There's no time like snow time!

We've just experienced our first snow fall of the winter in the Lincolnshire Wolds – it came promptly for the meteorological calendar on December 1^st... and only lasted a couple of days, but was enough to cause some excitement, a bit of panic, frosted windscreens and slippery walkways, and even a tinge of isolation, recalling memories of other 'snow times' from the past.

 Not many people will now remember 1962/63 when the snow arrived one Boxing Day night, unexpected, abundant and heavy, cloaking the whole country in a deep drift which remained for several weeks in more remote places – like our own village in Somerset. I have written about this 'deep freeze' in some detail in the second section of my book – 'The Northacre Years'. Of course, for those of an even older generation, 1947 was the winter to outdo or 'outsnow' any other – my father often referred to it in his warm Somerset accent – 'a winter like no other'. All rather historic now and confined to books and diaries, and unbelievable perhaps with our modern methods and equipment in forecasting and then for shifting the 'white stuff' and getting the country moving again. Trains stuck in tunnels and schools being closed for weeks are no longer the case, but I still feel a certain awe and wonder when I draw the curtains back to reveal a white landscape.

 I'm attaching a photo of our first covering this December 2023 taken from our bedroom window over the rooftops of Louth, one of January 1963 which appears in my book, and icy conditions surrounding our house in France where the winters could be very severe and prolonged – both picturesque and poetic and retaining that sense of mystery.

 And finally, as it is December – a Very Happy Christmas to all my readers!

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