Tag / weather

Summer of ‘76

What were you doing in the summer of 1976? I was working for an opticians in Taunton. I had started there in January. My son was only two, but with mass unemployment in the mid-70’s and women still being paid less than men, it was easier for me to find work than for him. There was no air-conditioning. The office I worked in, writing out orders for spectacles, was tiny, cramped and airless. They didn’t supply a uniform and we had very little money so I bought a cheap summer dress which I washed through by hand in the evening, hanging it out on the line overnight,...

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Summer in the Lakes

We chose midsummer to go up to the Lake District on the assumption it might be warm and sunny. Regular visitors to this part of the world, however, will tell you this is rarely the case. Highly renowned as one of the wettest places in England, we have had very few hot sunny days in the ten years we have been going up there. Last year we were lucky: The fleeces and kagouls I had packed stayed in the car and I wished I had brought more t-shirts and shorts. This year though the rain began as soon as we reached Birmingham and continued solidly throughout...

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“Lucky with the weather”

  We had a wedding in our village last weekend, only the third we’ve had in the thirty years we’ve lived here. A marquee went up in the field across the road. A generator arrived. Then posh-looking portaloos. And cars and vans came and went as florists, decorators and electricians set everything up. The parents of the groom were hosting the event. Invitations to the evening celebration went out to nearby neighbours (including us), the ones who would be most bothered by the noise. In the days preceding the event activity...

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I'm dreaming of a White Easter...

What’s happening to our weather? Here we are, the end of March, Easter in two days’ time and the temperature’s struggling to rise above zero. At least here in Somerset we’re lucky enough not to have snow, but it’s no surprise to hear that the cold air is coming from Siberia. It certainly feels like it. The jet stream, I understand, is way down in Spain, giving the Spaniards the warm, moist weather we normally have. Hard to imagine that this time last year we had one of the best springs on record, temperatures in the twenties, people getting...

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