It's been 60 years since a freak weather incident left Wales, and the UK, under a blanket of snow for three whole months from December 1962 until March 1963.
The big freeze began with a dusting of snow but, by late December, very cold easterly winds were blowing in from Scandinavia and things soon escalated.
The frigid conditions would see lakes and rivers freeze across the country amid biting temperatures and there were even patches of ice on the sea. Huge ice boulders formed on beaches and blizzards caused snowdrifts up to 20ft (6m) deep.
Read More: Fascinating photos unearthed of Newport hit by snow nearly 40 years ago
The Arctic conditions meant thousands of schools closed, telephone lines were brought down and power cuts hit thousands of homes.
A vicious cold air mass moved across Britain late in the month, bringing snow on Boxing Day and the day after.
On December 29-30, a blizzard swept its way across Wales and the southwest of England with snow drifting to more than 20ft. The stage was set for record low temperatures in January, with the mercury falling to as low as -8F (-22ºC).
Average maximum temperatures throughout January in many places in Wales were below 32°F and snow lingered until March, with lakes and rivers frozen solid.
Back in 2013, we asked about your memories of the cold snap during the snow of 1963 and it was clear that it left a lasting impression of quite a lot of our readers, with some brilliant anecdotes from people who lived through that winter.
Robert Taylor, of Old Colwyn, had three outstanding memories of winter 1963. “Firstly, starting my first paper round between Mochdre and Dolwyd, and being so cold that an old lady took pity on me and took me into the house to warm up,” he recalled.
See more photos from the winter of 1963 in our gallery below
“Secondly, a group of us 12 to 13-year-olds, riding our bikes on the lanes between Bryn y Maen and Llanelian, at a height level with the top of the hedges, where the snow had drifted and frozen.
“Thirdly, of the sea near Colwyn Bay Pier being frozen, and also small ice floes offshore.
"I also have some recollection of Everton, Liverpool, and Wrexham players training on Colwyn Bay beach, as all grass surfaces were unplayable and sports halls and indoor facilities weren’t an option in those days."
Susan Hanbury, of Rhoscolyn, Anglesey, was a five-year-old at the time, living at Bryn Goleu farm, Rhoscolyn. She was able to turn those icy days to her advantage, as she also recounted in 2013. She said: “My sister and I have vivid memories of my father Evan Evans, smashing his pickaxe onto the ice of the pond, to check its safety for us to slide around. This we did every weekend until gradually the ice melted and our sliding sessions resulted in soggy clothing.
“For weeks, I heeded my mother’s instructions to have my school milk warmed on the classroom pipes at Ysgol Rhoscolyn, where I am now Headteacher, but one glorious morning I dared to have ‘iced’ milk. The shards of frozen milk were the closest thing to ice cream I could imagine at that time when we had no fridge.
“The freezing air was also perfect for hardening our treacle toffee, which my father boiled up quite regularly during that winter. However, one evening, when we checked the toffee trays outside, we were shocked to find that our cats had got there before us and their tongues were stuck in the rapidly hardening toffee!
“On New Year’s Eve, we delayed our visit to friends while we hunted for Flossie, our year-old border collie, only to find her in a poor condition, guarding her eight shivering newborn puppies in the haystack. Supper was further delayed while we revived Flossie and all her pups beside the kitchen Rayburn.
“A couple more memories: my mother carrying in from the garden washing line huge, solid, bedsheets, frozen like window panes. Last, of all, spectacular Jack-frost patterns etched inside the bedroom windows every morning, brr!”
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Ann Simpson of Rhyl recalled a memorable trip with her friend Joan to the promenade at Rhyl when they were both around 15.
“The sea was frozen and wow, it was so good ice skating in your shoes – until you fell which Joan did,” said Ann. “She must have blanked out because when she came to, her first question was ‘am I dead?’ The sea was so thick with ice and the sands were frozen as well – I’ve never seen it like that since.”
Your wedding day is likely to be one of the most memorable of your life – particularly when it coincides with the coldest weather in centuries.
Pat Brooks won’t forget her big day in a hurry. It was, she says, “a day to remember for all the wrong reasons!”
“No white dress just a warm coat, hat, and gloves although I did make an effort with high-heeled shoes which were buried in the snow as we came out of the register office in St Asaph.
“It was too cold to stand for photographs and our honeymoon in Chester began with a railway journey with no heating working in the train and ice on the inside of the windows,” recalls Pat.
“Our honeymoon night was spent at our friend’s house where the pipes had frozen and my new husband spent most of the night up in the roof helping to repair burst pipes whilst I stayed in bed with as many clothes as I could wear!
“When we came back from honeymoon and went back to work, I also recall telephone lines hanging like draped Christmas decorations laden down with long icicles.
“We slipped and slid to work but in true spirit, things did not come to a halt, we just all seemed to take it in our stride.
“Incidentally we now celebrate 50 years of marriage with our family so the Big Freeze did not take its toll on us. Cold days but warm memories.”
Nesta Roberts, of Wrexham, remembered the winter of 1962-3 very well – and took everything in her stride.
“We had not been married very long and were living in a cottage in Rhuddlan belonging to Bodrhyddan estate,” she said.
“Our water supply was piped to us across Rhuddlan golf course and was only six inches underground. We froze up on Boxing day 1962 and finally thawed out by Easter 1963. We had two milk churns of water delivered from Bodrhyddan Hall every day – one full of hot water and one with drinking water.
“I don’t remember us being particularly stressed, we just got on with the daily task of day-to-day living, it all seemed like a big adventure. At 77, I doubt very much I’d be as laid back now!”
In the winter of 1963, the River Dee was completely frozen over from Shotton to Chester for weeks, recalled Geoff Williams of Prestatyn
“One day I was driving over the Blue Bridge and the high tide was coming in over the ice breaking underneath. I never thought I would see it again in my lifetime, so I pulled onto the Ferry Hotel car park and walked back to the bridge for a proper look. It was an amazing sight and the sound of the ice breaking – it was at least a foot thick – is something I will never forget.”
Elizabeth Jones of Pentrecelyn was nine at the time and living with her parents on a remote farm – Caerddinen, Llanelidan, near Ruthin.
“It was an era before conveniences that we take for granted today, such as 4x4 vehicles and central heating.
“I stayed for weeks with my sister Meta, her husband Trevor, and their two-year-old daughter Alison at their farm Tyddyn, Pentrecelyn, so that I was able to attend our local school at Pentrecelyn.
“I vividly remember one afternoon, the headmaster, the late dear Gwyn Dodd decided to close the school because of a sudden snowstorm, taking us few pupils who were at the school that particular day, walking across the fields of Pentrecelyn Hall to the safety of our homes.
“It wasn’t possible to walk along the road because of the huge drifts which had accumulated during the past weeks, so it was safer along the fields.
“My brother-in-law delivered essential groceries in his Land Rover because the van from the well-known JP Williams grocery shop at Ruthin wasn’t able to reach remote farms with their weekly deliveries.
“My father would come down on the tractor to fetch the deliveries from my brother-in-law, who was able to reach Rhydymeudwy.
“I remember neighbours melting snow to obtain water. Yes, a harsh time but it was very much more of a contented world in comparison with today, with communities helping each other.
“My sister Josie married on the last day of March 1963, and so I’ve been told there were still drifts to be seen on the Pen y Cae hill, (as it was called by us locals) leading up to our farm.
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