Big freeze of 1962/63
IT'S now a month since the first snows of the winter fell - and comparisons are already being drawn between this and the Big Freeze of 1962-63.
So for this week's Looking Back we thought we'd delve into the Spenborough Guardian archives to see just how bad it really was.
Snow had already been falling since before Christmas 1962, but it was not until the middle of January and February 1963. that things got really serious.
On Sunday January 20 a huge blizzard swept across the north of England and as Spen shivered in the Siberian winter, the council began the battle to keep the roads clear and fuel supplies to schools and homes.
Windy Bank, Hartshead, East Bierley and Hunsworth were particularly badly affected.
Drifts five feet deep were reported in Hightown and bulldozers were called in along with a team of workers to dig it clear.
Hunsworth Lane was completely blocked for several days as workmen battled to hack a clearing through the deep snow.
A gang of workmen began to cut their way through from the East Bierley end, while a mechanical digger approached the blockage from the Hunsworth Lane end.
Raikes Lane in East Bierley was also bblocked by huge drifts.
Spenborough Corporation had nine snow ploughs in action and an extra casual labour force of 25-30 men was set on from the local employment exchange.
They used 500 tons of salt, sand and gravel to try and clear the roads.
Six weeks after the snow began, Spen was still gripped by the bad weather, and women in Birkenshaw had to ferry water in buckets and cans after supply pipes to their homes froze up.
The five women were neighbours in Moorlands Road, and they told the Guardian they were getting fed up of the daily task of being water carriers.
Every day for more than a week the women, who lived in a terrace of houses just off the road, had been carrying buckets, pans and kettles to the home of Mary Pitts, a neighbour whose supply had not been affected.
Phyllis Clark told the Guardian: "We deeply appreciate the kindness of Mrs Pitts for we have troubled her daily, but the position is terrible and we have had to use the water sparingly."
Mrs Pitts said: "It's the least I can do to help."
However it was not all doom and gloom as people tried the enjoy the arctic conditions as much as they could.
The Guardian photographer snapped a group of young men out ice-skating, while a group of children enjoyed their break from school tobogganing down Station Road in Cleckheaton.
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Weather for Cleckheaton
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
