"doug" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"graham" wrote in message
news:g3Z%i.8230$cD.2738@pd7urf2no...

--
The seasons here, in western Canada, are extremely well marked. Wags
will
say we have 3 months of summer and 9 of winter but Spring and Fall are
well delineated. Because of this, time seems to pass that much more
quickly. However, I wonder if this sense is also a function of one's
age{;-(

It is, now that breakfast comes round every ten minutes and Christmas
every
fortnight!

Mary
-----------------------

It has been very mild weather up here in north-west England for some years
now.
When I came out of His Majesty's Royal Air Force in '45 You could pick
your
jobs any where. The Country was recovering from the '39/45 holocaust and
money was switched from munitions to rebuilding the Country.
In '47 there was a massive snowstorm and the streets were blocked with 12
feet deep snow.
I had just started with the Government Comunications Engineers.
I was in a six-man gang with a large wagon. After a fortnight piddling
about
sweeping snow from Govt buildings we were sent up into the hills of the
pass
along the coast above the village of Bootle , Which is called "Bootle
Fell"
The winding stone-rubble road, - about 14 feet wide was blocked twelve
feet
high with snow. Five months before that I was three years in over a 100
degrees seeing to the japs all over India. The enemy were wating for me
(us) the other side of the Irrawady.
Up on the Fell I was wearing heavy boots, long-johns and heavy trousers, a
thick wool vest, heavy shirt, a scarf and
heavy coat. I had a splendid time, I was twenty and full of enthusiasm .
We were to dismantle a long distance "overhead -wire" pole route. which
was
almot demolished , and was redundant, having been replaced during the war
by roadside cables. Our Foreman was a big stout chappie and his favourite
ploy was to walk down the cleared portion , - drop his trousers . bend
over
facing away from us whilst we laughed our heads off , catcalled and
offered
strange advice how to perform the defecatary procedure.
We dug out the snow, gathered the heavy grade wire and sawed off the poles
at ground level. They were left on the side for any Farmer to collect for
free. It was too costly to sell them. The length of the pass is a few
miles
so at that remove we were working in slush , however, the varyiing slope
of
the gravel road quickly drained it.
We drove back to Bootle Railway Station and tried to keep warm in the
Waiting Room. There was no coal for the fire and each day the Railway
Linemen and Communications would collect in there waiting for the same
train
as we were and were shivering. They had been up poles all day and on the
rail trackside through all the cold rain and sleet, strapped up with their
special belts. I knew them all because my Father was an Installer in
their
Firm. One man suffered very badly with lung problems and he had two hot
rubber ho****er bottles under his heavy coat, one bottle hanging on his
chest and the other on his back between his shoulder blades. His fellow
workers so to it that he had
fresh supplies of hot water when needed. I have never forgotten the
Camaraderie of those splendid Railway Sig 'n Tel. men.
Douglas Adam Denny.

-----------------------

Thanks for that, Douglas. The winter of '47 is vivid in my memory too -
although not as exciting as yours. We (the street children) made an igloo in
the street, it was still being used in March. My Dad used to walk with the
redundant pram to the nearest pit, about ten miles away, to pick over the
spoil heaps to get bits of coal for our little fire. Coal was rationed but
we needed more in that cold weather. I don't know how other people managed.
I remember my mother making blocks of coal dust and cement in a food tin,
they didn't burn well but she tried.

One of my favourite roads is the A66 and we often use it on our way to
Scotland, there are still road markers along the sides of the road in some
parts, in case the road is obliterated by snow and there's one huge barrier
to prevent people driving when the snow is really bad. I've seen it used
once in recent years but when I was younger the papers always featured
pictures of stranded motorists on those roads every winter. It doesn't
happen now.

Mary