With the cold weather now firmly set in, this is a fitting moment to look back at winters when the Isle of Wight faced extreme conditions.
Many residents will still remember the brutal winter of 1962–63, when heavy snow disrupted daily life across the Island.
Remembering a winter of hardship
Former farmer Christine Broom spoke about that winter during an interview recorded in 2017 for Down to the Coast’s Farming Memories oral history project.
She described her role in keeping farms running at a time when snow made travel slow and exhausting.
A journey through deep snow
Christine said,
“In the Winter of ’62-’63 when we had horrendous snow, I woke up on Boxing Day to find that the snowflakes falling outside at 4 o’clock in the morning were as big as tea plates and I said that I would have to start to walk.”
She explained that her father refused to let her walk alone, so they set off together shortly after four in the morning.
She said they reached Newchurch at midday, after eight hours of walking through deep snow.
Keeping the cows milked
Christine explained that she had to make the journey because the farmer’s wife “wasn’t really used to milking the cows” and needed help.
She said,
“I don’t think she’d have known how, so I had to get there to milk.”
She added that she milked only once that day instead of twice, before feeding the calves, bedding everything down, and finishing her other jobs.
Six weeks of daily walks
Christine said she and her father set off for home afterwards and arrived back at midnight.
She explained that she repeated this journey every day for six weeks until enough of the road was cleared for vehicles.
An unexpected honour
Christine said that her grandmother nominated her for an award without her knowledge or that of her family.
She said,
“There were I think ten or 12 people across the British Isles called ‘Heroine of the Storm’ and I was nominated, and I was one of the winners.”
She explained that she received £20, which she described as “an awful lot of money in those days,” along with a bouquet of a dozen red roses.
A lasting tribute
Christine said her grandmother died a week before the family heard about the award. She explained that she placed 11 roses on her grandmother’s grave.
She said her father planted the remaining rose in the garden, where it grew into a large red rose bush that lasted for many years.
You can listen to more of Christine’s stories, or those of other Isle of Wight farmers on the Farming Memories website.
