Snow Day

Whenever we have any mildly snowy weather the news always refers back to the winters of 1947 and 1963 - I was only a wee'un for the latter and don't remember any of it.

The best (or worst?) snowfall I recall is January 1982 when I lived in Cardiff. I vividly remember walking along packed snow on the pavements that was higher than the bonnets of cars and not far from the roofs. I recall a snowdrift that went from the ground to the eaves of the third floor on the front of my university building and someone had carefully cut a tunnel to the front door. I lived off satsumas and ryvita for a couple of days since most of the shops were shut, oh, and hospitality at the pub at the end of my road. Cardiff was snowed in for a couple of days and it was a very odd experience.

The snow we've had today is supposed to be the worst (or best?) for 18 years in London and it's certainly more than I remember. It was around 6"-8" outside my house and when I finally wandered rather gingerly up to the High Road I found that there was a nice layer of ice under the snow, and ice and slush the closer I got to well trodden pavements. If it freezes tonight it'll be treacherous tomorrow morning.

The absence of traffic has been most odd today - no buses at all and very few cars. Drivers were noticeably going faster this afternoon as roads cleared but some were still skidding since they're not used to driving in these conditions - take it slow and careful, people, it's not just your lives at stake. I went in fear of slipping and landing on my back but my boots from Toronto held me up.

I wish I'd had the nerve to explore the snowy landscape with my camera but I didn't. Here's one of the few photos I took, one of the landmarks of Streatham, St Leonards Church which has been there in one form or another for 1,000 years or so and has certainly seen more snow than today.