As the Winter Olympics continues with scenes of snowy mountains and icy racetracks, we are looking back at two of the biggest snowfalls in Dorset in the 20th century.
A white Christmas in 1962 was the start of a prolonged period of heavy snow across Dorset, blocking roads and cutting off villages. The freeze continued until late February. Weymouth photographer Graham Herbert snapped this image of ice in the sea on 15 January 1963:
A local filmmaker captured the effort to clear the roads of snow-drifts higher than the workers’ heads!
The snowy hills became the ultimate winter playground for children and adults alike…
We are not sure where these scenes were filmed – please let us know if you recognise the location.
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February 1978 similarly saw much of Dorset grind to a halt due to heavy snowfall. Four to five inches fell on the evening of 15 February and blizzards continued for a few days. The treacherous conditions left some roads impassable, particularly around Dorchester, Shaftesbury, and Blandford.
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The challenge for dairy farmers was to get their milk to the factory for processing, as documented at Wyke Olive Farm in Preston by R Legg with D Litton’s narration:
You can read more about the snow of 1978 in Mark Ching’s book The Blizzard of 78: the snowstorm that buried Dorset, available in our library. He relays the tale of revelers becoming stuck in Broadmayne pub; and a train unable to open its doors at Upwey station due to the height of the snow on the platform!
Snowfalls causing such disruption have been much rarer in Dorset in recent years. The geography of our county and dominance of northerly winds mean these sorts of snowfalls are likely to remain in the past.
Fun in the snow was filmed near Beaminster. It started with the view of the church and the steep hill is just by Parnham
Are the winds in Dorset predominantly from the North. I have always thought the predominant winds were from the the South west.
Also has there been a change in this over the last 50 years
The snowy scenes are on the hill just above the church at Beaminster and you can see the top of Beaminster Downs in the distance. Also there are shots of the tunnel road nearby.
How lovely to see such a long piece of snowy film.
Interesting too to see how many local shops there were and how shopping every day, despite the weather was still the norm.
Good to see you everyone willing to lend a hand to keep traffic moving or just having fun in the snow.
Thank you.
When I first moved here in 1984 there was a very snowy period over the winter 84/85. I was driving to Cranborne from Salisbury with heaped snow alongside the roads. The zig zag road near Shaftsbury was particularly dangerous!Unfortunately I don’t have any photographs. Perhaps someone else has?
The prevailing winds in Dorset are from the Southwest. Snow generally only falls in the County when there is a very cold High Pressure system on the Continent and an easterly wind is blowing across the English Channel. If a wet Low Pressure system moves up the Channel from the Atlantic and meets the cold air all the rain that it normally contains becomes snow.
This happens rarely because most low pressure systems stay further north and the winds continue to blow from the West or Southwest rather than the East.
In Feb 78 there was a prolonged spell of easterly winds which gave us a frozen & burst pipe (4 Brackendown Ave) which happened in our absence. There was sea ice. I was informed of the burst pipe on Monday 13th. Sat 18th the wind turned to the SW. The snow fell overnight on a very strong wind, hence the drifting. My doorstep was clear of snow, my neighbour at no2 down the hill had only head and shoulders showing above a snowdrift. The steps in front of the house were invisible in the snow, so children very quickly got snow in their wellies. Wish I had photos! Cat refused to get her delicate bum cold in the snow, so I had to walk to Chalbury Corner for cat litter (thank goodness for local shops)