WINTER is coming to an end — it’s not been so bad has it?

I am one of those that can recall those really bad winters when shops were rationing customers, because deliveries weren’t getting through, thanks to the snow.

Buses stopped running, so we had to walk to school. I had to walk all the way from Green Lane to Cherry Tree and along the main road through Witton and Griffin then along King Street to St Hilda’s School — quite a trek, I can tell you.

There were compensations, though, Rules were relaxed and there was a spirit of ‘we are all in this together’.

The big hall upstairs at St Hilda’s was turned into a reception room and hot drinks were available, so if we were honest we all quite enjoyed it, except for the fact that your feet and hands were constantly frozen.

I can’t remember the exact year, I think it was the very early 1940s. The snow drifted in many places and it was as high as our garden gate, which was about four feet tall, so we made snowmen and got wet through.

The clothes maidens were permanently round the fire as my mum desperately tried to keep our clothes warm and dry.

Of course, we had no tumbler dryers, and no central heating, but we did have plenty of love and hot food.

We were chuffed my mum didn’t go out to work. What a laugh! I can’t imagine how she coped.

Our household was grandma, my two older brothers, Uncle John who also lived with us — and everyone thought she had it easy because she didn’t actually go out to work!

Dad and Uncle John were on shift work but not the same shifts. The shifts worked in threes, 6 to 2, 2 till 10 or 10 till 6, so imagine how hard it was putting up ‘bait’ for two men on different shifts, seeing to three children, and looking after grandma.

I think she would have found it much easier if she had gone out to work, but she never complained.