Do you remember the South Coast Blizzard in early December 1967, when much of the country experienced severe snowy weather?
It has vivid memories for me, working at Seaford College of Education (Corsica Hall), in my first job. The students were training to be home economics teachers and were lively young women about my own age.
It was the day of the College Dance – an annual Christmas highlight – and the students were excited as the afternoon progressed. When the snow first started, we thought it was a lovely festive touch for this special event.
The College intake also included some older students on bursaries from Commonwealth countries. Many had never seen falling snow before. At first, they were amazed, then, like us, increasingly alarmed (even frightened) as the snowfall continued and darkness came.
The first sign of trouble ahead happened when the Principal firmly announced that the College Dance was cancelled. The weather forecast warned of severe conditions.
We became anxious to reach home and suddenly there was a threat of real disruption. It became clear that people like me, usually travelling by bus towards Brighton, could be stranded. I managed to phone home but the lines soon failed and conditions worsened.
As the College was managed by East Sussex County Council, some of us were parcelled out for the night into any available location. I spent a chilly time with three others in central Seaford, occupying a small dormitory in the Social Services offices, above the old Library building.
I remember looking out of an upstairs window at some weary commuters, with briefcases, trudging up Sutton Park Road in the snow at 1am. How far had they come? It was a very British scene of ‘battling through’.
The next morning, a train was running from Seaford to Newhaven. I walked home for miles along the South Coast Road, with many others going in both directions and appearing like moving black marks on the white landscape, as the road dipped and rose ahead.
The silence, the sense of adventure, the common purpose, made it an extraordinary walk home. I’ve always thought of it as my Winter’s Tale.
EJ
Celebrating Seaford 