The big freeze in Sydenham.1947
During the period 1920 to 1960, the town was subjected to many spells of arctic conditions, none of which compared with the one that hit us during the winter of 1946/7. It must be appreciated that at this time, the country was trying to recover from the drastic effects of WW2. Food rationing was at its lowest level, in fact, potatoes and bread was now rationed, which had not been necessary during the war years.
The housing situation was critical and families were making every effort to find accommodation, as the men returned from service in the forces and to set up homes and find work. To crown it all, there was a severe shortage of coal and the weather went on strike with a severe blast from the North Pole.
The Coal Merchants made every effort to ration what meagre supplies they had to their customers and as word got around, that a truck of coal had arrived at the goods yards, so folk would go there with various means of conveyance in the hopes of getting some form of heating. Someone had made an effort to cover the shortage by making small nuts of a combination of coal dust and cement, shaped by two spoons and left to harden.
Bombed sites were scoured for wood, anything to burn in the grates. It so happened that Sydenham Road was being re-laid with tarmac and the wooden blocks, covered with tar, were retrieved by enterprising groups and sold to the public as fuel for the fireplaces.
I well remember my wife, accompanied by my sister in law, taking our young baby’s pram to Penge in order to purchase some of these blocks and bring them home, in a bitterly cold North Wind, through the ice and snow. I also well remember walking round to the home of our local coal merchant, well wrapped up in coats and scarves, to plead for some coal, and as I staggered into the freezing, bitterly cold wind, I was not to realise that I would always remember this to be the coldest I have ever felt in all my life. I have since been to the extreme corners of the U.K. in all weathers but never felt as bitterly cold as at that time.
The cold spell lasted for many weeks, so many folk had to be laid off from work as so many places of employment had to close down due to fuel cuts, electricity, gas, and every thing was in short supply. I was fortunate as I had managed to get a job with Bush Radio, who had taken over the old Rink Cinema in Silverdale, from Cinema Television. (They had been making mine detectors during the war) and as electricity was rationed to a few hours a day, we had an ex RAF diesel generator to supply electricity and so enable the factory to remain open. This, however was a devil to start up in the mornings in the severe cold and would take up to an hour for four men to start up, with the use of ropes. It certainly made us warm
There is no doubt in my mind that that was the coldest and, most miserable cold snap that I have ever experienced and, I was to see the sea freeze right out to the end of Walton Pier in 1963.