Snow

[RogerWood]

I don't remember snow causing as many problems in my childhood as they do today, here on the flat of Radcliffe/Manchester.
Maybe it's because we had chains on our wheels.
5:30 in the morning when Francis used to pick me up, chains rattling on his van. Down to Bringolli and then back up to Maerdy. Delivering milk to ALL the streets and then back home, change, and run for the bus for school, and still not be late.
What have we come too?

[JohnPitt]

We used to get quite deep falls years ago - a foot of snow not unusual - all the essential transport used snow chains and rattled around with them long after the last of the slush was gone - happy days.

[bouncer]

I don't remember snow causing as many problems in my childhood as they do today, here on the flat of Radcliffe/Manchester.
Maybe it's because we had chains on our wheels.
5:30 in the morning when Francis used to pick me up, chains rattling on his van. Down to Bringolli and then back up to Maerdy. Delivering milk to ALL the streets and then back home, change, and run for the bus for school, and still not be late.
What have we come too?

come on Roger - you've been away too long - it's Bryngollau

[JohnPitt]

come on Roger - you've been away too long - it's Bryngollau

Ha Ha

[brianblaenboy]

I remember we walked from Blaenllechau to Ferndale in the snow - for everything, and no buses then either. Where I live is flatter than a pancake, and around 2 years ago, around 7.30 in the morning, a car pulled up outside my house, engine running, and a child got out and delivered a paper to my neighbour and jumped back in the car. There was no snow, it was not raining and there was no wind either, and my thoughts were like others on here, remembering what we did - without moaning as well. How times have changed - in fact - I don't see many children delivering papers any more, some older people seem to do it now.

[GaryLockyer]

Oh, those folk with failing memories that can't recall the amount of snow that we got in Ferndale.
Going back to the early 50's, I think it was around 54 or 55, we had snow so bad that the hills up to Darran, Rhondda Tce and Brynhyfrd were impassable for almost a month.
We created a sledge run/slide from the top of the hill, by Fox's gully at the end of the fronts of Rhondda Tce down the hill - across Brynhyfryd and then down Ayron Street, across Regent Street and then on down to the main road - Duffryn St - ending by slamming into the railings.
We built a jump - yump - tump in the middle of the road, outside John Roberts's house in Ayron St. You would come screaming down the hill - most of us on either cardboard or lino - cos we didn't have proper sledges, and if you were brave enough, take the jump - full pelt.
You never knew where you were going to end up. (Usually in the wall). Because it was dangerous some of the 'grown-ups' made us build a snow wall at Regent St to stop us going down the main road. This ended up becoming a second jump, if you had managed to negotiate the first one in one piece.
This slide - cum - bobsleigh run lasted for almost a month in that big freeze.
Then, on into the sixties. I was working in Llanishen with Elaine (your sister, Roger)and Gill Darley in the Post Office telephone accounts dept. Before I bought my car and transported all of us to Llanishen, we had to catch the train to Ponty - before Mr Beeching axed them within 6 months, then a private bus from Ponty to work.
I started in Llanishen in 1961 and bought my car in late 1962, so it must have been the winter of 1961 that we had another huge snowfall.
We managed to get to Ponty but there were no buses running.
We WALKED from Ponty station to the other end of Treforest Trading Estate before we managed to get a bus. (We must have been mad).
Anyway, there were a few years when we would all hope for a white christmas - but it never happened before Xmas.
On two years running it started to snow on Christmas day afternoon and by the evening all the upper streets in Ferndale were inaccessible. This would have been around 67 & 68.
I moved over the other valley in the seventies but still remember us having snow regularly.
Prior to me coming to Oz, I went back to Uni fulltime for 3 years at UWIST in Cardiff.
The year I finished Uni - 1981 - was another bad one for snow.
My car was buried under a 10ft snowdrift, directly outside of my flat off Crwys Road.
That is correct - snow in CARDIFF. It had drifted from one side of the road -where the pavement was clear, over to my side, where it was almost up to the windowsill upstairs.
I left Cardiff to come to Oz that January 82. I thought that I might have to leave my car where it was until the thaw and then get my brother to rescue it for me.
Fortunately, I managed to get it out after a couple of days, which solved the problem.
So, to finish, we used to have some really severe snows when I was in and around Ferndale from the early 50's all the way up to the time I left to come here.
Other than the great bobsleigh run I have described above, I can remember other 'runs' that we made. Down Park Road was a good one. Another was from Darran - at the bottom of Llyn Crescent -down the hill into Tudor Street (if you were chicken) or down into the lampost outside of 18 Rhondda Tce. (Nosebleeds from running into it being administered to by the various mothers who could hear the bawling kids outside).
Thats enough for this one.
More anon.
Ooops, I have just recalled another story about the snow - although this one is 'second-hand'
The great 'white-out' of November 1947 was one of the biggest snowfalls Ferndale endured.
My mother was 8 months pregnant with my brother Chris, and we were still living in Fountain Street. My mum persuaded my father to take her tobogganning. They used lino and the sledge run was Rhondda Road. From the top at Bryngollau, down passed the Tudor Hall and ending at the Strand.
Definitely finished for now.
Gary

[brianblaenboy]

Gary, very many thanks, you've certainly brought back memories. On the other side, (Blaen), we used various parts of the mountain, and only recently I told some-one, "In our childhood, if you didn't have a cut or nose-bleed from playing, then you must have been indoors ill". However, winter of 1952, my grandfather passed away, and due to the road up Commercial Street being solid ice, his funeral was delayed a week, (coffin still in front room). The council then got their men out on a Sunday to chip the ice off the road from the Screen up to my grandparents house and on Monday, they left around mid-day to go to Llanwonno, via Pontypridd. My father says that somewhere after Ynysybwl, they put the coffin on the "ash-cart", and then a sledge up past the pub to the church. By this time, when the coffin was lowered into the grave, they couldn't see it, and my dad always maintained that his father would have laughed all the way there had he known the chaos he caused, and by the time they got back to Blaenllechau, I believe it was around 7pm. A bit of useless infoormation, his funeral cost less than £40 - I still have the invoice!!!!
1962 winter was just as bad for Llanwonno, another two trips and on both occasions, up to our knees in snow in the Churchyard.
No, I shall never forget the snow we had, not only for the family reasons but the great opportunity to have great fun on the mountain.
Thanks again.

[JohnPitt]

Great essay on trditional Rhondda winter weather Gary (and Brian). Probably what you are not aware of is that we, currently in UK, have had a real old-fashioned flaming June and the heat wave continues ......

Anyway, there were a few years when we would all hope for a white christmas - but it never happened before Xmas.
On two years running it started to snow on Christmas day afternoon and by the evening all the upper streets in Ferndale were inaccessible. This would have been around 67 & 68.

While snowfalls in excess of a foot were Normal in Ferndale (unlike Porth or Ponty) it almost always came around new year. There was at least one exception - possibly 1955 - when there was a postal strike on.
Xmas prezzies piling up in depots. Then the Gov't called out the army and we had our postal Christmas presents delivered on christmas day in a heavy snow fall - yes definitely on christmas day!

[Gwaith]

Hi all,

My earliest memory of heavy snowfall was in the winter of 1947. My friend and I followed a path from her house to mine, and at the end of it, we turned around to find a great big ram together with huge horns, following us. We pressed so hard against my front door calling for my father, that we both fell into the passage when the door opened.

[GaryLockyer]

Just going back through some of the old posts and this one came up that I had intended to reply upon.
Christmas postal deliveries. We used to get two deliveries every day on the lead up Christmas PLUS one on Christmas morning. I can well recall the postmen coming in all kinds of weather to ensure that we received our cards, presents and messages for the festive season. Sadly, with the advent of the computer, the is less mail being sent or cards hand delivered. This has been the cause of the decline in the postal service in general in all parts of the world.
Delivering the Christmas mail was always regarded as the plum job to get if you were a Uni student on holiday as they alway received preference in the job allocations. My mum always used to have a 'tip' for all of the local services which delivered to our door. Whether it was a little something in the hand or "here is something that will keep you warm on your deliveries" there always seemed to be "little somethings" awaiting at our door.The postmen, the milkmen, the 'pop' lorry drivers, the breadmen and the coal merchants were always on her list.