Memories of 1976

One of the (many) geography-related books on my shelves is Evelyn Cox's "The Great Drought of 1976"

I remember the drought of 1976 well...

It was the driest summer since 1772...

I was 12 at the time, and spent a week of it on the island of Jersey, which was flipping hot ! I remember getting into our rented Beetle with its hot leather seats burning the backs of my legs in their shorts... take that Proust !

A good Martin Wainwright piece on memories of the drought here, courtesy of the Guardian. I saw Martin speaking at an event last year, and he was very engaging, if a little rambling and tangential :)

I currently have the book "Since records began" by Paul Simons out of my local library on loan. It has a useful section on the drought...

Some snippets:

• The tabloid headline "Phew, what a scorcher"
• Intense heat set in on 23rd June
• There were 15 consecutive days of temperatures above 90 degrees in the S of England
• Drought from the stress assisted the Dutch Elm disease fungus
• Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo had to be sprayed with iced water to help them cope with the heat
• Slogan: "Save water, bath with a friend...."
• Thousands of subsidence claims as houses built on clay suffered cracks
• In 1977, there were a lot more boys born than girls: it's thought that the female X-chromosome is more sensitive to heat

Interestingly the previous year, there had been snow on the 4th June as far south as East Anglia and London.

And now we have the first drought warnings of the year. So start sharing baths...

And remember, if it's brown flush it down, if it's yellow, let it mellow...