Happy New Year Tipton!
January and February often bring snow clouds looming and freezing winds along with them. There have been some years where Tipton has suffered from some severe winter weather. In the January of 1881 a low pressure system developed over the channel, along with gale force winds bringing a prolonged snow storm creating drifts 10ft high in the rural areas of East Devon. Nearly all postal and telecommunications ceased and very little business was done during this time. It was intensely cold and wild birds were found dead, simply frozen to death in the fields. Mr Retter of Lancercombe farm gave out loaves of bread ‘very liberally’ along with other foods to help feed the poor. Coal was also given out to keep families warm. One hundred 4lb loaves of bread were supplied by Mr Chard, baker of Ottery st Mary, for the people of Tipton, Fluxton and Metcombe.
In 1929 heavy snowfall caused farmer Mr Fry of Coombe to have to adapt from his usual horse and cart delivery which was impossible in the extreme weather. He improvised by borrowing a sleigh that youngsters had been tobogganing down the hills in and used it for his deliveries.
In January of 1963 we suffered the ‘big freeze’, when snow began falling in the UK on Boxing Day 1962; it barely stopped for the next 10 weeks. It was the coldest and longest recorded winter at that time since 1739. The snow was so deep in places around the village lanes that people could walk on the tops of the hedgerows. Drifts reached over 6 metres (20ft) blocking the roads and cutting off the village for days. Groceries had to be brought into the village by tractor.
In February 1978 came blizzards that made snow drifts so deep along Harpford road that I can remember making a ‘standing up snow angel’ just by leaning into the drifts. The village was cut off for three days, with the school closed and the village shop busy keeping up with supplies of bread and milk. Tractors helped to make ways through the snow drifts so that you could at least get through on foot.
I recall this year and like many others, we had no central heating in our house, so the open fire had to be kept going for warmth. At night we went to bed in our pyjamas, socks and night gowns. We lay under our many layers of blankets as there were no duvets, an eiderdown if you were lucky, and when we woke in the morning, we could see our cold misty breath and had to scrape the ice from the inside of the windows; the toilet even froze up. Snow damaged the power lines and with no electricity we had to revert to using candles for light and cooking on the open fire, which as a child I quite enjoyed. Holding a bit of bread on a fork over the fire seemed to make it taste far better than normal toast.
As school was closed we all headed up to the fields above Barton Orchard, dragging our plastic fertiliser sacks to go sledging, spending hours going up and down until our fingers and toes froze and throbbed with chilblains. We had great fun scooping up snow to build snowmen and throwing snowballs for as long as our hands and cheeks could take the cold. With noses glowing red we were thankful to get home and thaw out by the fire.
More recently in the late February, early March of 2018 “The beast from the east” stormed in bringing prolonged low temperatures, heavy snow and ice making roads around the village impassable and giving many no option but to stay at home. I recall the trees were so frozen with icicles that you could hear them tinkling in the wind. As always in Tipton people were out helping each other in the village, making sure that others were safe.
“ …it is in times of difficulty that the value of community life shows up to keep life flowing.. “ as reported by editor Paul Haines in a past Tipton T(mes in 1978. We will see what weather the new year brings us.
Souces: The British newspaper archives, Sidmouth Herald and Tipton Times.
Judith Taylor
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