Remember when we had snow?

[DaveH]

Some great pictures here Markbaby of what appears to be the Morland Road area, where the terraced houses run perpendicular to the road instead of parallel to it, leaving you with little space to park a car.

My grandad lived in this area 1959 - 1982 so I know it well. I have some pictures of it, without the snow, from about 1971 which I keep promising to post so watch this space. ( They are part of the set of photos that gleadless.net did not seem interested in)

A friend once told me that we get a really severe winter on average every 16 years and he quoted the classic dates

1947, 1963, 1979.

The winter of 1995 was actually quite mild and 2011, if it follows the pattern of recent winters is also likely to be mild, - now that is global warming!!

I assume from your pictures that this is the winter of 1978 - 79. Is this correct?

Hmmm...

It's quite bad now (2009) and the weather forcasters are saying its the worst for 18 years (1981)

That sort of works against that 16 year rule my friend told me then.

[Stuart0742]

Hmmm...

It's quite bad now (2009) and the weather forcasters are saying its the worst for 18 years (1981)

That sort of works against that 16 year rule my friend told me then.

How do the forecasters judge " worst for 18 years " I seem to remember 1995/96 being bad in Sheffield or did that year not count if London was not badly hit. :)

[DaveH]

How do the forecasters judge " worst for 18 years " I seem to remember 1995/96 being bad in Sheffield or did that year not count if London was not badly hit.

Well, you know, London, the heart of the soft south, - if 2 flakes of snow fall there between october and march they think its a bad winter, and if they get a decent fall of snow like now well its a national disaster.

[Guest Trefcon]

Got ready and went out this afternoon.

Walked to Wooley Wood, through the wood and then through Concorde Park then up Oaksfold Rd, and back home.

Took these.

I took lots more but you get the jist. I also got some shots of named dwellings for the Godfrey map section.

Dean.

[dunsbyowl1867]

Got ready and went out this afternoon.

Walked to Wooley Wood, through the wood and then through Concorde Park then up Oaksfold Rd, and back home.

Took these.

I took lots more but you get the jist. I also got some shots of named dwellings for the Godfrey map section.

Dean.

Great images Dean

Brrr ! That reminds me of playing football in Concord Park when I went to Concord school - we had to walk over the brick pits and by the Cemetery - freezing wind, snow rain etc then trudge back - and no showers!

[DaveH]

Great images Dean

Brrr ! That reminds me of playing football in Concord Park when I went to Concord chool - we had to walk over the brick pits and by the Cemetry - freezing wind, snow rain etc then trudge back - and no showers!

As deansgirl lives in Australia AND Sheffield wouldn't it be better to do October to March in Australia, - southern hemisphere summer, nice and warm and then March to September in Sheffield, - northern hemisphere summer, nice and,..eer, warmish although frequently very wet.

That way you would get the best of both climates and not have to suffer the British winter at all.

[Guest Trefcon]

I wish Dave!

No, we'd just got back i think when my partner used that. PopT, my old mate who comes on here now and again, he's yer man (sorry Pop, putting you forward)! he flits between Sheffield, Denmark and New Zealand all year long!! And he's into photography!

[Stuart0742]

I wish Dave!

No, we'd just got back i think when my partner used that. PopT, my old mate who comes on here now and again, he's yer man (sorry Pop, putting you forward)! he flits between Sheffield, Denmark and New Zealand all year long!! And he's into photography!

I thought this was due to be re-visited, any photos of this years snow

[DaveH]

I thought this was due to be re-visited, any photos of this years snow

Already posted some pictures of this years snow in the Hollinsend Recreation Ground thread.

Hollinsend Park in snow

[Guest suzy]

Already posted some pictures of this years snow in the Hollinsend Recreation Ground thread.

Hollinsend Park in snow

I remember once when we lived on the Arbourthorne, 1975/76, the snow was really thick and there were no buses running from the top of the road, so my Mum, worried that I would break my neck trying to wade through the snow to get to Manor Top, asked the milkman if he would give me a lift. Bless him - he did just that! I climbed aboard the milk float and we eventually got to Manor Top where I was able to get a bus into work, after a very long wait. I am sure if anyone had known he would have got into trouble and these days it would be unheard of. And yes, in those days you did your very best to get to work and never thought a thing about it :rolleyes:

[DaveH]

I remember once when we lived on the Arbourthorne, 1975/76, the snow was really thick and there were no buses running from the top of the road, so my Mum, worried that I would break my neck trying to wade through the snow to get to Manor Top, asked the milkman if he would give me a lift. Bless him - he did just that! I climbed aboard the milk float and we eventually got to Manor Top where I was able to get a bus into work, after a very long wait. I am sure if anyone had known he would have got into trouble and these days it would be unheard of. And yes, in those days you did your very best to get to work and never thought a thing about it

Did it take you 3 hours to get to Manor Top?

Not because of the problems caused by the snow and ice,...

... but because you had to stop at every house on the way, drop off 2 pintas and collect a few crate loads of empties

{that particular Winter I was either at Hull University or down in London with a girlfriend, so I missed it}

[Guest suzy]

Did it take you 3 hours to get to Manor Top?

Not because of the problems caused by the snow and ice,...

... but because you had to stop at every house on the way, drop off 2 pintas and collect a few crate loads of empties

{that particular Winter I was either at Hull University or down in London with a girlfriend, so I missed it}

Yep pretty much, but you would not hear of such a thing these days would you? :(

[DaveH]

Yep pretty much, but you would not hear of such a thing these days would you?

In the winter of 1978-79 I WALKED to work

Bearing in mind that I work at a school in Derbyshire some 15 to 17 miles from home and the entire route was deep in snow this was no mean feat, even though I was still in my 20's at the time.

Reason was, -

Lived with parents on the Arbourthorne

Normal transport, car / motorcycle was snowed in by a snow drift up to 6 feet deep.

Radio Sheffield advised that due to snow and ice buses and other vehicles could not get up

Chesterfield Road, East Bank Road, Gleadless Road, Park Grange Road, City Road / Duke Street or Prince of Wales Road

So in short this part of town was cut off from the City Centre.

Further advice warned of disruption on the trains, particularly southbound to London and westbound to Manchester

This left walking as the only option. Set off at 4 am and arrived at 11am

Apparently at 8am (I was somewhere around Dronfield by then) the headmaster phoned home to say the school was shut

My mum told him that I had set off 4 hours ago and that I was on my way to report for duty.

[Guest suzy]

In the winter of 1978-79 I WALKED to work

Bearing in mind that I work at a school in Derbyshire some 15 to 17 miles from home and the entire route was deep in snow this was no mean feat, even though I was still in my 20's at the time.

Reason was, -

Lived with parents on the Arbourthorne

Normal transport, car / motorcycle was snowed in by a snow drift up to 6 feet deep.

Radio Sheffield advised that due to snow and ice buses and other vehicles could not get up

Chesterfield Road, East Bank Road, Gleadless Road, Park Grange Road, City Road / Duke Street or Prince of Wales Road

So in short this part of town was cut off from the City Centre.

Further advice warned of disruption on the trains, particularly southbound to London and westbound to Manchester

This left walking as the only option. Set off at 4 am and arrived at 11am

Apparently at 8am (I was somewhere around Dronfield by then) the headmaster phoned home to say the school was shut

My mum told him that I had set off 4 hours ago and that I was on my way to report for duty.

Goodness me : You need a medal for that one

Did it take you another 7 hours to get back home? :blink:

[DaveH]

Goodness me : You need a medal for that one

Did it take you another 7 hours to get back home?

No I got home a lot quicker.

While I was walking there it stopped snowing and a thaw set in.

When I arrived there was only a limited number of staff and only about 20% of the students (about 4 or 5 per form)

This comes about because we are a very large school (2000 students) in the middle of Derbyshire with many kids living in small outlying villages which are easily cut off by snow.

Classes had been combined and were not following a normal timetable so the headmaster took the decision to send for the buses early while the roads had a slight reprive and close the school.

When I arrived all the students present were being given a free hot meal before waiting for their transport home. I too received a much needed hot meal when I arrived after that walk which I remember was a tomato soup and bread cob followed by a jacket potato.

By mid day all the kids had been safely dispatched home and staff were told to make their own way home, they would be notified by local radio if the school was to reopen the following day.

A work friend of mine gave me a lift into Chesterfield (the first 5 miles) with no problem. I then walked it to Saltergate bus station to find that a limited bus service was now running. The Sheffield service was running through Whittington Moor, Unstone, Dronfield and up into Sheffield only as far as Meadowhead roundabout where it stopped, went right round the roundabout and then headed back as Chesterfield Road out of Sheffield was still closed.

From Meadowhead I had to walk up through Norton, along Hemsworth and Herdings down to Gleadless Townend and then up to Manor Top and home.

I had set off at 12 o'clock and got home by about 4 o'clock so the return journey was much quicker.

I just wish with 30 years of ageing I could still walk as far today but there is no way I could still do it, - certainly not to that time scale.

[DaveH]

Now there was a day in January 1982 when Sheffield had a record low temperature of -22 (Yes MINUS 22 degrees centigrade, - thats colder than the inside of your freezer compartment!)

The Star carried the headline "Sheffield is colder than the south pole" which isn't that suprising as January would be the height of summer in the southern hemisphere

Now what did muggins here do to get to work this time? - Went on his Honda 250N motorcycle that's what.

Firstly given the extreme cold I was surprised that it did actually start.

There was no snow or ice, just very cold, and on a motorbike there's always that "chill factor" once you get going but at least the roads were OK.

First problem was ice on the inside of the helmet visor due to breathing, - had to open it partially and the oncoming air stung like hell.

Second problem, some of the bike controls became very stiff and heavy, but hey ho I have owned worse bikes and at least it was still ridable.

Next problem, my outer layers of clothing froze making it difficult to move. If I stopped would I be able to put my feet down? Would I actually be able to get off the bike? If so would I be able to put it on its stand and walk away? The answer to all these questions turned out to be yes but with great difficulty.

The final problem was that the cold caused the fly zip on my waterproof / windproof overtrousers to break open allowing an icy blast of air to enter my clothing where no man wants an icy blast of air. It was painfully cold.

On arriving at work I did manage to park up and get off the bike OK and made it into a warmer building.

I had what I thought was a desperate urge to go to the toilet to urinate, - in fact it took me over an hour and a half to do so

I don't know which is worse for driving in, - ice, snow, fog, strong winds, extreme cold, heavy rain and floods?

I have driven through all of them at some time and they are all pretty rough, - so here's to a mild winter.

[ukelele lady]

These are pictures of Langsett frozen filter beds.

The men are trying to broke the ice as you can see the thickness.

Could have been taken in 1962.

[DaveH]

When was the last time we had real snow?

Enough snow to build a snowman about 3 metres (10 feet) tall?

Answer, - YESTERDAY, 5 January 2010.

This snowman, visible from East Bank road is in the grounds of the old Hurlfield / Myrtle Springs school in front of the Community Centre, - the only bit of the old school still standing.

I assume it was built by members of a community group as it must have taken some time to complete.

It stands around 10 feet tall, not including the traffic cone used for his hat.

I don't know where they got the snow from to make it as the ground around the snowman is still about 8-9 inches deep in snow.

[DaveH]

When was the last time we had real snow?

Enough snow to build a snowman about 3 metres (10 feet) tall?

Answer, - YESTERDAY, 5 January 2010.

This snowman, visible from East Bank road is in the grounds of the old Hurlfield / Myrtle Springs school in front of the Community Centre, - the only bit of the old school still standing.

I assume it was built by members of a community group as it must have taken some time to complete.

It stands around 10 feet tall, not including the traffic cone used for his hat.

I don't know where they got the snow from to make it as the ground around the snowman is still about 8-9 inches deep in snow.

Not to be outdone by the community snowman across the road in a front garden is this more shapely Henry Moore of a "snow sculpture"

Even this one is about 5-6 feet tall.

Due to its unorthodox shape is it some sort of snow animal or a headless, armless snow woman?

[vox]

Looks cosy doesnt it?

Steel Bank looking towards Burngreave

[Stuart0742]

Looks cosy doesnt it?

Steel Bank looking towards Burngreave

Even got your van in the 1st photo lol

[ukelele lady]

It all looks so nice but not to travel in.

[DaveH]

It all looks so nice but not to travel in.

Vox gets his van in his first snow picture and ukelele lady's first picture looks like its taken through someones bedroom window lol

[vox]

Even got your van in the 1st photo

Where it is, I usually am.

I don't go far without it.

If it was up to me I'd sell the car and get another Escort van for "She who shall be obeyed". :)

[DaveH]

From tonights Star

The Star, - Council can't afford winter gritting

OK so now we are having some real snow and not suprisingly it is causing a few problems.

But for the council to turn around and say they can't afford the road gritting bill to people like me and thousands of others who pay their local council tax

Perhaps the headline should be made to continue, -

Council can't afford the road gritting bill BECAUSE, -

A

They have invested the cash in a failed bank

B

They have squandered the money on other projects like the World Student Games

C

They have hidden the money in a Swiss bank account

D

they need it to renovate Park Hill Flats

Is it A, B, C, or D?

You can go 50/50, phone a friend or ask the audience.

You CANNOT ask the City Council what they did with YOUR money :o