This is for the benefit of the young generation who think it’s a bit chilly at the moment and maybe it’s time to think about closing the schools, taking time off work or just hiding inside and calling for ‘mummy’!

Look, it is not cold! I’m sorry, but it really isn’t. A bit chilly perhaps, and maybe time for a hat, but on the overall scheme of things, it’s very nice indeed.

Let me cast my mind back to winter 1962/3. I was born in September 1958, so I’d have been 4 years and 3-4 months, and to be honest, I can’t really recall that much of it. But in those days family Hughes lived in a small bungalow on the outskirts of Woodbridge. My Dad worked in Ipswich and cycled there and back every day. The heating consisted of a coke stove in the kitchen, the windows were single glazed and us kids kept ourselves amused in the mornings by writing in the frost on the inside of them. 

But 1962/3 was particularly hard – you only have to consult the history books to confirm that. It didn’t really get much above freezing (32 degrees fahrenheit – no celsius in those days) for much of the winter. In particular, the river Deben froze over. No – really it did! Honestly. One day after collecting us from school my mother, along with several friends, took me (in my wheelchair) and my slightly older sister part of the way across the river near the tide mill. OK, it was probably hard frozen snow on the mud rather than river ice, but that indicates the severity of the cold. I gather my dad was not impressed with this jaunt, but respect to my mother really!

I’m indebted to Kevin Workman, who posted this picture of that time on the “Rural East Suffolk In Old Photographs” Facebook page recently.

Now THAT was cold!