Never had it so good!

bankrupt · Jan 22, 2022

Tonight marks the 75th anniversary of the start of 1947 blizzard.

By 14th March, when it ended, 2100mm of level snow had been measured in County Durham, 4m sheep lost in Wales and potato rationing introduced for the first time ever.

My personal recollection is of dozens of our cows being killed by falling barns due to snow load and of the daily frustration pouring away 3 week's milk.

Not to mention the nightly pain of thawing out frostbitten toes due to the level of fresh lying snow always topping one's wellington boots.

And, due to the delayed spring, average cereal yields in 1947 fell to 2.1 tonnes/hectare.

So far, 2022 looks rather better.

Gedd · Jan 22, 2022

God help us if that happened now

egbert · Jan 22, 2022

My Dad farmed through 2 such winters - 47 and 63, in which he lost half the hill flock.
He was forever after grateful to see the end of January, cos 'whatever happens now, it can't go on forever'

Oilseed · Jan 22, 2022

Thank God for global warming.

Wombat · Jan 22, 2022

Fingers crossed its spring 2019, not spring 2020 lets just say that

czechmate · Jan 22, 2022

bankrupt said:
Tonight marks the 75th anniversary of the start of 1947 blizzard.

By 14th March, when it ended, 2100mm of level snow had been measured in County Durham, 4m sheep lost in Wales and potato rationing introduced for the first time ever.

My personal recollection is of dozens of our cows being killed by falling barns due to snow load and of the daily frustration pouring away 3 weeks milk.

Not to mention the nightly pain of thawing out frostbitten toes due to the level of fresh lying snow always topping one's wellington boots.

And, due to the delayed spring, average cereal yields in 1947 fell to 2.1 tonnes/hectare.

So far, 2022 looks rather better.

My ex (rip) father in law spoke of spring drilling, they drilled the centre of the fields and left huge headlands due to snow

Wombat · Jan 22, 2022

The thing is we need some year like this we cannot keep having biblically wet crap all the time as you just end up so far behind with everything.

bankrupt · Jan 22, 2022

egbert said:
My Dad farmed through 2 such winters - 47 and 63, in which he lost half the hill flock.
He was forever after grateful to see the end of January, cos 'whatever happens now, it can't go on forever'

63 was slightly colder but 47 had a bit more snow .

czechmate · Jan 22, 2022

Wombat said:
The thing is we need some year like that we cannot keep having biblically wet crap all the time as you just end up so far behind with everything.

Thawing snow is pretty wet

bankrupt · Jan 22, 2022

czechmate said:
Thawing snow is pretty wet

In 1947, 26,000 Ha was still flooded in East Anglia until May.

Wombat · Jan 22, 2022

czechmate said:
Thawing snow is pretty wet

Sorry I meant like this and early 2019. You just cannot have years where it rains all the bloody time to get stuff done

lloyd · Jan 22, 2022

Nevermind 1947 I dont want to see another 2012
where it started off looking promising but from May
onwards it didn't stop raining around here.

DeeGee · Jan 22, 2022

I remember the winter of 1963 but not 47, though my parents talked of it starting much later than 1963 which was on Boxing Day 1962.
So Bankrupt, do you remember did tonight in 47 mark a nationwide start of frost and snow, or did it spread from area to area at different times?

colhonk · Jan 22, 2022

Winter of 63 was great, snowed in for days so could not get to school, when we did get there the boiler had burst with the frost so sent home for another few days, magic

Kidds · Jan 22, 2022

Locals digging their way in/out of the village by hand with shovels 1947.
I don't want to see snow like that.

Hindsight · Jan 22, 2022

followed by the floods. The fens were soaked. Burst banks.

Farma Parma · Jan 22, 2022

Dad & others older than him often got on about these unforgettable weather events & think it might have been the 47 storm that this tale was from
It was said that the workers from a local quarry helped CASTING the snow away out in the sticks & used to hang there jackets on the tops of the telegraph poles
Now either the Snow was 3m deep or the poles back then were much shorter?? but ive heard this from several old boys who are sadly no longer with us.
But that Beast from the East here in March 2018 was bad enough. Thankfully the Modern Telehandlers saved the day.

bankrupt · Jan 22, 2022

DeeGee said:
do you remember did tonight in 47 mark a nationwide start of frost and snow, or did it spread from area to area at different times?

Came in from the SE and moved up over the whole country within a couple of days - more below :-

Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

LKSF · Jan 22, 2022

The modern warm and wet weather brings plenty of problems. On a personal level here on the Pennine moors we have a big midge problem now. We have to cover up with nets like beekeepers on many Summer and Autumn days, never had that 30yrs ago.

DeeGee · Jan 22, 2022

Farma Parma said:
Dad & others older than him often got on about these unforgettable weather events & think it might have been the 47 storm that this tale was from
It was said that the workers from a local quarry helped CASTING the snow away out in the sticks & used to hang there jackets on the tops of the telegraph poles
Now either the Snow was 3m deep or the poles back then were much shorter?? but ive heard this from several old boys who are sadly no longer with us.
But that Beast from the East here in March 2018 was bad enough. Thankfully the Modern Telehandlers saved the day.

Very much so.

Back in 1947 there would have been little mechanised help bar a few TVO farm tractors, steam train snow ploughs and maybe a few rudimentary drag line excavators.

In 1963 there were far more tractors, snow ploughs and a very few early JCB type machines, but still nothing like the clearance equipment we have at our disposal today.

If our lanes were blocked later this current winter, then tele-handlers and large four wheel drive tractors would have them cleared in much shorter time than could have been imagined sixty or eighty years ago. And in this respect thank God for modern machinery.

What would still take hours of time of course would be thawing out pipes, water troughs, milking parlours and all the other things that take up so much time and make severe weather so troublesome and time consuming.

Never had it so good!

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

Share this page