John Cecil gets hot under the collar about the cold.

Winter? WINTER !!!!!



Call this Winter?


Back in the days (well, 1963) we had winter.


Did I take time off school? Did I buggery.


Did I wear long trousers to school? Did I buggery.


My recolection of that winter at Number 69 Pytchley Road still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.


Don't talk to me about chilblains. I had them before I went to bed despite three pairs of socks on during the daytime (four at night). A Vest, two pairs of pyjamas and a jumper had to be donned to crawl between my sheets, 15 blankets and whatever else could be piled on top so that you could barely squeeze your five stone frame through.


Ice formed INSIDE the windows and a trip along the landing to the toilet was not unlike Scott leaving the comfort of camp to find the South Pole.


(And to think, an inside Loo had only just become "all the rage".)


The hot water bottle(s) - dependant upon my older sister being out or not - bought little comfort as they were too hot to put my feet on initially and irritated the chilblains anyway.


Central heating? PAH!


Up at half six and it was a mad dash to get the chair next to the oven to put the feet into (I kid you not). Breakfast of Scotch Porridge Oats and then the dreaded order "John, go and get dressed for school!"


Undressed for school more like. Off would come the sets of pyjamas and on would go the Gery shorts, white shirt and grey jumper of Highfield Road Primary School. (Plus with it being 4 months into a school year I had already kicked the toes out of my shoes).

I would trudge to the bottom of the street to be greeted by Mr. Wooley and his Lolipop stick dressed in his ten layers of clothes and six scarves and have the cheek to declare "A little bit nippy this morning, laddy".


Inside the school made little difference as after morning assembly we would accompany our collective chapped knees and go and sit under Bondi Bunder who would, safe and sound in his bloody warm corridor announce "Dosn't the snow look lovely out there?"

So.............Next time you are peering out at the snow, unable to go to school because the temperature has dropped below 10 degrees, and you have to spend the day in your centrally heated bedroom playing on your PS7 or whatever its called these days (with the option of switching your electric blanket on for a thirty minute siesta if the excitement gets too much) spare a thought for us oldies who really do remember what winter was like.


Oh, and we played a bit of football too.



J.C.