BS: OK, England does have 1 fault

Subject: BS: OK, England has 1 fault
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:17 AM

Well, just the Home Counties really. (I'm still smarting from being called in a recent thread, a sanctimonious home counties know all. Ouch!)
You see, early last evening it snowed. Only for a couple of hours. Barely an inch or so.
There followed a clear night and today is fine and sunny.
London was paralysed for hours. All our schools and many businesses are closed. Eighteen hours later hundreds of people are still stranded in their cars.
What the Spanish Armada, Hitler's Luftwaffer and the IRA could never do, a few flakes of snow in January does every time.
Oh the hard times of old England.
Keith.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Bagpuss
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:23 AM

I couldn't believe it when I watched the news last night. They went on for ages about the chaos in Southern England, but then when they showed pictures, the snow didn't look that deep. Just what I would call a decent coverage of snow. Then we got a couple of seconds about scotland - with the pictures showing huge snowdrifts and blizzards.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:26 AM

And outside the kids are staying home from school and throwing snowballs.

I don't know about where you are Keith, but where we are the side roads are like skating rinks. Shallow snowm is more dangerous than deep snow when it melts and freezes again, as it will after the sun we've got this morning.

It looks beautiful.

The Engish tradition seems to be to make the most of minor emergencies, but to pull out the stops when it's a big one, and carry on regardless. A very healthy attitude.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: JudeL
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:29 AM

Trouble is in some places such as town centres for a few people to either drive too fast for the conditions and go sliding and block the roads or be so scared of going out of control that they barely move for the town to be gridlocked before the gritting lorries arrive, and
then no-one moves!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Trevor
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 08:12 AM

Snowed in twice this week here in beautiful South Shropshire. Gritters - that were luxury! In my day (and yesterday) we had to tunnel for two days, set up a bivvy, carry the car up the drive..... These kids of today.... don't know they're born!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Mr Happy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 08:15 AM

wrong sort of snow!!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Mr Happy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 08:37 AM

Footprints in the Snow (Harry Wright)

Some lovers like the summertime, when they can stroll about,
Spooning in the meadows may be grand without a doubt,
But give to me the wintertime, for the girl I have made mine,
Was captured while the snow was on the ground.

Chorus:

I traced her little footprints in the snow,
I traced her little footprints in the snow,
I bless that winter's day, when Nellie lost her way,
And I traced her little footprints in the snow.

I called to see the girl I loved one winter's afternoon,
But she had gone out walking, they informed me very soon,
They said she'd strolled away, but where they could not say,
So I started off to find her in the snow.
Chorus.

I saw her little footprint just outside the cottage door,
I traced it down a country lane, I traced it to the moor,
I found she'd lost her way; there she stood in blank dismay,
Not knowing where to steer for in the snow.
Chorus.

I called her, she saw me, and as we were walking home,
She promised me that never more without me she would roam,
I'm happy now for life, for her I've made my wife,
Whose footprints I traced plainly in the snow.
Chorus:

I traced her little footprints in the snow,
I traced her little footprints in the snow,
I bless that winter's day, when Nellie lost her way,
And I traced her little footprints in the snow.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Strupag
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 08:41 AM

S'no fair!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Jeanie
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:00 AM

What a lovely song, Mr. Happy. Thank you !
All I can say is, it's a good job Harry Wright went after Nellie, and wasn't in Waitrose car park last night on *my* trail... Even my size 6 footprints disappeared totally in the blizzard in less than a minute - we had 4 inches of snow in under half an hour. Never seen anything like it.   A tough assignment even for old Wenceslas and his page. Could have done with a team of huskies to pull my shopping trolley.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Mr Happy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:04 AM

when i sang this song some years ago, an audient asked why on earth couldn't nelly retrace her own footprints in the sow.

a bit of quick thining from me, i repiled 'it was too dark to see!'

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: greg stephens
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:05 AM

Well the news is full of people wingeing away as usual because they got stuck in their cars or lorries and the powers that be havent cleared all the snow away and got them out. Seems to me we've got perfectly efficient weather forecats: there's nothing in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to say you've got a sacred right to drive your car anytime anywhere whatever the weather. Stay home and enjoy it. It'll all be melted in no time, and the gritters will soon be round.
And if youve got to go out, make sure youve got a few Kitkats. That'll see you through a day or two in a drift.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: GUEST,Sarah
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:51 AM

What snow?

Sarah
(in green but cold Huddersfield)

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:55 AM

Southern snow.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 10:02 AM

Shandy drinking southern pooftahs! A few flakes o' the white stuff and they're chucking their teddies out 'cos nanny hasn't made it easy for them!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:49 PM

Up here in Scotland we have real weather. What you southern effete mob had yesterday, was a mere flash in the pan.
Giok.
Good King Wenceslar got pissed, on the feast of Stephen.
Said the fuzz we know you're pissed, into this bag you're breathing
Brightly shone the crystals green,due to excess wassail
Christmas is a groovy scene. God bless Barbara Castle.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Beccy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:53 PM

In NY state, USA- our current snow tally for this winter is 140 inches. Yeeeeehah!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: MMario
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:56 PM

you downstate Beccy? That seems awful light

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 03:06 PM

well Im not impressed It took me nearly 2 hours to get home for a journey that is only ONE stop on the tube which takes 10 minutes max....they closed the line.....due to adverse weather conditions....we don't even have any snow in East London!! Apparently the lines had frozen......


Oh well

Cat

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Beccy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 03:31 PM

MMario- We're between Buffalo and Rochester- I'm giving you the tally from Roch's airport. We didn't measure here, and the news weather team doesn't often drag themselves out to the woods to tell the disparity between burgh and valley, but I'm sure we got more than that. We're in a snowbelt off of Lake Erie so we usually get nailed. I just figured 140 was impressive enough if they shut everything down for a dusting (that's anything under 12" if you ask me...)
BTW, I'm a Yooper (Upper Peninsula of Michigan for those of you who don't know...)born and bred... so I know snow!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: MMario
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 03:34 PM

yuppers! yesterday was the first day this year without snow!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Beccy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 03:41 PM

Hey,was it yesterday? I thought it was today. (Assuming you're listening to W H A M, too)

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: sian, west wales
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 04:07 PM

Yep, Beccy. I'm from Port Colborne ('bout 20 miles west of Buffalo). We KNOW about snow, don't we??? All together now: WE REMEMBER 1977*! Woosey English. It ain't real snow until the telephone poles are almost covered and you have to find houses by watching where the lines dip down into the snowbank.

sian

* please tell me you remember 1977. You may be one of those sweet young things who weren't around then. ((((sigh))))

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Beccy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 04:12 PM

Ummm... I was around then... but I was in the U.P. at that point and ALL of those winters seemed the same. Summer is 6 weeks of bad sledding in Michigan.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Terry K
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 04:28 PM

Keith A - Last night I took 4 and a half hours to travel maybe 3 miles, only about 8 miles from Hertford - I promise you there were more than a few flakes!

Problem was vehicles abandoned by those who couldn't get up the hill, which blocked the road for the rest of us. This morning we saw that several of the abandoned cars had their windows smashed and presumably their stereos nicked. How about that for opportunism.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Cluin
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:02 PM

I thought we were getting more than our fair share of snow. It's snowed pretty much every day of January here around the Sault. It's snowing right now, in fact.

But I'm just glad I don't live in Newfoundland. Looks like they've got at least twice to three times as much as us so far.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: gnu
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:04 PM

A driving tip from my old man... the slower you are going when you hit something, the less it costs. Wise he was.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Beccy
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:09 PM

Another driving tip from an old sage (my Papa)
Four wheel drive in= four wheel drive stuck!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: gnu
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:21 PM

Yeah, my old man used to say that a fellah shouldn't have a 4X4 because when you get stuck with one, you're stucked.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:22 PM

Lovely cartoon in the paper the other week... policeman waves down a motorist on a highway...

'Best be turning back sur, you'll go no further on this road, a snowflake landed about 3 miles ahead!'

I took 2 hours to get home last night and tonight.... bloody ridiculous situations where they close one stop on the tube because of overcrowding, so people go to the next stop on and rather than walk back, go across the platform and wait for another train to a station that is still closed. Thus the stations either side of the original (Kings Cross in this case) get overcrowded and shut down, so the ones on the other side of that station get overcrowded.... see the picture here? Get past a certain point and there was no trouble at all, even though the snow was deeper.... And the sickening thing is, all the officials all ACT SO SURPRISED

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Cluin
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:22 PM

You use the 2WD to get yourself in as far as you can. The 4WD is for getting out again.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 05:28 PM

It's been going down to minus 25 C here at night lately, and there's been over 50 inches of snowfall in January, so be glad you are in England and not in Ontario, Canada. This has been the coldest January in many years around here.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: greg stephens
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 06:04 PM

Well,we've had nearly half an inch in Stoke, but I've got a tin of Spotted Dick in, and some black-eye beans, and a Tom Clancy book 1200 pages long, so I reckon I'm going to be all right.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 06:20 PM

A year ago (right about now, in fact) I was in Dingle, County Kerry. There was 4 inches in the Conor Pass, so naturally we drove up to the turnout at the crest. No problems -- I took a photo for a few Welshmen who were in Ireland to watch the Welsh play the Irish in the Six Nations Tourney (and ran into them later the same day in Killarney, to which they had gone to see the game "because Dingle was too bloody dull."

England must be like Washington, DC -- a few flakes and they panic. Now, I spent 28 years in the snow belts of the Great Lakes, and yes, I remember the blizzards of '77 (and '78) because I drove through them....

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Trevor
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 06:35 PM

'Scuse me....not 'England', it's South East England where they get their nick-nacks in a twist at the sight of a bit of snow!

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 06:38 PM

Fair point Trevor. I said Home Counties.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Gareth
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:01 PM

Defenition of heavy Snowfall in Old South Wales.

When you can't find the sheep !!!

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: GUEST,BusbitterfraeScotland
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:02 PM

I am on Holiday in Australia, and the weather is great the temputure is 35-40 degrees c and when I go back to Scotland it'll be 7 degrees c.
So think about me please, because I must be daft going from one extreme to another, and by the way the Town that I live in (Saltcoats) doesn't have snow.

As a wee woman said to her son,
Her son said look maw snaw and his mother said s'no snaw s'snow

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Penny S.
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 07:15 PM

Many of the drivers round here, on the fringes of London, have never had to drive in snow before - we haven't had a good fall for years. If we made a mess of it when we did have it every year, that would be a different situation - when it was more frequent, there was far less of a problem. And far fewer people actually thought it was a good idea to go out in it. The chief danger for those of us who know how to do it is the silly little boys who don't driving up one's exhaust pipe! I went out last night briefly, while it was actually falling (horizontally), and what with the brakes complaining about frozen stuff in them, and the visibility, and said drivers, I quickly came home again. Out for about eight minutes, and my tracks had gone.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 08:39 PM

I gather global warming is expected to mean the British Isles get colder, because it buggers up the Gulf Stream. So best get used to it.

I think there's a distinction between panicking when the weather turns round on you a bit, and seizing a God given opportunity to skive off for the day. The English are notorious for spending far too much time at work, so any break from that is a step in the right ditection. (Note I said "spending too much time at work", picking my words carefully. They'd get more done if they cut the hours to a more sensible amnount.)

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: GUEST,BusbitterfraeScotland
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:22 PM

So the South east of England is getting heavy falls of Snow, big deal.
Welcome to the real world.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: The DeanMeister
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:29 PM

Greg, a man after my own heart. May I enquire as to the title of the book?

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:32 PM

Hmmm... someone seems to have missed the point rather, don't they...

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Terry K
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:33 PM

......what concerns me (but only slightly) is that people seem to be saying "the weather where I live is much more shite than where you live so you're a wimp and therefore I'm somehow better than you" ......... strange, the tenuous threads that people cling on to. Not a long-held opinion of mine, just a reflection.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 09:35 PM

Not you, Dean, of course; ah, the perils of delaying before posting. It isn't snowing much in Sheffield just now, but I expect the Snake Pass is closed again. Keeps us safe from Manchester for a wee bit, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: GUEST,Jimmy
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 01:46 AM

It is for once a relief for for an Englander to admit even one fault. Especially after their 400-year collonial occupation and subjugation of the free nations of the British Isles and the former Empire. It's a pity William Wallace is not alive today, because if 2" of snow can paralyze the home counties, it would be easy to drive the whole bloody lot of you back to England.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: greg stephens
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 02:50 AM

Well I don't quite see how William Wallace comes into the argument, so I dont suppose the fact that he was a child molester is relevant,
By the way, the 1/2 inch of snow in Stoke has melted overnight, so you can all stop worrying about me.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 04:32 AM

Thanks for the warm welcome Tam.
(Why do you keep changing your Mudcat name?)

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 04:45 AM

4x4 means you need two sets of snow chains!!
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Jimmy C
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 08:53 AM

I have been in Ontario for 37 years now and have seen "SNOW" usually not too bad compared to Montreal or some of the western provinces., but the severe cold this year has been pretty awful. My friend in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan laughs at the Ontarians, so I can imagine what he is thinking about the weather in England (just a little dusting). He says that summer in the west is 2 months of bad skiing. If you want to see a snowfall check out the weather in Newfoundland this past few years. The problem in the U.K. is that they don't have the equipment to handle it, also motorists who seldom drive on snow don't realize that they have to change their driving habits, slow down and don't take chances. I have never been stuck in snow here and I have had some old clunkers of cars. The next rainfall will take care of it.

Subject: RE: BS: OK, England does have 1 fault
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 06:00 PM

I was in Harrogate on Thursday and although it snowed and was bitterly cold the roads were fine until we hit the York ringroad and then it was drifting and visibility was terrible. Being sensible I wore my business suit a scarf thick tights a furry anorak and angora gloves. Rather sensibly, I thought, I had also taken a blanket a couple of apples and a supply of water. My colleague who was driving failed to warn me of the very efficient air conditioning in his vehicle which meant that during the entire journey he travelled in shirtsleeves and I sat and sweltered!