The Winter of 1947

[PeverilPeril 3,284]

The TV program about the snow and floods of 1947 brought back a lot of memories. I was 8 and still in short trousers.

There were some derelict houses just below our house on Peveril St. At the end house there was an alleyway that linked Peveril St to Aspley Place. This was our short cut to the 43 and 44 trolley bus stop, outside of the Alma. It was also our shortcut to Bentinck Rd School. In the winter of 1947 the snow had drifted as high as the derelict houses eves. There was no way it could be cleared so we dug a tunnel through it!

After about 5 weeks of snow the thaw set in and caused massif flooding. The Medders were inundated and a lot of residents had to live upstairs for some weeks, including one of my uncles family. If you visit Trent Bridge you will see that the flood heights are marked on the wall near to the pedestrian tunnel. Hard to believe when standing there that the river could reach such heights.

....and we grumble about a bit of rain 

[LizzieM 9,511]

Thanks PP, this is what Nottstalgia is all about.  
I was born a couple of years after the rotten winter of 1947, in fact my parents didn’t marry until September 1947 but have told me how they went ‘courting’ in their wellies.  
However I do remember the winter of 1962-3 and as a 12 year old having fun sledging down the steep road I lived on in Arnold and the only neighbour who had a car and no kids was throwing ash across the road to spoil our fun.  The Trent school (service) bus that started its journey in Hucknall before picking up us kids in Arnold got us to Gedling, despite what must have been a difficult u-turn when the driver couldn’t get the bus up onto Mapperley Plains. We eventually were taken back into Arnold then into Nottingham and through Colwick to Gedling.  There was none of the present day namby pamby closing of schools because of a sprinkling of snow.  We were a tough lot back then!  

[IAN FINN 810]

Born in January47 and did a lot of digging and shovelling snow in63 at my dads garage he put his car in the garage and used the Jeep he used for breakdowns it had a canvas roof no doors it was ex war department from Ruddington it got us through the deep snow.

[MargieH 7,607]

I remember when I was nearly 4 and walking down Woodthorpe Drive with my mum and someone else.  There were huge banks of snow on the edge of the pavement which I think must have been cleared manually.  I climbed up the banks and walked along the top.   I suppose they must have been about 4 feet tall but they were huge to me!  
I remember getting chilblains on my toes and mum putting ‘Winter green?’ on them.  It was like a green stick of something which she warmed in front of the fire and then daubed it on my toes.  

 

[Cliff Ton 10,473]

10 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

If you visit Trent Bridge you will see that the flood heights are marked on the wall near to the pedestrian tunnel. Hard to believe when standing there that the river could reach such heights.

 

I took this yesterday - it's the stretch of wall with the flood markings, next to Trent Bridge. The footpath has completely disappeared under water.

 

[trogg 2,017]

I can remember that winter I had started as an apprentice electrician at the NCB one week at Hucknall Top Pit. This entailed a bike ride from Bestwood Estate past Bulwell common then Bulwell Hall Park and into the pit yard, the next week all the way to Arnold and Carlton College . The main memories of that time was the freezing cold falling off my bike, pushing it through the snow and my clothes being cold and damp all day. Like everyone else there was no alternative , no work no pay as a 15 year old that would have been disastrous. 

[philmayfield 6,149]

Are you really in your 90’s?

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

That winter occurred ten years before I was born but I recall my father telling me that people were also freezing at home because coal was scarce. Coal there was aplenty but it was all in wagons, waiting in sidings, due to frozen points which meant the wagons couldn't be moved.  He recalled his father becoming exasperated as the family's coal supply ran out and no coal merchant in Beeston had any stocks until the wagons could be moved and unloaded.  Happy days.

[trogg 2,017]

1 hour ago, philmayfield said:

Are you really in your 90’s?

My error I should have wrote it was the winter of 62-63, many thanks for pointing out my error, but my body does feel at the present time that I am in my 90s. In the week before Christmas I decided that I was fed up sweeping up leaves from a cheery tree in my front garden, so out came my chainsaw. It all came down to ground level then sawn into logs and cleared away, then I dug around the base to remove the stump. 30 mins after major pain in my lower back the wife had to put all the tools away and I have been suffering ever since ,  unable to sit, stand, bend or walk for very long , I think the wife believes I have done this just to annoy her and it has confirmed her belief that I am a stupid old *******, for once in my life I agree with her.

[Annesley Red 80]

I remember the bad one in the early 60's In Annesley we sledged down the Church Hill and made slides on the school hill. Bad winter ? it was brilliant as a kid. Power cuts , roaring coal fires, and the skin on the rice puddings made in the coal fire oven. Oh and the 'hot-aches'

[Beekay 5,160]

Thing I remember about  winter 62/63 was the bloody cold ! I was a bus conductor at the time, working on the rear platform of the old AEC mk3, ( Daimler Fleetlines were just being introduced). Even with an overcoat on, it were still a freezing experience. I had some woolen gloves with the fingers cut off, but it was still difficult to operate the ticket machine and handle the money. I remember once when it was so foggy, that I sat on the front wheel arch so I could guide my driver, Joe Handley. He could'nt even see the kerb. We limped out of town up Derby road and down Alfreton road. It was only when we crossed over Bobbers Mill bridge and onto Aspley lane that I was able to get back in the bus.

The thing that sticks out most was my feet were always cold and damp, as the shoes let wet in, ( could'nt afford new) and it seemed every pssenger came aboard with a load of snow on their feet,so the aisle and platform was always wet.

Happy days ! Looking back, I loved it all.

[philmayfield 6,149]

I remember the old gravel workings lakes in the village being frozen over in 1963. People were skating on them. There was one large vacant lake I decided to walk over. I got to the middle and there was the sound of ice breaking. I’ve never run so fast. The 100 yard sprint over the ice wasn’t easy.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

During the winter of 1962/3 I caught measles. Had it quite severely and was delirious, hallucinating and also suffering copious nosebleeds.  My bed was brought downstairs into the sitting room and the curtains were drawn, to protect my eyesight.  Freezing temperatures froze the water main out in the road. Therefore, we had no water and neither did most of our neighbours, except for one kindly couple who supplied everyone else for as long as their taps kept running.

 

My poor, frazzled mother had to cope with me being sick and her own father who lived with us and was also ill.  She couldn't do any washing and the sheets just piled up.  I don't remember much about it except waking up and seeing a line of elderly gentlemen standing round my bed, studying me intently. I don't know who they were because, apparently, no one else saw them.

[PeverilPeril 3,284]

Trent Bridge and the floods on the news this morning. Will another notch be chiselled on the wall?

The Trent here in our Staffs village is covering a few hundred acres. It will eventually all pass under Trent Bridge. 

[philmayfield 6,149]

It’s forecast to drop to the top or the ‘normal’ range in 24 hours at Colwick. Our field lake looks bigger with a flock of about 40 gulls. It’s like being at the seaside!

[Beekay 5,160]

Take some photos mate ! Countrfile are always looking for wildlife picture for their calendar. 

[Cliff Ton 10,473]

3 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

Trent Bridge and the floods on the news this morning. Will another notch be chiselled on the wall?

The Trent here in our Staffs village is covering a few hundred acres. It will eventually all pass under Trent Bridge. 

 

At Trent Bridge this morning, the river is higher than it was on my photo of two days ago.

[philmayfield 6,149]

Our nearby hamlet of Gibsmere is totally isolated by the floodwaters. Southwell fire brigade evacuated 18 of the inhabitants yesterday. The older houses there were sensibly built much higher and those residents are flood free. The planning department at the local council don’t seem to understand the flooding problems in the low lying Trentside villages when they grant building permission. We are on much higher ground and the house was still built higher. The Main St. is closed just beyond the church and the flood signs are up. Some drivers are still ignoring the warnings but only tractors can get through. Our back lane is being used as a shortcut from the Fiskerton direction by a few but there are deep puddles in the large potholes. The dyke is starting to spill over on the lane in front of the pub but it’s nothing like 2000 when the whole road was flooded. I’m pleased we have a high off the ground 4x4. No significant rain is forecast fortunately. In my 62 years in the village I’ve seen it all before.

I’ve just seen that we’ve made the local lunchtime television news live with my old friend Peter Cast, the chief flood warden, being interviewed. The drone pictures of the flooded fields along the river and around the Bromley at Fiskerton are alarming.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

It's a widespread problem. Houses have been built in places that older residents are well aware can flood in weather like that we've been having. Alright, it doesn't happen often and perhaps it hasn't occurred for many years but the danger is still there and constructing houses on such land is foolhardy.  The River Amber here in Derbyshire has caused a lot of trouble recently, flooding the church in South Wingfield, recently built properties and rendering the church hall a write-off.  The latter was rebuilt not all that long ago. The architect was informed by local residents that his plans were not suitable but it went ahead anyway. Now it's just a soggy heap. No one listens.

[philmayfield 6,149]

The problem is that if housing is built on higher ground the run off water goes to flood the lower areas and ultimately goes to the rivers. Basically this country is overpopulated and can’t support an ever growing population. A cull is needed. C’mon Sir Starkers, what’s your plan?

[Oztalgian 3,302]

8 hours ago, philmayfield said:

A cull is needed. C’mon Sir Starkers, what’s your plan?

The UK needs to make entry more difficult as Australia did and it worked here. It is never likely to happen in the UK as business continually looks for cheaper and cheaper sources of labour particularly in the hospitality and services area.

[mary1947 2,085]

Winter 1947 I remember it well, my father drove down in his lorry all the way from Scotland. Grandma Selina went running out to great him. Walter you have a beautiful daughter who as  just been born, Ida would like to name her ???? what do you think? yes that's a wonderful name, now !!  ???? had an elder brother David and he also wanted to give his sister a name I want her name to be Mary he said. So that's how I came into this world.

When my farther was a lorry driver were they not called "Knights of the road" 

 

 

Winter 1962/3   This was the year when Highfieds lake froze over. So picked up my ice skates for out of the cupboard and caught a bus down to Highfields.  Had a great time.

[IAN FINN 810]

I remember the winter of 62-63 shovelling lots of snow on my dads garage forecourt at Watnall to keep the petrol pumps open and he parked his MK1 1958 2.4l Jag inside the garage and we used the ex Ruddington Willys Jeep it had no doors just a canvas top never got stuck lots of fun.

[philmayfield 6,149]

I’ve always fancied a wartime Willys Jeep. I once bought a later model, a CJ7 but I left it in the field and the horses chewed the seats. I gave it away to a farmer friend who did it up and sold it.

[Beekay 5,160]

@mary1947, your'e doing well if you can remember events occuring in the year you were born. I can't remember what I did last Thursday