1963 The Big Freeze - Winterwatch BBC iPlayer

[Dedworth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01q9d86/Winterwatch_1963_The_Big_Freeze/

Great black and white documentary showing the extreme weather that is possible in the UK

[grahamw48]

Cheers. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

I was there ! :freezin: :biggrin:

[Arthur Little]

Ahh yes :icon_rolleyes: ... I remember it well!

[Michael Parnham]

I remember this occasion, because we used to have to build a little fire underneath our diesel tanks on our trucks to thaw the fuel before we could proceed on our journey, also I do remember in 1947 struggling to school in snow that seemed to come up to our waist in, at the age of five it was lot's of fun!:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Dedworth]

Schools stayed open then Michael not like the nanny state today. I was surprised my son's school was open today, under the previous idle, wimp of a headteacher 1mm of snow would ensure closure.

I think they are wary now of the bad local press - not sure if it was 2012 or 2011 but the local rag trumpeted the fact that a RC Junior School prided itself with staying open when all the others shut down.

[Michael Parnham]

I think the reason for all schools being open back in the better times was because everyone walked everywhere, I still do walk quite a lot, but I cant understand why kids cant still walk to school, some schools have a system where a couple of parents walk a large group of children to school so that they are always supervised, and different parents take it in turns. :wink:

[grahamw48]

It's usually because the teachers ring in absent, not the kids.

So many now relying on cars and living miles away from the school. :icon_rolleyes:

That is probably the big difference now compared to when we were kids.

They should be required to live within a certain radius of the school premises.

[Terpe]

Our local village closed. Health and safety.

All the kids and most of the mums walked around half-a-mile to the local good bit of downhill sledging.
I don't think there'd been a proper risk assessment:biggrin:

Would the landowner be responsible :biggrin:

[grahamw48]

The litigation culture has taken all the fun and adventure out of life in this country. :NoNo:

I broke my arm 3 times, each time at a different school, when I was a kid....plus knocked off my bike and put in hospital when turning into school one day, and fell 40 feet down a cliff when out of school. I'm still here, and no lawyers involved. :icon_rolleyes: