# Winterwatch 1963 - The Big Freeze BBC2



## editor (Jan 19, 2013)

Anyone watching this? Blimey, it was one hell of a freeze. Amazing footage!


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## Geri (Jan 19, 2013)

Just turned it on. Some people on a Facebook group I post in were reminiscing about what it was like during this winter in the village I grew up in. Bit before my time though.


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## editor (Jan 19, 2013)

Cars driving over the River Thames!


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## editor (Jan 19, 2013)

45 consecutive days of snow in the West Country, 5 foot snowfall in one day on Dartmoor!


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## Ponyutd (Jan 19, 2013)

Unreal, but a beauty of a programme. Ruislip Lido was a favourite haunt of mine. To see a car on it, towing skiers is unbelievable.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 19, 2013)

editor said:


> Cars driving over the River Thames!


 
Wowzers. Even when london bridge had tiny arches that steadied the flow, there were only a handful of frost fairs on the thames.


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## marty21 (Jan 19, 2013)

My parents were living in Bath at the time, I'm going to ask them what it was like, South West seem to take a battering!


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## Geri (Jan 19, 2013)

it must have been difficult living through that. Most people didn't have cars and would be very reliant on local shops for provisions. The village I'm from is in a valley and when there is snow it gets very difficult to get in or out, and the buses stop running.

This is partly why I feel more comfortable living in a city.


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## kebabking (Jan 19, 2013)

frightening really - the talk about basic provisions running dry in a time when pretty much everyone knew how to bake their own bread, create/use/wash re-usable nappies, repair clothing etc.. suggests that if the same were to happen now, a lot of people would be in very, very deep poo.

most houses had fireplaces so if you could get coal/wood you could get heat when the electricity/gas was off, and this sounds ridiculous, but everyone wore 'proper' shoes rather than trainers or ballet pumps, and therefore they were more able to cope with walking in the snow.

and yes, i've seen people out today in 6 inches of snow wearing shoes that barely make the grade as slippers...


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## Sirena (Jan 19, 2013)

I was really impressed bn the programme too. I was around then but I don't remember it being the big news story, maybe because the news wasn't such an all-pervasive thing then and, being in Northumberland, we were quite used to snowy Winters. I do remember the fact that peewits (Green Plovers), one of my favourite birds, disappeared after that Winter.


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## Geri (Jan 19, 2013)

kebabking said:


> and this sounds ridiculous, but everyone wore 'proper' shoes rather than trainers or ballet pumps, and therefore they were more able to cope with walking in the snow.


 
It is ridiculous, because trainers are better in the snow than 'proper' shoes.


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## zoooo (Jan 19, 2013)

It was such a great programme, lovely to come across by accident. Loved the style of presenting too, one of them even said 'four candles'.


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## OneStrike (Jan 19, 2013)

I too enjoyed the show, I particularly liked the explanations of the 6 stages of the weather systems and the American revelation that unusually warm water off of Hawaii was the cause. 

If you caught the credits at the end you'll have spotted Ridley Scott as the shows designer.


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## kebabking (Jan 19, 2013)

Geri said:


> It is ridiculous, because trainers are better in the snow than 'proper' shoes.


 
no they aren't - trainers get wet very quickly (and therefore very cold), and because they are much bendier they 'bounce' off frozen/hard snow, giving the wearer little purchace - a shoe with a leather sole, and leather construction, will to some extent, dig in.

a traditional 'stout' pair of leather shoes - which, in the 1960's would have been polished religously - would be a far, far better snow/cold weather shoe than a pair of trainers.


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## Geri (Jan 19, 2013)

It depends what the trainers are made of. I've worn leather boots in the snow and ended up with totally wet feet, because leather is not waterproof.


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## wiskey (Jan 19, 2013)

Found that by accident (because I detest Chris Packham) and what a gem! Excellent programme 

I'm really not sure we'd fare so well nowadays, partly because everything is so fragmented there's no overall cohesion and partly because we're wimps who expect everything to be easy.


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## clicker (Jan 19, 2013)

aww ui hope it's repeated, would love to see it, my mum was pregnant with twins during that and often reminisces fondly about walking knee deep in it to get to work!


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## zoooo (Jan 19, 2013)

OneStrike said:


> If you caught the credits at the end you'll have spotted Ridley Scott as the shows designer.


Oh yes, I saw that. Was it the real real one?


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## wiskey (Jan 19, 2013)

clicker said:


> aww ui hope it's repeated, would love to see it, my mum was pregnant with twins during that and often reminisces fondly about walking knee deep in it to get to work!


 
do you have iplayer? I just watched it on there http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01q9d86/Winterwatch_1963_The_Big_Freeze/


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## OneStrike (Jan 19, 2013)

zoooo said:


> Oh yes, I saw that. Was it the real real one?


 
Apparently so! From his wiki "In February 1963 named in title credits as "Designer" for BBC television Tonight programme about the severe winter of 1963" He went from that to being a set designer for Z-Cars.  Everyday's a school day, eh.


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## zoooo (Jan 19, 2013)

Wow. He just doesn't seem old enough! But now I see he was born in 1937 (yikes), so fair enough.


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## Garek (Jan 19, 2013)

I love the bit with the old ladies in the helicopter. If they were over 75 then they would been born prior to 1888. Bet they never thought they be flying in the air!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jan 19, 2013)

More 4 - Snowstorm:  Britain's Big Freeze
More 4 - Is our Weather Getting Worse?
More 4 -The Year Britain Froze - on now


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## mentalchik (Jan 19, 2013)

My mum's always going on about it as my birthday is coming up and i was born right in the middle of this in 1963...............

people didn't have cars but most didn't live so far away from work/shops/schools etc........maybe people were more used to not having 'luxuries' so were better prepared to get on with it !


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## quimcunx (Jan 19, 2013)

mentalchik said:


> My mum's always going on about it as my birthday is coming up and i was born right in the middle of this in 1963...............
> 
> people didn't have cars but most didn't live so far away from work/shops/schools etc........maybe people were more used to not having 'luxuries' so were better prepared to get on with it !


 
I was quite surprised to see helicopters used to deliver human and animal feed and performing rescue operations.  

I'm sure people in 1963 would talk about how people today aren't prepared and how in their day etc etc.  If the same thing happened you'd get the same DUNKIRK SPIRIT referred to in news reports.  And I'll bet in 1963 there were people who took advantage too, same as they did in the blitz.  some things would be handled better and some worse I expect.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 19, 2013)

editor said:


> Anyone watching this? Blimey, it was one hell of a freeze. Amazing footage!


 
Given the amount of snow that's fallen, I'd call it amazing 'inchage'


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## Maggot (Jan 21, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Given the amount of snow that's fallen, I'd call it amazing 'inchage'


But a hell of a lot of snow fell in 1963. And Britain was covered in snow for over 2 months.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 21, 2013)

Maggot said:


> But a hell of a lot of snow fell in 1963. And Britain was covered in snow for over 2 months.


 
But who was around in 1963?


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## Maggot (Jan 21, 2013)

Editor?


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## editor (Jan 21, 2013)

Maggot said:


> Editor?


I can just remember it! Loads of power cuts and it was f-f-f-freezing, but I loved it. Maybe that's where I developed my love of snow


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## ska invita (Jan 21, 2013)

just watching on iplayer...great stuff....really want a go on that snow plough train


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## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 21, 2013)

An excellent documentary, I thought. It was odd to see Cliff Michelmore looking in 1963 exactly how he looked from when I remember him presenting the Holiday programme in the 1980s. Perhaps he was born middle-aged. He's still alive too.


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## editor (Jan 21, 2013)

The style of presentation didn't seem as old fashioned as I was expecting too.


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## quimcunx (Jan 21, 2013)

It was practically BBC NEWS24, filmed shortly after the big freeze ended from what he said on the film.


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## Mrs Magpie (Jan 22, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> But who was around in 1963?


I remember it really well.


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## Mrs Magpie (Jan 22, 2013)

Food was short, especially anything fresh eg spuds. The snow was piled so high at the edge of roads I couldnt see over it. As a child, when time seems to pass slower, it seemed like forever.


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## peterkro (Jan 22, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> But who was around in 1963?


I was thirteen but living in the Antipodes at the time.


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## TheHoodedClaw (Jan 22, 2013)

editor said:


> The style of presentation didn't seem as old fashioned as I was expecting too.


 
Yeah I thought that. It was quite dry and factual in parts, with the weather charts for example, but it also had footage of kids playing about on sledges and stuff. That's the kind of mix some modern docs get slated for.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 22, 2013)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I remember it really well.


 
I do too. Kennedy got shot that year.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 22, 2013)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Food was short, especially anything fresh eg spuds. The snow was piled so high at the edge of roads I couldnt see over it. As a child, when time seems to pass slower, it seemed like forever.


 
Back then, I was the designated shoveller. I was big for my age, but not that big. I hated it. Some mornings you'd wake up, and you couldn't push the back door open for the snowdrifts. We always seemed to have meals, though.


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## Maggot (Jan 22, 2013)

quimcunx said:


> It was practically BBC NEWS24, filmed shortly after the big freeze ended from what he said on the film.


But with no interviews with members of the public - which is a good thing.


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## Mrs Magpie (Jan 23, 2013)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I do too. Kennedy got shot that year.


I remember my teachers crying.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jan 23, 2013)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I remember my teachers crying.


 
My teacher didn't cry, but it's all we talked about in class that afternoon.


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## Mrs Magpie (Jan 23, 2013)

It was a Catholic school plus a big Irish community. That was probably why.


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