47 replies to this topic

[non sibi sed omnibus]

How would todays mollycoddled workers have dealt with smog,snow drifting,no busses etc.They crawl out of their centrally heated homes and sniffle all the way to their centrally heated offices etc.No reason to say cant make it.No HSE rules and no thinking about claims!!
Lets have your tales please.

[tessmop]

You are right NSSO,it never stopped my parents or myself getting from A to B,My Mum and myself would trudge up Newton Road to the bus stop at 6 30 am every weekday morning,we would get off the bus in Claughton Street and then the long walk to Hardy Street which was my Grandparents house,I'd be left there and my Mum would carry on to UGB to her job.I can remember one night when they stopped the buses because of thick fog,we had all that way to walk home to Chiltern Road,it was very scary for a seven year old,only when we got a smell of the stinking brook did we know we were heading in the right direction,how we got home that night I'll never know,my Mum talked about it for years afterwards.

[non sibi sed omnibus]

tessmop, on 06 February 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

You are right NSSO,it never stopped my parents or myself getting from A to B,My Mum and myself would trudge up Newton Road to the bus stop at 6 30 am every weekday morning,we would get off the bus in Claughton Street and then the long walk to Hardy Street which was my Grandparents house,I'd be left there and my Mum would carry on to UGB to her job.I can remember one night when they stopped the buses because of thick fog,we had all that way to walk home to Chiltern Road,it was very scary for a seven year old,only when we got a smell of the stinking brook did we know we were heading in the right direction,how we got home that night I'll never know,my Mum talked about it for years afterwards.

Well at least you wouldnt have needed a lozenge.I also had to find my way(by smell)past the firestation in PS road.I also had distant relatives in Hardy st(1892)21 Hardy st.-Wignall.Any family memories of name?

[tessmop]

No my family members were at no 6 from 1911 onwards.

[vinty]

I well remember the Smog that we used to get wth the smoke from thousands of coal fires belching out sulphur from House and Factory Chimneys mixing with Fog so that visibility was Zero.
One night it was so bad that a bus Conductor had to walk in front of the Bus coming from Town past Sherdley Park because the Driver couldnt see the road , of course the Street Lighting was very poor at that time which didnt help.
That Smog used to see off the old folks and people with chest complaints every Winter.
Some Vehicles had Snow Chains fitted to the Tyres which gave them grip.in slippery conditions.
The Snow fall of 1939/40 had drifts 5 feet deep and surrounding Villages were cut off for days.and then we had the big Freeze of about 1947 when the Railways couldnt operate because the points froze,

[Alan]

vinty, on 06 February 2012 - 09:03 PM, said:

then we had the big Freeze of about 1947 when the Railways couldnt operate because the points froze,

Nowt much has changed

[tessmop]

Hi Vinty 1947 was the year my Mum always mentioned when we had very bad weather,her account of it was on the morning she was venturing out of the front door she was met with a 6ft high wall of snow outside of 6 Hardy Street,she was trying to get to her job.

[Alan]

I can jusr remember 1947 in Harris Street. The piles of snow all down the street from people clearing the pavements was higher than my dad

[SKYMAN]

It realy is amazing what you can do when you have to.
i admit it the smog was realy bad,the younger drivers today havnt
had the pleasure but i dont doubt they would cope,in the days of the real smog
our vehicles didnt have the same lighting system or street lighting like today,
the secret is having the lights near to the ground then you you dont get the glare

[tessmop]

Speaking of which the new headlights on todays modern cars make them look to be on full beam anyone else noticed this?

[non sibi sed omnibus]

The worst(funniest) scene was when cars were following each others lights down Parr stocks road and followed the kerb.They ended up in the firestation yard.When they had heavy snow, the borough engineers dept used to ring up the Labour exchange asking for labourers--no saying no them days.They used to go out to clear pavements.No bad backs then.!!!

[vinty]

nsso- Cars following each other reminded me of a few years ago when it was a particularly bad foggy night and i was driving home from Widnes I managed to crawl slowly through the fog and drove up the path at my home when I noticed another car had pulled in behind me. The Driver got out of the Car and said where am I mate when I told him he uttered a few expletives adding that he had followed me from Widnes and thought he was on the road for Northwich,and was completely lost.

Edited a doublepost.

Edited by vinty, 06 February 2012 - 10:26 PM.

[tessmop]

In the 70's 80's and 90's a regular site on the Rainford By Pass was a car stranded in the middle of the roundabout at the bottom of mossborough road,the By Pass in fog is a total nightmare.

[SWIMMER]

I remember going to school with the snow piled up at either side of the road, just a narrow gap cleared from the front door to the pavement. The smog definitely added to the hazadous conditions we faced as children, however if we had been given a snow day we would have been thought soft. You walked to school, and anywhere else you needed to go.

The cars slowlly crawling on the roads, playing follow my leader up the road. I also navigated by smell, although in my case it was Beechams.

How many of you remember getting to school with wellies full of snow that, and the socks lined up on the radiator and trying to get warm after the walk to school.

In answer to your questions NSSO, I don't think they would, too many warm central heated houses, In our case once you moved from the coalfire you froze, so the quickest way to get warm on the way to school was to walk faster lol

[Dave]

They call it 'progress' but it could also be looked upon as being insidious domestication - double glazing, cars largely fueled by stuff from the middle east, central heating fed by gas piped in from the continent, Tescos reliant on transportation, lots of food imported - cut those off in the midst of winter and you've got a recipe for a nice big soft kill.