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+--- Thread: 1963 the big freeze (/showthread.php?tid=5348)
1963 the big freeze - Dave Mann - 02-12-2020
If anybody watched BBC 4 at 2000 tonight, 1963 the big freeze, it showed the Thames frozen over and a box saloon driving on it. I wonder who the owner/driver was.
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Peter Naulls - 02-12-2020
I think the newsreel it was taken from names him, either that or I have seen it in a book somewhere.
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Mike Costigan - 03-12-2020
His name was Charles Easter:
1963 Charles Easter crosses the Thames at Oxford.jpg (Size: 71.43 KB / Downloads: 914)
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Hugh Barnes - 03-12-2020
David Bignall of the Cambridge Club, also drove his Box Saloon 'Gloriana' along the River Cam in Cambridge... Sadly, not caught on film
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Duncan Grimmond - 04-12-2020
What a gas that must have been!
I was 12/13 at the time and my strongest memory is of warming up a penny on a radiator and taking it outside those if a frozen puddle would re-freeze around it. If yes we could go skating on the lakes in Rowntree's Park. Happy days which gave me a taste for outdoor skating, much nicer than an ice-rink.
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Robert Leigh - 04-12-2020
May I correct you, Hugh. Glyn Hughes was Gloriana's owner and it was he who drove on the Cam. Subsequently he sold the car to me and I sold it to Dave Bignell who eventually sold it to Alan Martin. There is a Cambridge Daily News now (Cambridge News) picture of Glyn's exploit.
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Hugh Barnes - 04-12-2020
Of course, you are quite correct. I thought about it after I posted, David would have been too young at the time... I tried to find the newspaper photo yesterday, but failed to track it down... I should keep looking..
RE: 1963 the big freeze - JohnD - 04-12-2020
I was sent a video around 10 years ago from Tom Abernethy driving his cup model on a frozen Lake of Menteith, just outside Stirling. I will try and find it over the weekend,
RE: 1963 the big freeze - JonE - 04-12-2020
This 1963 film 'Snow' short was put up for an Academy Award... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI
RE: 1963 the big freeze - Dave Mann - 05-12-2020
The diners on the train have the benefit of a steam locomotive pulling them, the dining car looks nice and warm. During the big freeze I traveled from London to Manchester on a diesel hauled express with ice on the inside of the carriage window, there was no heating.