So cold, they played football on frozen Tyne

WE’VE had a few bits of frost, on and off, over the last few weeks.

But it’s been positively tropical compared to the severe weather which visited the region during one winter in the mid-18th century.

In Newcastle Book of Days, by Jo Bath and Richard F Stevenson (The History Press), the entry for January 13, 1740 includes the following...

“By this day, the continuing bitter winter finally reached the point where the people might as well use the River Tyne as a road.

“It had frozen over in December; ships could not move, and indeed many were damaged by the press of the ice.

“On this date, the inhabitants of Tyneside took to the ice until the river resembled a market, with stalls selling meat and drink, footraces, and even a football match.

“The next day, Sir John Fenwick of Bywell held a birthday party on the ice for his son - he erected a tent on the ice where he roasted a sheep and also travelled across the ice in a carriage.

“For the poor, the cold was less enjoyable, although Newcastle MP Walter Blackett ordered the distribution of £350 for the needy...

“On February 24, the thaw finally came.”

It’s probably worth bearing all this in mind next time we complain about scraping a little bit of ice off our car windscreens in the morning!

(From John Sykes, Local Records, Volume 1, 1833)

Newcastle in the mid-18th century Frost in Jesmond Dene in recent times

DAVE MORTON recalls the people and places of the North East EMAIL: david.morton.editorial@ncjmedia.co.uk TELEPHONE: 0191 2016437 WRITE TO: Dave Morton, Nostalgia Editor, The Chronicle, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 1ED @DaveSMorton Newcastle Chronicle - Hi