For those of us who are still sending and receiving Christmas Cards, we love the snowy scenes pictured on them. One of the most famous scenes is of the Frost Fairs on the Thames. These were brief events between 1309 and 1814 when the Thame froze 23 times. Of those 23 occasions, only five were cold enough for them to be able to hold a fair on the river. From the amount of scenes we see depicted at this time of year, you would have thought that the Frost Fairs would have been a regular occasion.
The last time that the Thames froze over was, in fact, the winter of 1963, when the country suffered a long period of winter weather, with the thermometer dropping to -20 degrees on occasion. I was barely one year old, and we lived on a farm at least a mile from the village. My mother used to tell me that we were snowed in until March that year, and the water froze in the pipes. Thankfully, my Grandparents lived in the village, and my Grandfather was the Shepherd for the farm. He could get through on his Massey Ferguson tractor and bring food and water to my beleaguered parents and presumably our next-door neighbours in the other cottage. We moved out of that cottage into the town on the day of the World Cup Final in 1966, but that's another tale.
In the 21st Century, we have to contend with storms, the latest of which 'Henk' has been causing havoc this week. Climate change is said to be the main culprit, and I have to agree. We are looking at a period of much colder weather next week, but generally, this winter so far, it has been a lot milder than we would expect. It's getting colder next week. Time to get the winter coat out, methinks.
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