A time when you could get your skates on . . . T

HE snow went and briefly came back but temperatures have been rising and it’s almost time to consign the thermals to the bottom drawer for another year.

Last week many folk were stuck at home for days going stir crazy and I got into the habit of trawling the internet for the latest weather forecasts.

As there is a choice of several, I picked the best and was inevitably disappointed when the sun didn’t shine and was particularly cross with the one that purported to give a personalised minute by minute account of the weather in my street.

It was so detailed it said: “The rain will stop in seven minutes.” Which might have been impressive except for the fact it was snowing and it didn’t.

It also provoked memories of winters past and I mentioned I escaped the snow and ice of 1963 by going to Africa. Which is an extreme way of avoiding a bad cold considering I got a dose of malaria instead.

Dave Whitworth, of Mount, remembers the winter of 1962: “It was just as cold but didn’t last as long. Cupwith Reservoir above Slaithwaite froze over sufficiently to attract skaters.

“I was tempted to have a go but didn’t get far!”

Cupwith was popular when froze in the 1960s, with many local people ice skating or enjoying games of ice hockey.

Leslie Chadwick of Holmfirth recalls that 60 years ago, he (aged 14 and two thirds) and fellow Scout John Avison, 15, were stranded by snow after travelling to Castleton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District.

In the winter of 1958, they travelled by bus via Sheffield, undeterred by the sleet. When they arrived, the snow was already a foot deep.

“We trudged through it to look at Pevril Castle and then checked in at Castleton Hall Youth Hostel (self cooking). Awoke on the Tuesday morning to find six foot snow drifts.”

They found a warm coal fire at Hope Railway Station but no trains. While waiting, they used John’s primus stove on the hearth to cook something warm.

“When the Station Master saw the stove whilst it was cooling down, he said: ‘You can’t use that there.’ Too late, we’d already used it.

“The first train of the day to Sheffield was a steam train and managed to conquer the elements by going short distances and then letting off steam to melt the snow.”