Winter of 1947
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Filmed on standard 8mm with pre-war film stock; shows the very serious winter in 1947 around Halifax Yorkshire. I am very grateful for the fascinating experiences that have been told and the great interest this has caused. All from a family piece of film now shared to many; thanks to CZcams. Ian Horner.
I was born on 3rd February 1947..My Mum gave birth to me in our 3 bedroomed council house.I was delivered by my Grandmother..as it was impossible to get out to a hospital 10 Miles away.There was a coal fire lit in the bedroom to keep my mum and I warm.I am 72 now..we all survived that winter.They were hard times then,but we all got throught it all,and I am here to tell the tale.
William, I endorse your comments; it was a winter to remember and hopefully not to be repeated. Ian.
I am very grateful for the many kind comments about this film. I was on leave from the RAF at the time. My Father had an 8mm Kodak cine camera and fortunately a pre war film. I must thank James Walton for his restoration and brilliance making this available for us all to see. Ian Horner.
Ian Horner
Thanks for sharing Ian--I remember this well, I was 6yrs old, and remember the outside toilet being destroyed by freezing water, from the cracked toilet and system, with 3 inch ice sheets everywhere outside the house. Post war shortages for most things, but especially for fuel. Very long queues at the depots, too. we used any old cart or pram to pick it up and bring it home. For us kids, it was an adventure , and kept us away from school for weeks.
Nice film ian I'm from halifax Yorkshire it would be nice if you could get it colorized
This is wonderful enchanting footage,thank you so much.I was born in the wrong decade! This era was far more authentic inspite of its many challenges I eould have been far more at home with hardship matched with authenticity....I grew up with no hot water ,bath or indoor toilet and that was the late 60s/ into 70s,many of us were left totally behind but it made us grateful and really tough,but we die young.
@Ian thank you for your service at such a dark time in Britain and thanks so much for this captivating and enchanting view from the past x
Many years ago I knew an old lorry driver who had set off from Halifax to go to Rochdale in the winter of 1947, but was caught in a blizzard on Blackstone Edge and forced to abandon his lorry. To avoid the diesel freezing in the fuel tank he simply left the engine running, after all, no-one was there to steal the lorry, and anyway if *he* was stuck, so would anyone else have been.
After two weeks had passed there was a break in the weather, and it was decided to attempt to recover the lorry, so he and another driver set off for Blackstone Edge, taking with them everything they might need to recover the frozen and out of fuel truck.
They needn't have bothered - when they reached the lorry its engine was still running ! Ticking over quietly under its blanket of snow for a fortnight, the lorry was warm and cozy. 😀
Kevin, A truly fascinating story and a nightmare of a winter that continued around the North into April. Best wishes. Ian.
Wow
Wonderful film. The dog seems so happy in the snow, a little moment in time that lives forever. Thank you for share.
Chris, Many thanks for your kind comments which are very much appreciated. "Rip" was our rescued dog and lived for many years; my two younger Brothers sadly have died; I am still very much here. Best wishes. Ian.
Ian, thank you so much for your kind comment, Chris.
absolutely wonderful I was six and remember the snow being almost up to my chest. never thought anyone had filmed it. very kind of you to show this
I was born in April 1947 and apparently there was still snow around then. My father used to tell me that the unemployed were drafted in to help with snow clearing, "no clearing, no dole!". Even in the 1950's when I was at school we had enormous drifts, never seen anything like it in modern times. That was in Nottinghamshire. Now I live in Hove, anything more than a light sprinkling of snow and the place grinds to a halt. Great film, thank you for posting.
Thank you so much for this film, Ian. Such a wonderful and atmospheric memoir of those times. I was born in late January of 1947, in Lancashire, and within a few days the winter really began to bite. My mum (now 95) tells stories of my dad and grandfather picking scraps of coal along the railway lines in freezing conditions, to keep the new baby warm. It's maybe why I'm not a fan of hot weather, but happy in the cold.
A magical piece of film, I'm so glad I found it. Very best wishes, Pat
Pat, Thank you for your comments which convey how very serious that winter was. My very best wishes. Ian.
Pat Metcalfe Please write an account of their memories.
My Father, born in 1930, told us about this. They lived in North Yorkshire and pipes were frozen so they had to boil snow. They were mega fit and hardy though; and he'll be 90 in January. I was born 9 years later also in great snow drifts and I still prefer living in hot countries! Thank you for this excellent footage. The loyal dog is watching out for the man losing his footage!
I was somewhere very warm and cosy all the way though the winter of 1947. I was born early June 1947. Thank you mother.
I was born on the 8th February 1947 in Wigan Lancashire my mother said the snow was nearly to the top of the back door
‘47 was obviously a vintage year - Halloween ‘47 boy here.
Snowiest winter of the 20th century in the UK.
Great film👍 I was born in the middle of this in mid January in Gloucestershire, and was bought up with tales by my father of how hard it was living in a small village. The next hard winter was 1962/3 the year I started work in a sawmill aged 15😳 The next one was 1982 and this time I was a gritter snowplough driver up in the cotswolds😊 something about me and snow😂😂
Norman, Thanks for your very interesting comments. Ian.
Gloucestershire ain't that the home counties that don't c any real snow mate try living in the pennines where we get proper snowfall.
Thank you for sharing this lovely film. I lived just over the hill towards Keighley, was 7 years old and we walked over gates and walls to get to school.
No closing of schools in those days.
Thank you. Gives me a greater appreciation for my mother-in-law who gave birth to my husband this year.
What a cleverly barbed comment :)
Balaclavas and short trousers!! I remember them well (I was born after 1947...but I heard about that winter!!)
This is one of the best videos I have ever seen, l absolutely love it. True life. Thank you so much for sharing your video. 😊😊🐱🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Doe, Thanks for your kind remarks. Ian.
I remember that winter so well. I was in care at the time. We were sent to school in short trousers and no scarves, and only posh kids wore gloves. My knuckles split with the cold.
Was the uniform only shorts? That’s insane! I’m in secondary school now, and I’m only allowed to wear a skirt so i could kind of understand that, it sounds like hell!
Shorts only was the rule! Wouldn't work now.
@@bridgetdonovan3290 Bridget,slightly off topic.During a really hot spell the boys were told they still had to wear trousers in school. Next day one boy turned up in a skirt😅.What is good for the girls etc,next day loads of boys turned up wearing skirts,school said nothing......
Thanks for upload. Was impressed that the boy skating was doing so in shorts!
Res, My thanks for your comment; that was my youngest ~~Brother Benjamin. Ian.
@@ianhorner8984 Thanks for info and for opening a window to the past. God bless.
Every time I see your dog, it takes me back to my long ago childhood with Shep, who could have been a much younger brother to the dog, Shep 1951-1966. Wonderful memories.
Beautiful, Thanks for sharing it with us. It’s very easy to look at this with rose tinted glasses but this must have caused great hardship for many people especially our hard working farmers who would have had crops ruined and sheep buried in the snow causing them to freeze to death and all those that couldn’t get to work in pre welfare state Britain where no work meant no pay !
22aj55, many thanks for yo0ur comments; it was a dreadful period. Ian.
Even the sea froze over---at Brighton I think, down in the south-east anyway.
Delightful film of an age long ago.People just dug in their heels
and got on with it.That dog must have had frozen paws.Great nostalgia where nowadays people
would send pictures of the snow on social media
Now that's a snowfall! Nowadays things grind to a stop with a couple of inches.
I was born 1943 and remember this winter in Brighton. Usual sort of 2 up and 2 down house, no bathroom, a sink with one cold tap and all the rest of it. No coal for some reason, so I remember walking with my dad along a rough road called Boundary Road at Black Rock. He was picking up coke that had spilled from the lorries trundling from the gas works. The snow was still around in March. The only heat we had at the time was sitting around an old blue gas cooker trying to keep warm. Better off in bed, I had my uncle Basil's army greatcoat on my bed, I remember it was heavy, it took me years to sleep with light covers on the bed.
Coats on beds were a feature throughout the 50's and 60;s for most poor kids. Cold. . . always remember that was a natural thing every Winter.
What a beautiful piece of history. Lovely film, Thankyou Ian.
Dave, I must apologize for taking so long to thank you for your comments. Best wishes..Ian.
Many thanks for uploading this Ian, an amazing video.
Danny, Many thanks for your kind comments. A period of history which has alas very few cine memories. Regards...Ian.
My fathers first cousin died in the the snows of 1947. He lived a few miles from Ardee (a small town in the County of Louth in Ireland) and was on his way home from the town when he got caught in a snow blizzard. They found his body the next day in the field in front of his house. It seems he got disoriented and couldn’t find his way out of the field. My parents would talk about the huge drifts of snow in some instances almost covering the houses.
Thank you for sharing. A wonderful snapshot of life from a different era. 👍
Jez T, Thanks for your comments. A period of life that was much more disciplined, and that did no harm. Regards. Ian.
The miners went on strike and my parents had to burn their furniture, what little they had, to try and keep from freezing to death.
Wow ,no mobile phones ..Lovely lovely film .Thank you so much for sharing .
Thank you for your comments which are very much appreciated. Best wishes...Ian.
Angie P More to the point; few landline phones either as most people could not afford one.
"Wow, no mobile phones" how is that surprising
I was born Jan 26 in Exeter and Dad had to walk 3 miles in the deep snow to visit me and Mum in the Hospital - then I had to listen to him complain about it every Jan 26th for the next 25 years!
Ray, Thanks for your account of 1947. It is quite amazing how many have memories of that winter. Thank you. Ian.
Fantastic film Ian, thank you. I was about 4 months old and living in my parents farmhouse at this time. It’s great to see a film with no mobile phones, no tattoos and no McDonalds in sight ! 🤣
Many thanks! Thanks for our comments. Regards. Ian.
I was 4 1/2 years old, living in Norwood green, Nr, Halifax. it took my father all day to reach the end of our path, & another 3 days to dig out to Viilage street,
Bruce, Thank you for your interesting comments on that 1947 winter. It is surprising how we all survived, no doubt due to living during the war. Best wishes, Ian.
I remember this well, I was 10 years old at the time 'Just gave my age away' I remember my father finding a tramp sleeping in our garden shed, my father let him stay there and also gave him a blanket.
Woke up to the smell of smoke, we rushed out to find the shed burning, we quickly threw a bucket of water and snow over it, my father went in to retrieve the tramp to find him not there, and neither were his work tools and tool box.
I remember my father picking up a large piece of wood and running off shouting " I'm going to get that bloody tramp" he never found the tramp
Albert Tatlock So despite what everybody seems to say in most films of events of this nature not everybody was fighting to help !!! ;)
I was fifteen then and clearly recall all the dead sheep on the moors in spring when the thaw came.
I was 5 and can vaguely remember huge icicles hanging outside grandma's window sill..
A man and his dog......just beautiful...poetic and charming.
I love seeing dogs in snow. They love it!
Wow!...beautiful film of a past time, my dad told me tales of the snow in 61-62, love the doggies tail, so happy! all the best from california! 👏🏻😌
Martin, Many thanks for your kind remarks. Yes it was a winter to remember and thankfully my father has a memory of it. Kind regards. ~Ian.
Can you imagine the problems such a fall of snow would cause today in 2019. It does not bare thinking about ⛄⛄⛄
I was born Feb '47. Dad said he walked through drifts for 5 miles to see Mum & I !! I made it even being under 3lbs at birth!!
A fantastic record of Yorkshire caught on film during a bleak period in history. My stepdad told me about the 1947 snow, when he lived in Wales. I have often heard about the one in 1963, but the worst one I myself remember is the heavy snow we had in January 1982. UK was hit bad then. I was living in the former mining town of Bargoed in the South Wales valleys, had it bad there as we were on the open and near the mountains !!, close to Caerphilly.
It's still bleak but in a different way
Lovely footage, the dog seems be he enjoying it.
Thank you Northstar; and for the many comments I have received from many viewers. Thank you...Ian.
Good choice of music,, i was born a few months later, but love this video, thank you for putting it up.
Thank you for your interesting remarks. A period of history which my Father had his camera to record it. warmest regards....Ian.
A nice production and lovely music. Thank you.
405 liner, Thank you for your remarks particularly about the music we use in all our videos. We aim to have melody as well as importance to the subject.Thank you for remarking about this; best wishes...Ian..
405liner; Many thanks for your comments. Like all our films we have always tried to find the most suitable music with the accent on melody. Best wishes..Ian.
I lived in UK that Winter, my sister born August 1947. We had spent the war years living with my Gran and my Dad was still in Royal Navy. Also had to go looking for fuel with my cousins. We picked coal from the rail line and picked up coke from the gas works. My gran had a huge grate so once inside was fine but it was very cold with bitter winds. We used to toast with a roasting fork thick slices of bread , smothered in butter and home made jams , mugs of tea . Now live in Africa and we do have odd falls of snow , this is very rare twice since 1980s . My grandchildren will enjoy this because when you tell them what it was like back then they tend to think I lived in the stone age.
Recognised W Tower instantly. ..thank you for sharing your wonderful journey down memory lane. .
I had 8 year's to go before i arrived screaming .
My thanks Grace well done recognising Wainhouse Tower. Best wishes. Ian.
Yes I remember it well , there was a shortage of coal and we had to go to the gas works to try and get some Coke, a type of fuel like coal and not what you smoke, we didn't know about that then because we were all innocent in those days.
Where was the gas works at ?
Amazing lovely film. My first thought was how they got to the food stores? Bravo!
That’s what you call winter and ❄️ ⛄️ snow
Lp
Simply wonderful footage ....
Thank you so much for digitizing and saving and sharing this great film.
Theo, Thank you for your comments. It was a dreadful period which seemed to go on right into April of that year. Best wishes....Ian.
Gorgeous film, such nostalgia. Thank you 🤗
Seaglasskaz, Thanks for your comments. Ian.
me too I was ll good fun l must admit I'm 64 now and still love it
Peter, I was on leave from the RAF and this film was made in April that year. Cheers....Ian.
A light dusting of snow nowadays and it’s total chaos I wasn’t born in ,47 but remember,63 very well when I think it snowed every day somewhere in the uk for nearly two months, having to go through 6’ drifts to get to a farmers to get milk straight from the cow as there were no deliveries to shops or homes and then trudging to school, loved it it was brill for us school kids making slides the length of the street old dears coming out to salt them then us throwing water over it to get the slide going again, not so good for adults especially those outdoor workers including my dad a brickie, burning old shoes to keep warm no coal deliveries mum baking bread and us eating it as soon as it came out of the oven, thank goodness for our childhood memories
I remember the snow storm well, lasted for weeks here in Scotland, remember my father awakening us children sometime through the night to see the snow level outside our bedroom window, it was three quarters up the window, in the morning , could not get out the back door!!.
What a magnificent dog !
John, He was a super dog "Rip" who we rescued from the RSPCA and he lived with us for many years. Regards... Ian.
I have a clear memory of this. I was 5 and we lived at King Cross. Each shop on the main road had cut a passage through the drifts to the shop door. It was higher than me on both sides.
Happy days with your best friend. I remember being snow bound in my boarding school in Montgomeryshire North Wales in 1963
zen, Thanks for your comments; when nature takes over we are all losers. Best wishes..Ian.
zen12330 You must have some interesting memories please write them down!!
What a wounderfull bit of nostalgia Ian all though I wasn’t born then I can only imagine how cold this must have been reall good filmmaking and narration thank you for taking the time to upload this video
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for sharing this with us. I'm too young to remember this (born in1955) but can remember winter '62 - '63. I've seen some dramatic pics of the winter of '47 over the years. It came at bad time with the country reeling from the result of the war and a coal shortage.
We complain (from our centrally heated and double glazed homes) of 6" of snow as the country grinds to a halt. How we'd cope with blizzards and 10ft drifts for 3 months - we wouldn't.
I was born on the 20th of January that winter, in my grandparents' house because the ambulance couldn't get up the hill due to the conditions! Like you, I served in the RAF (1963-1987).
Thank you Ian for this 'slice' of history. I cannot stop thinking how bleak these times must have been for the average person. So soon after the war with rations still in force. We have difficult times now with the COVID and rising unemployment. Generally people have never been better off though. Maybe a return to these experiences of privation may be a good thing for mankind.
This weather was legend in our household, dad was just back from Israel, mum was working for The MET. They were living in Lewisham.
What a super film , true history many thanks for showing and indeed filming,, and those lads wearing short trousers on the ice, they were made of better stuff back then.
This is awesome
Beth g, Yes it was awesome but true as you see it started in February and went on into April of that year around Halifax.
The year I was born September 1947. Obviously I knew nothing about it but my mum told me it was the coldest winter she had ever known.
This was tough but imagine how it was over in the recently conquered and destroyed Germany. The it's was s fight for survival
So cozy pictures 💗💗
My. Mother and father married this year... There was still snow on the ground in their wedding pictures IT WAS THE 7TH APRIL... 🌨️❄️💒💕
Yes we really did get snow like this in the south when l was young ,wonderful stuff .
brrrr! thank you for posting this ian.
Great film Ian I think it's the first I have seen on the 1947 winter.I was born on the 14th April that year and our family lived at Bempton East Yorkshire and my mum was taken down to the maternity hospital in Bridlington by the local coal merchant in his ex army lorry, you had no chance in a car .Thanks for sharing.
Chris, Many thanks for your interesting story and thankfully you are here to tell us all about. Best wishes. Ian.
Wonderful footage!
jaxxsraw. Thank you for your comment. Ian.
My dad told me about this winter up in west Yorkshire he said the snow was up to the bedroom window.
Yes! Things were very bad in Cardiff in winter of 1947. To get out of our house my Father had to dig through 6 feet of snow. My sister who was in the WRNS took hours to walk to the Cardiff Docks for duty. Water pipes were frozen etc. No good complaining as all in the same boat!
Love this, I’ve seen it a few times and the music is great and so nostalgic 😀
Sue, Thank you for your kind remarks; we do take time to use suitable music.
25 thumbs down what's that all about wonderful days thank s for. Showing
One thing I do remember from the late sixties when I started working, is that very few people were sent home early from work because of snow. I remember walking from Infirmary Road to Gleadless Valley one night. Before I retired in 2014, we were allowed to stay home from work if there weren't any buses or trams running. Then when the weather improved we'd all grab the overtime to catch up.
Annie, Thank you for your comments. It was a time when we were brought up in a disciplined way and it did us no harm. Regards...Ian.
The dog is loving it.
smartieplum, Yes "Rip" a rescued dog did enjoy it and was with us for many years. our Puss looks super. Ian.
Before the WWII, granaries of eastern Europe met increasing demand in Europe. But as the war destroyed most of the previous relations, plus bad harvest in Romania 1945, redistribution efforts of the Soviet in whole eastern Europe, drought and poor harvests all around the region in 1946 that led to famine (there were reports of cannibalism in the USSR). The worst winter since 1880, during the 1947 winter canals froze, railroad networks paralyzed, which prevented transportation of coal (main source of heat in most cities) and grains, all exacerbating the situation. And when the snows melted, many parts of Europe flooded. Ironically, summer 1947 was one of the hottest and driest, which made the autumn harvests inadequate (in some countries for the third consequetive year). In short, food shortage made the situation further unbearable. Hard winter is one thing, but combined with lack of food and heat is another.
Thank you for your comments; it was all very interesting to read. My regards. Ian.
Yes. And we were on rationing; particularly hard for those living in cities. We were lucky, lived by the sea in Hampshire, so plenty of fresh fish; foraging and wood gathering from the beach and the New Forest. The sea froze!. The bread ration was one (hard) small national loaf per family per week. Because half our wheat was airlifted to Germany to feed the Germans who had virtually nothing. It never ceases to amaze me, the trifles that people complain about now.
it was more fun living back then with little entertainment and luxuries ....than it is now with everything we have that they dident have
I recognised Wainhouse Tower ans Saville Park with St Judes Church in the backgound. We moved from Pellon to Ovenden that year to a 3 Bed house with a inside Bathroom and gardens...luxury.
Christopher, All you saw and remembered is correct. A winter one never wants to see again, Best Wishes...Ian..
I knew an old shepherd who was 18 back in 1947. He told me how the snow piled up in huge drifts almost covering telegraph poles in the Pennine hills. 1963 was another exceptionally bad winter with similar conditions.
I will never forget this winter, it come overnight, and we had weeks off school. the local airforce near Manby lincs had an idea to attach a jet engine to the back of a lorry, but it wasn`t successful because the lorrys brakes where not powerful enough to slow it down.
My Dad was a publican in Winson Green Birmingham I was 8 years old and we had to clear the snow from the cellar doors so the drayman could deliver the barrels of beer we were the only pub for weeks that had a delivery the pub wasThe Malt Shovel
Thank you.
My mother is 83 now. 9 when this winter hit. She still talks of it now, remembering that she didnt see her garden path for 4 months due to sheer quantity of snow and cold. Imagine a winter like this now......country would collapse.
Birmingham is the snowiest big city in the country. Splendid images. Thanks a lot.
Many thanks!
Excellent film. I don't think that such a winter will ever happen again. The winter of 1963 was a bad one, which I remember, but there wasn't as much snow as in 1947; certainly not in Oldham, Lancashire, where I come from.
Hey Ian,
wonderful shots of how the winter used to be in earlier times, I like those memories in the form of pictures and movies.
I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hello Joerg thank you for your kind remarks and comments. My best wishes to you and family.
Thank you very much Ian
We are very fortunate to have some important people who think nothing of filming the events of the day, many of us just can't be bothered, But thank god for people like your good-self.I wan't even born til a decade later.
Rob,
Thank you for your comments; very much appreciated. Ian.
@@ianhorner8984 Likewise for the film ! great job.
Rob, A very kind and generous co9ment. Regards. Ian.
My school bus from Uttoxeter could not climb the hill outside the town so six of us I including two girls walked the eight miles to our homes... . No boots and a howling blizzard .
I found a website on YT a few yrs ago--that will show you any weather forcaste for any year/period. and these really hard winter's, are the most viewed. You can see the Very hard East wind, coming in from Russia. Bringing record snow and low temporatures.
Thanks for the info
Have just come across this film and found it very interesting. I was born March 1947 in Surrey and my older relatives were always telling me how bad the winter was that year, worse than 62/63 they used to say. It's more difficult to compare winters these days with central heating, double glazing, salt and gritters ect. Reading the comments regarding lack of food and heat I wonder if we will encounter a 'hard' winter in the same way again.
Thank you
wonderful film i was 2years old!
Really Good video
Thank you for your kind words; , history as it occurred. Regards. Ian.
Great footage Ian.Not many people could afford a camera back then.I am too young(65) to have witnessed that,but remember the one in 1964.I live in Reading,there were bad floods here when it all melted!
John, Thankfully my Father had a camera and film. Best wishes. Ian.
I know that the snow was very bad in January 1947 . My grandmother couldn't get to the hospital due to a snow storm so my mum was born at home . Same thing happened again when I was born 21 years later .
I was born in Halifax in 1948 so don't remember this but I do remember the winter of 1963 which was as bad. I had a morning paper round, I lived on Baines Street and can remember opening the front door, the snow had drifted to the full height of the door and fell in. It was the one time my dog didn't come with me, she dived out as usual, was buried and ran straight back in. Like all the other paperboys I did the full round every day during the white-out. I was based at Mr Grayson's paper shop at the bottom of Battinson Road, anyone remember it? I went to Trinity Secondary, anyone else there around that time?
Paul, A very interesting comment of your early days; Best wishes. Ian.
I wish we could have the times back never mind the snowi I was born in 1941 remember my sister carrying me on her back to school now they have a little bit of snow and they close the schools give me ack the good old days
Wow awesome Huge like added on this
Although I was almost 2 at the time I can't remember any of it, I have been told the snow was up to the bedroom windows. Nice to see it.
Interesting that regular folk young & old had ice skates, that wasn't the firt time that place had been so used for winter recreation. How many times since? few if any I bet.
Very impressed by the smartness of the skaters... white shirts and ties!
Sally, Even in those days we were taught to dress. Ian.