WORST WINTER IN MEMORY OF BRITONS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26971, 21 February 1953, Page 6

WORST WINTER IN MEMORY OF BRITONS

LONDON LETTER

(By K. W. McCOOK, London Correspondent of •‘The Press")

London, February 13. —Amateur weather statisticians and professional meteorologists are already describing this winter as the worst within living memory in Britain. They have the wholehearted support of nearly all their fellow-countrymen. The weather records support the claims. Although there haye been more severe snowfalls and floods before, the bad weather has not for many years been so prolonged. If account is taken of all the disasters that have occurred in the last six months, this winter can truly be described as the worst for more than 500 years. . . , The tale began last August, when the Lynmouth flood almost swept the seaside village into the sea. This was followed by the coldest September on record, with hard, biting frosts general throughout the country. In October, the weather grew worse and by the end of November most people were resigned to a succession of weeks of ice and snow. In November, also, London’s famous fogs took on a new and deadly character. In one terrible five-day fog 4703 died in Londonmore than three times the n o ri pal death-rate—and the choking black fog is held to blame by doctors. The New had barely started with a few welcome sunny days when the recent calamity of the East Coast floods, with a death roll of more than 300, and millions of pounds of damage, struck Britain. Heavy blizzards which have cut off villages and disrupted communications, and the threat oi further severe flooding along the coasr this month add to the sorry tale. When the bad record of air crashes and numerous shipwrecks around the coast is taken into account few would deny that the winter of 1951-52 stands out as a terrible season. Now, with the sight of a few snowdrops breaking through the ice and slush, and some hardy crocuses pushing up through the concrete ground St Kew, Londoners are waiting for . the reports of the first cuckoo’s arrival. The end of a lorife and dreary winter will then be in sight.

Jewellers’ Insignia Orders ’■ In anticipation of a long Coronation - honours list this year, British jewellers are already working on orders . for the intricate insignia peeded for • the knights who will be created. Nor- • mally the Central ChanCery of the > Orders of Knighthood—the body re- : sponsible for ordering the new insig- ! nia—keeps a two-year stock of the i collars, stars, and badges, but as a i particularly heavy demand for insig- ! nia is expected this year jewellers ■ have been asked to accept rush orders. ! Some classes of insignia which were ordered for the Coronation of the late 1 King are missing from the new list, as it is unlikely that any more appoint- ! ments for these classes will be made. , They include the insignia for the Orders of St. Patrick, the Star of India, and the Indian Empire. The Indian orders have not been awarded since 1947. - , . The most elaborate insignia being made by craftsmen belongs to the Most Noble Order of the-Garter. The Garter, of dark blue velvet, is worn by knights on the left leg and by ladies on the left .arm. With it goes a collar of gold, weighing 30 ounces, •which consists of 24 separate pieces, each in the form of a garter surrounded by the Tudor rose. New Building Londoners had their first look this week at the city’s latest building—a modern eight-storey concrete block on the corner of Bond street and Bruton street in fashionable Mayfair. The building has just been completed for the American publishing firm, TimeLife, Incorporated. When plans for the building were being drawn, the millionaire publisher of the company, Mr Henry Luce, gave orders that the building should be pre- , dominantly British and of contemporary design. The architect, Sir Hugh Casson, and his group of artists, have spared no pains to achieve this end. Streamlined desks, air-ccndi- • tioned offices, sweeping staircases, and , sumptuous reception halls are the last . word in modern British art and inter- . ior decoration. Only an American flag has been imported. To finish the building with a typically British touch, the planners have even catered for the local love of the weather. A “weather window” on street level gives passers-by all the , latest information on wind direction i and velocity, and heat and humidity, and has a special weather map set up twice a day by the Air Ministry. It . is already a great success with May- . fair strollers. ( Bomber Command V.C.’s Five airmen with one common bond « were guests at a dinner arranged by a ]

film company in London on Wedn day night. They were five of the surviving V.C.’s of the Royal Air jv* Bomber Command. or S Two of the heroes are still with the R.A.F. One. an AustS& Wing Commander H. Edwards won his V.C. for a daylight attack * Bremen in 1941, is flying Canberr? while the other, a New Zealand 1 Squadron Leader L. H. Trentv?' D.F.C., who led a daring low-iLS attack on a power station in Aim? dam in 1943 is now an instructor m flying school. The three other Vo! who attended the function have .i? returned to civilian life—Flight La tenant N. Reid as a farm manaS 1, Squadron Leader R. A. B. Learovd ' a car salesman, and Warrant Jackson as a liquor salesman aJ other Bomber Command V.C Grni* Captain G. L. Cheshire, was in hostfS and could not attend the dinner. Railways v. Service Cars British Railways is fighting against the increasing competition the privately-owned long-distance ser vice cars. To meet the lower far* charged on the service cars betvS London and Scotland, new trains callS the “Starlight Specials” will run u tween London and Edinburgh aS Glasgow this spring. The train fare for the 800-mile round trip will be £3 10s—approximately m a mile. The service car return fare J £3. If the nfew service is a success the railways may extend the new cheap fare excursions further. At nr? sent the normal third-class return fart costs £5 17s to Glasgow and £5 12 to Edinburgh. The specials will leav! their terminals on Friday and Satur day nights. Speeds will also be increased on th* long-distance express trains between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh This summer the three glamour ex presses, the Mid-day Scot, the Royal Scot and the Flying Scotsman, have a 90-milg-an-hour top spe«u. the same as their pre-war limit. During the war, lack of track main, tenance cut the limit of the three flyen to 60 miles an hour and it was only raised to 80 miles an hour last vear If the trains can maintain their pre. war timetables the Royal Scot will do the 401 miles to Glasgow in sevea hours instead of the present time <rf eight hours 10 minutes.

Scottish “Coshes” » The announcement of the new “anti. ’ cosh” bill to ban the carrying of such . weapons as coshes, knuckleduster! > bicycle chains, razors, and broken i bottles has perturbed a group of Scot. . tish tailors. The bill merely define? j “offensive weapons” as “articles made or adopted for use for causing injury >to persons.” Loyal Scots see the loose . wording as a threat which might ban the wearing of the skean dhu. dirk . or claymore, which may “result in a definite loss to the outfitting trade.’ It is doubtful whether the Highland, ers’ traditional weapons have ever been used even by Glasgow cosh gangs, but Northern patriots can appreciate the commercial vigilance of their tailors. Sporting Peer An elderly English peer has been nceiving congratulations for winning the hazardous senior toboggan race on the famous Cresta Run at St. Moritz this week. He is 69-year-old Lord Brabazon of Tara. Lord Brabazon has an impressive sporting and political record. A former<*Cabnet Minister, he was the first English pilot, a pioneer motorist, a scratch golfer, and is still a leading yachtsman. Lord Brabazon is modest about his winter sports success. “I’ve been down the Cresta every year, excluding the wars, since 1907, so I am beginning to know it," he said. “It is great fun.” The Viscount’s Nose British European Airways which recently ordered a further 12 Vickers Viscount airliners for its services does not believe in taking any chances when its planes are being christened. When Lady Douglas, wife of the corporation chairman, broke the traditional bottle of champagne over the first Viscount, the Discovery, this week, the company made s ire that the glass of the bottle was of wine-glass thinness to protect the plane’s nose. The Discovery and a sister plane will start a new service to Rome and Cyprus in April. * Second Thoughts An old adage was given a new meaning in the Central Criminid Courts in the Strand one day this week. Mr Justice Croom-Johnson, who was hearing a theft case, interrupted the proceedings at one point to warn sternly that whoever wai coughing in the court must either stop immediately or leave the court. After a pause he added: “ . . . unless it happens to be one of the prisoners.”