THIS ISLAND LIFE
REMEMBER that classic Monty Python sketch, when a group of stereotypical Yorkshiremen are discussing the comparative extremes of penury they endured during their childhood?
"’Ouse? You were lucky to ’ave an ’ouse. Twenty-six of us used to live in a shoe-box in middle of t’road!"
I was reminded of it last week, when Mrs Daphne King, of Shanklin, got in touch to compare the relative ferocity of the winters the Island has endured since the last war.
"So you think the 1963 snow was bad? Compared with 1947, it was a doddle," she wrote. It could have been Michael Palin talking.
The meteorological conditions which caused the desolate conditions were similar to this year, with an anti-cyclone sitting over Britain which deflected the warmer, wetter weather south.
While I’m in Michael Fish mode (you’ll just have to imagine the glasses and the knowing smirk) I should point out the snow arrived in three distinct phases.
There was a cold blast in December, 1946, and another in early January — but these were just the warm-up acts (if you’ll pardon the expression).
From midway through January until the middle of March, the weather turned distinctly Arctic, with record low temperatures and eight inches of snow blanketing the Scilly Isles.
But what transformed all this from a mere weather phenomenon to a debilitating and wretched experience for everyone was the fact a shattered Britain was struggling to recover in the aftermath of the second world war.
This meant everyday commodities, which would have made the experience slightly more tolerable, were rationed.
As Mrs King pointed out in her letter, the clothing allowance of 20 coupons had to last for six months — and a decent coat used up every one of them.
"That meant there was no going to the shop for a warm jumper or pair of boots," said Mrs King. (I can almost sense her wagging her finger at me).
Coal was also rationed and what there was contained a lot of slack and dust to make up the weight. There were also power cuts every day, sometimes lasting for up to five hours at a time.
Mrs King’s father came up with an ingenious idea to keep his daughter warm in the office where she worked.
It consisted of two earthenware flower-pots and a candle. One pot was placed the right way up, the candle was inserted in the hole and the other pot was perched upside down on top.
The warmth from the candle was therefore concentrated through the top hole. "You’d be surprised how much heat was generated by one little candle in this way," Mrs King told me.
"Food was also strictly rationed, so there was no popping down to the supermarket to clear the shelves," she added reprovingly.
Okay Mrs K, you win. Your winter was definitely much worse than mine — and many thanks for taking the trouble to write to me about it.
Somewhere, in some EU fund, is Mili’s way ahead
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| The spectacular West Wight, where the Military Road is at risk. |
THE first time our American daughter-in-law, Kellie, visited the Island a few years ago, we drove over to the west coast.
As we rounded the bend near the slip road to Blackgang Chine, she was exposed for the first time to that wonderful vista which stretches out towards Freshwater.
"Oh my gaahhd!" she yelled. "That is just so beautiful."
She was not the first to be enraptured by the view and she certainly won’t be the last.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see quite a bit of this country and nothing conveys the sheer essence of England more than that exquisite blend of chalk cliffs and rolling downland.
This stretch of coastline is part of our Island heritage; nobody with one corpuscle of Island blood flowing through their veins can fail to be lifted every time they see it or travel along it.
It is as important to us as the tower is to Blackpool — and you wouldn’t catch the local authority up there allowing that to disintegrate and collapse.
The IW Council owes the same duty of care to the Military Road, which, we are now told, is just five metres away from falling into the sea at one point.
Jill Wareham, the Lib Dems’ prospective parliamentary candidate, is right to raise the alarm and attempt to galvanise the council into action when it meets to discuss the matter next month.
She is reported as saying: "There needs to be a long-term solution to the problem. All the relevant organisations need to get together to find this solution — and this needs to be done urgently."
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
I know we are limping out of recession and I realise money is tight. But I strongly suspect there is plenty of cash swilling around in some EU-funded, quango-controlled slush fund to help with the cost of such projects.
Protecting this stretch of coastline is not an act of self-indulgence on our part. Its preservation is vital for the Island’s economy and sense of self-esteem.
More power to Ms Wareham’s elbow. She will be supported by this corner of the County Press every step of the way.