't fill it up or stop people taking out more than what is there. Since 1976 many things were learned, but Mrs T made things worse because she reversed the trend in population reduction in the London area, by making the "city" or stock markets grow.  So London needs 17 Billion railways and everything else to support the MASSIVE growth of people living in the area, that includes extracting more water from rivers and underground sources.     

[Lysanderix]

I agree that population concentration in the South East is a major factor…as is the amount of rainfall it receives ….Nevertheless ,even the water industry accepts that water leakage ….currently standing ,nationally ,at 2,954 million litres per day or the equivalent of 86 Olympic sized swimming pools …is still a major problem.

As a nation we use more water per head than any other European country …averaging 142 litres per day ….and the introduction of water meters is an industry attempt to reduce consumption…but MASSIVE investment is still needed in new reservoirs, water transfer systems and the like.

Our population has increased dramatically since 1976…..water leakages have been reduced and £ billions spent on improving supply but much ,much more needs to be done if, as predicted, more hot and dry weather is to be the norm.

 

[Athy]

8 hours ago, History dude said:

 plugging leeks isn't the issue.  

That's surely the job of the Welsh Farm Marketing Board.

Surely the concentration of population in the South-East has been reduced or reversed in recent years? Many businesses have "decentralised"; even some BBC programmes which used to be made in London are now broadcast from Salford.

[Lysanderix]

The statistics do not support the suggestion of a reduction in population in London and the South East of England. .In 2021 London had a population of…9,217,265 and the South East….9,002,438. Together ,these two regions account for just under a third of the nations total population and show an increase of 8.3% since 2011. In some parts of London population growth is in the region of 15%.

Decentralisation has been ,at times ,a policy since the 1950s…..Our latest attempt seems to be, perhaps, “Levelling Up”…..whatever that really means!