Freezing temperatures are forecast for a few days yet as the snow, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, brings roads, trains and life to even more of a halt (though Kent appears to have had it much worse, as often happens).
So this week’s Rye News looked at one point as though it would have even less news than normal (that is “normal” as in the sense of the past 12 months pandemic’s “normal”) to write about, so do not be surprised if snow pops up everywhere. And, when the snow first appeared, the children were out in force with their parents hunting for a slope, however small, and enough white stuff, however little, to slide down.
But, so far, the snow has been very limited – compared, for example, to 2015 and 2018 (see photos elsewhere in this week’s Rye News) and a bigger issue sometimes has been ice under foot as snow melted and refroze – with some lovely results sometimes though.
And nature’s beauty in the snow, even as it melts (see the icicle photo above), has attracted both artists and photographers.
But the virus is not vanishing
The virus is still an issue though, whether it it may or may not happen next, how the first round of vaccinations is going, or the introduction of workplace testing to stop new outbreaks.
For now though – and possibly right through the weekend – the issue is the cold, and the older members of the community may recall Dean Martin crooning away in 1959 to “Baby, it’s cold outside” – a chart topper which had a second lease of life with Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews in 1999.
But more recently the lyrics were dubbed by some as “dodgy” so a rewrite was done – which Dean’s daughter apparently hates. However I am too old to remember the lyrics, but I do recall two winters. One was the severe winter in the 40s after the war ended, and the possibly even longer winter in the 60s which just went on and on – and I was in East Anglia then which is as exposed to the winds as Thanet can be.
For now though we recall the snow arriving this year, and pay tribute to a monster icicle, quite unlike the more delicate versions shown in the top photo.
Image Credits: Andy Stuart .
All very pretty at the tennis club, but caused by water across half the road which has been there for two months now. A blocked drain, reported on multiple occasions, but no action by the council.
There’s a working drain at each end of the flood and two “blocked” drains under the water. These drains are not blocked on the surface (at road level) but I’ve gently pushed a long pole down through them and it hits a lot of gunge 2 to 3 feet down. I would suggest therefore that this is a matter not for Highways or the Council but for the Water Authority to put right – and urgently as it’s a considerable traffic hazard. The source of the water is the many springs in the cliff opposite, an ongoing problem needing major work and expense to remedy.
Update: the flood in Military Road has gone. The two drains that were blocked below road level are now both completely cleared, with water gushing into them from the springs on the cliff opposite. The biggest spring is between nos 32a and 34 and is causing quite a waterfall across the pavement and road into the drains. Pedestrians, beware passing traffic!