Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History The Big Freeze of 1963

Yes granny I can relate to everything you said, including
the burst pipes. Going to bed frozen with water dripping
from the ceiling onto the bed. And yes, in retrospect it
set me up well for present habitat. lol

1963 I used to live opposite Landigan Lane,(the old one opposite New Hey Rd., not the new one which was moved when they built the M53) it was blocked solid for months, even Duncan's farm tractors were struggling, I think they used the Thingwall corner entrance, I remember Esso Blue and Aladdin Pink Parafin, a van used to come round the Woodchurch Estate delivering it. I think everybody had a Parafin heater in the hall or on the landing. When you're kids snow is fantastic, unfortunately I was 21 then and having to go to work on a push bike, no fun at all. Nobody missed work, schools didn't close, life just carried on as normal except it was b****y cold, ice on the inside of your bedroom window was the norm. It reminds me of the joke Tom O'connor used to tell about the kids in bed and the parents had visitors down stairs, one of the kids shouts down "Mum, the overcoat's fell off the bed", Mother goes upstairs and tells the kids off, and says we've got visitors, it's not an overcoat it's an eiderdown. Mother goes back downstairs, half an hour later a tiny voice shouts "Mum, the sleeve's come off the eiderdown".

(for the benefit of our younger members, substitute Duvet for Eiderdown)

Thanks, everyone, for your memories of that unbelievable winter - it's really enjoyable reading them. Another thing that sticks in my mind is that outside the front door of almost every house you'd see a big streak of black across the snow. This was where people had scattered clinkers or ashes from the firegrate to make a non-slip surface. It was simple but effective.
Where we lived, there was a piece of wasteland used by the council to dump lorryloads of snow that had been cleared from the roads. We had a brilliant time playing on those big frozen mounds, sliding down them or burrowing into them to make igloos.

....and the poor folk who only had an outside toilet. Bad enough at the best of times !!

Ice on the inside of windows and massive icicles on the outside, which we would break off and then suck them.

We lived in a smallish road, but all able bodied neighbours came out in community spirit , with shovels and brushes to clear as much as possible , making pathways along the pavements, and the road. Not so many cars then, which was probably a blessing.(Only one in our road) Each neighbour was given a tot of something during the course of the day, probably to keep their spirits up. They all seemed very jovial and I remember the light fading by the time they had finished. So a few hours of hard labour.......never did anyone any harm

Unfortunately I was in Mauritius then, I was however informed of it when I got back home in May 64.

Awesome post granny, thanks for sharing.