Diaries tell story of big freeze of 1947

For not only had we to endure ferocious snow blizzards and bitter cold, but also a fuel crisis and food shortages, and we were just recovering from the war.

There was no respite from the bitter cold, and people of my generation still remember with a shudder the foot long icicles which hung from windows, inside as well as out.

Most of us rely on our memories to remember the severity of it all, but there was one lady in Dewsbury at the time who was recording it all, day by day.

She was Ruth Walker, who lived at Oak Cottage in Briestfield, and she kept a diary in which she described exactly what was happening.

Ruth, who I wrote about last week in my article about Briestfield, recorded the hardships of local people in the winter of 1947.

Her are some extracts.

February 1: “February has arrived with all the vigour of real wintry weather, bringing blizzards and snow to all parts of the British Isles. We at Oak Cottage are snow and icebound, having to dig through drifts of snow six feet deep.

“All week BBC has mentioned villages being cut off and main roads blocked with snow ploughs working through the night.

“On the main road between Sheffield and Manchester about 200 Polish men have been employed to clear the road.

February 2: “Weather conditions today very severe, blowing a blizzard from the East.”

February 4: “Wakened up this morning to find mountain of snow, it came halfway up the door. It took a while shovelling through the snow drifts before we could feed the poultry, a blizzard blowing all the while.”

February 5: “All roads blocked. Bakery van unable to get to the stores. Very few people could get to work at all. Transport at a standstill, making everything chaos.”

February 7: “Too cold to think of going to the evening service at chapel. Heard later a fairly good number turned up. Felt rather dismayed, wondering if I am getting too soft and careful of myself.”

February 10: “My birthday. No birthday cards or presents. Had no fat and sugar to even make myself a cake. A very uneventful day.”

RUTH, who was married to William Walker, had two daughters, Sophia, who was married to Alec Jury, a local schoolmaster, and Edith, a nurse serving in the Forces.

Ruth refers in the diary to Sophia, who had just had a baby, and how the shortage of coal was affecting the family.

She wrote:

February 11: “Cold bitter day. In the evening Alec came with sledge from Lepton to take a bag of coal home, a journey of four miles. Dad remarked Alec would find it very hard work pulling the sledge. Bitterly cold, frost day and night.”

February 22: “Alec came and brought me Sophia’s birthday present - two Pyrex dishes, one, a lovely big dish to make fruit pies when the day comes we can buy lard by the pound instead of the ounce per person each week as at present.

“The other dish is a small butter dish, just right for the half pound of butter allowed on our two rations weekly.

“Asked Alec whether he found it easy taking down the bag of coal on the sledge. He said never again will he try the same experience. He left Oak Cottage at ten past nine and did not arrive home until midnight, nearly exhausted.

“It is a cold bitter day. Frost day and night. Have heard of villages being snowbound, cut off from the world.

“The BBC this morning commented on how this weather is likely to continue. The Prime Minister will broadcast on the six-o-clock news.

“Essential firms are to continue, but others to close down for a short period, probably causing nearly a million people out of work.

“Domestic cuts mean no electricity between the hours of 9am to 12. Army and Navy will help with transport difficulties.

“All train services must be cut down to a minimum, boys of 18 who are willing to work in the coal mines will not be called up to the Forces for the next five years. Coal rations allowed - four bags a month.

“Thousands of people in our English homes are without coal, unable to make fires to keep themselves and family warm and dry through this bitterly cold winter.”

RUTH Emma Walker was born in 1883 and lived at Oak Cottage all her married life.

Some years ago, her grandchildren discovered her diaries which she had kept from November 1945 to October 1947.

The family later compiled them into a book called Grandmother’s Diaries which was published in Australia where many of Ruth’s family now live.

Sadly, the book is now out of print and difficult to obtain, but I hope in coming weeks to reproduce some of its contents, which are fascinating.

It was Ruth’s grandson, John Jury, who first found the diaries following the death of his mother, Sophia, Ruth’s daughter.

In the foreword to the book, Ruth’s grandchildren, Ruth Morrison, John Jury, Jane Weise, Deborah Jarver and Susan Rintoul, write: “We, her grandchildren have found the diaries fascinating, and want them to be read and enjoyed by our own children and grandchildren.

“Grandmother recorded events in her diaries during one of the most significant times of human history.

“She lived in a small village in Yorkshire where she had lived all her life, and as World War II drew to a close, the dark and dreadful days continued.

“She records the death of her nephew Stanley Brown in an aircraft accident at 21-years-old.

“Her son-in-law Alec Jury back from the war after five years of service in the Armoured Corps called The Desert Rats.

“He has returned to his wife Sophia and to his post as assistant master at Kirkheaton Church School.

“Her daughter’s pregnancy is a great concern as Sophia had given birth to stillborn twin girls just before the war.

“She hopes for better times, and they come with the safe arrival of her grandchild, John.”

These diaries would not have been made available to local people if it had not been for the research being carried out by the newly formed Briestfield History Group, who are now in touch with Ruth’s family.

Anyone with any more information about Briestfield’s history, please contact John Lyte, chairman, at [email protected] or on 01924 848893.

Another important item for people interested in local history, an event is taking place at St John’s Church, Dewsbury Moor, on Thursday at 2pm relating to the history of the church.

Anyone with photographs or information about the history of the church, please take them along.