The UK is currently in the midst of what has been dubbed “the big freeze” and the national news is reporting that many areas of Britain have come to a standstill as temperatures plummet and the snow continues to fall. Any prolonged snowfall usually brings with it mention of the Big Freeze of winter 1962/ 1963 which was the coldest on record.
Skating on Oulton Broad - winter 1963
The bad weather started just before Christmas, and from Boxing Day until March much of Britain lay under a continuous blanket of snow. The mean maximum temperatures for January 1963 were 5 degrees centigrade below average, whilst the coldest day in Norfolk was recorded at Santon Downham near Thetford on January 23rd at a shivering -19. The rivers and Broads froze over, coasters became trapped in the ice at Reedham, and many birds and water animals perished in the sub zero temperatures. This was, of course, the usual time for the boatyards to be overhauling their fleets in preparation for the next season, but many found their efforts hampered by the snow and ice. The picture above was submitted to the archive by Brian Powell and shows a frozen Oulton Broad in 1963 when many people took to the ice … on foot, on bicycle, by motorcycle and sidecar and even in a Ford Consul which can be seen in Brian’s other photographs of the big freeze in the on the Broadland Memories website. I have also heard the story of one brave soul who decided to drive from Oulton Broad to Beccles …. along the River Waveney!
If you have any memories or photographs of Broadland during the winter of 1963 then I would love to hear from you!
In the 60′s I went to school at Sir John Leman School at Beccles, and travelled there from Southwold by double decker bus each day. I can remember one morning during the winter of 62/63 the bus got as far as Brampton and ground to a halt. After waiting at the roadside for some time it eventually became apparent that the diesel in the fuel tank had frozen!!
Hi Marlene – thanks for adding your memory of the 63 freeze. Southwold to Beccles was a fair way to travel to school! It seems that most schools tried to remain open during that winter rather than closing, as they do now, after just a few flakes of snow have fallen!!