When The Thames Froze Over ..

[Elina]

I've loved reading about this, I found it fascinating how enterprising they were. The pic download is particularly interesting as a first hand account. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2524252/How-Londoners-celebrated-River-Thames-freezing-frost-fairs-ice.html

[stuey]

It' difficult to believe that it "suddenly" all froze to a depth that would support all that activity overnight.

[Peter Pedant]

.
//and on 22 January a car was driven across the frozen Thames at Oxford.//

there is a photo and a cine film of this somewhere ( s/o dug it up and put it on AB a year or so ago )

[PankySmooch]

Sorry to go off topic but I was surprised to read the deepest part of the Thames is only about 30ft

Thought it would've been much deeper

[Elina]

That pdf link is an eye witness account of the start of the great freeze stuey. Beautifully printed, worth downloading.

[Elina]

Have to say night, Kindle needs charging, thanks for responses, night x

[Peter Pedant]

// It's difficult to believe that it "suddenly" all froze to a depth that would support all that activity overnight.//

no - it began Boxing Day night ( in Darzet anyway ) and the Thames was frozen enough a month later. ( for the car I mean )
Temperatures didnt go above freezing at any point - until mid Feb / March

[stuey]

Is there much salt content in the Thames in the area where the freezing happened?

[grasscarp]

My father said that he had skated on the Thames, but I dont know what year. He would have been 100 this year but he died 5 years ago so I cant ask him.

[Peter Pedant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_1962%E2%80%9363_in_the_United_Kingdom

sea froze at Brighton
and it says here up to a mile out to see at Herne Bay

[stuey]

That's an apt name for removing all that snow: "Burrow-with-Burrow":)

[jno]

the river was wider and shallower in those days and the pylons of old London Bridge (there were about a dozen) slowed down the flow of water, which made it easier to freeze. Extremely unlikely to happen again.

[Peter Pedant]

see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames_frost_fairs

the big thing was they didnt believe the local law of London applied to the Thames or the frost fairs on the Thames

so they all went out into the cold and for their big things out - sorry sorry - and had fun at the fair....

[DTCwordfan]

Here we are....some plonker drove his car onto the ice and left it running to keep it warm while he went ice-skating - came back to a big hole in the ice and one missing car.....

the family business is shown in it, god memories!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K1ofbWYUrM

[Elina]

Dt, sorry .. I've only just seen this! Aww thanks for that link .. you can imagine how much fun people must have had in the early freeze! .. especially with the different booties selling food & drink.

[Elina]

I laughed out loud about the 'plonker' ... how daft can you get!

[Elina]

'booths' not booties!

[Elina]

grasscarp! How fantastic is that!

[derekpara]

In the big freeze of 1963 I, and many others, walked the length of the frozen Virginia Water in Surrey and saw a small car driving on the River Thames near Hampton Court. The freeze was due to a prolonged period of sub -zero temperatures.

The Thames freezes of earlier centuries was caused, I believe, by the same long periods of low temperatures and the fact that the wide piers of the original London Bridge had a damming effect on the tidal flow allowing the water above the bridge to freeze over.

[Elina]

That's correct derek! I found the history very interesting.