{"id":2911,"date":"2022-02-18T09:30:20","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2022-02-15T14:17:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T14:17:16","slug":"in-search-of-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2022\/02\/18\/in-search-of-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"In Search of Snow&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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 20<sup>th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2912\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2912\" style=\"width: 967px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2912\" src=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D_HBT_4737_i.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"967\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D_HBT_4737_i.jpg 967w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D_HBT_4737_i-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D_HBT_4737_i-768x517.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive-catalogue.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/records\/D-HBT\/4737\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D-HBT\/4737i<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A local filmmaker captured the effort to clear the roads of snow-drifts higher than the workers\u2019 heads!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2913\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2913\" style=\"width: 969px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2913\" src=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-WRS_F_37_15-still-clearing-snow.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"969\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-WRS_F_37_15-still-clearing-snow.jpg 969w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-WRS_F_37_15-still-clearing-snow-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-WRS_F_37_15-still-clearing-snow-768x542.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">D-WRS\/F\/37\/15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The snowy hills became the ultimate winter playground for children and adults alike&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fun in the snow from &quot;Snow - 1963&quot;. Reference D-WRS\/F\/37\/15\" width=\"880\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/11GbekWdGAU?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We are not sure where these scenes were filmed \u2013 please let us know if you recognise the location.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2917\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2917\" style=\"width: 1608px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2917\" src=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1608\" height=\"1072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1.jpg 1608w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/files\/2022\/02\/D-SLI-108-2-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1608px) 100vw, 1608px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2917\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive-catalogue.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/records\/D-SLI\/108\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D-SLI\/108\/2<\/a>: Shaftesbury Road, Blandford closed by snow, 25 February 1978.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s narration:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"VIDEO: Dorset Snow 1962-3\" width=\"880\" height=\"660\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ENcnJzhIGy0?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can read more about the snow of 1978 in Mark Ching\u2019s book <em>The Blizzard of 78: the snowstorm that buried Dorset, <\/em>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!<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&hellip; <span class=\"kuorinka-read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2022\/02\/18\/in-search-of-snow\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">In Search of Snow&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,109,420,25,63],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2911"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2918,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions\/2918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}