‘My bedroom was like a fridge’

Our picture shows how icy it was with the exterior wall of one block of flats almost covered in icicles.

Courier reader Linda Barnes of Gisburn Close, Woodloes Park, Warwick, remembers how cold it was in the winter of 63..

She said: “I remember being so excited when on December 26 1962 it snowed, always good fun for kids. The cold just got worse, our house was so cold we would sit around the coke burner to try to keep warm. There was no central heating and our windows were so frozen we couldn’t see through them. My bedroom was like a fridge, you could see your breath.

“Our blankets were ex-Army which were heavy and cold. We covered up with coats or anything on the bed.

“There was a sense of community though with everyone clearing the snow from their footpaths.

“The best part about being a kid was the sledging. I spent hours over Warwick Common with my dog Sally. I used to go down the hills with the dog in tow. My sledge doubled up as a carrier, going to the gas works to buy coke (on Birmingham Road, Warwick) with my sledge.

“Also, with the schools closed we had extended holidays. People lived from day to day. There were no big supermarkets to stock up on food, neither was there the money to do so. We kids were cold, but it was our parents who struggled with the hardship of trying to keep us warm and fed. It was a winter of cold hands and hot aches.”

Wildlife suffered with swans on the River Avon forced to walk on the ice. Eventually a large hole was cut in the ice to allow them to feed.