Snow storm in Canterbury

Press, 22 July 1976, Page 13

Snow storm in Canterbury

A kitchen is a snug and friendly place in winter. Stews and soups simmer on the stove, roast meat chuckles in the oven, and biscuits air on racks. Even if the family is kept indoors by bad weather, noone goes hungry. There is always a good supply of food in the kitchen. However, some of the families wTio lived in Canterbury - more than a

100 years ago were neither warm nor well fed if a sudden fall of heavy snow surprised them. Those who were poor had no money to spend on buying extra foods in case emergencies arose in the winter — foods that keep for a long time without going bad. Moreover, they had to fetch all the water for their daily needs from a stream or river, often some distance from their house. It must have been hard work carrying the heavy buckets on freezing mornings.

. Other families lived most comfortably but they, too, were not always prepared for hard winters. Lady Barker, for instance, had scarcely any food for her household of six people during the great Canterbury snow storm of 1867. She was English and lived with her husband in the Malvern Hills, on a sheep run called

"Broomielaw,” for three years.

It was an isolated farm. There were no roads connecting it to Christchurch, then a large village, 72km away, and the source of their food supplies. Only rough cart tracks led from “Broomielaw” to the “village” and the horses could not venture on those in stormy weather. Snow first began falling at the end of July. Flakes swirled from the dark sky and covered the ground. And it snowed and snowed, without pause. Snow covered the fences, gates, and shrubs. Snow blocked the cart tracks and formed drifts outside the farmhouse doors. “Broomielaw” was alone in a silent world.

A great whiteness spread over the green farmlands. Paddocks, streams, and neighboring sheep runs had disappeared. Worst of all, noone could see the cows or sheep. Somehow, the men managed to hack a passage through a hugh snow drift to feed the starving horses in their stables, but they could not reach the other animals.

Everyone felt cast down and they were very hungry. They had only tiny scraps of food for their meals. There were no salted meats or smoked fishes in Lady Barker’s kitchen. There were no cupboards full of jams and fat round cheeses, or rosy apples, nuts, and vegetables.

Lady Barker was a clever and adventurous woman, but she was not used to pioneering customs of salting meats and of pickling and preserving food in the summer and autumn so that there would be plenty to eat throughout the long winter months.

So, while it snowed outside ceaselessly, the six people at “Broomielaw” grew hungrier and hungrier. They felt frozen, too, for they were short of firewood and used it for one tiny fire in the kitchen. On the third day of the snow storm a crust of stale bred and a little rice had to be shared amongst

them all. The next day they ate a girdle cake made from the last of the flour.

Then the fifth day came. There was not even a crumb in the bins. Like Old Mother Hubbard, Lady Barker discovered that her cupboards were indeed bare. She tried to comfort and raise the spirits of some of her more dejected companions. Carefully, she inspected all the tea chests and, by shaking them out, managed to collect a few pinches of tea dust. She made a pot of very weak tea — without milk or sugar — for everyone.

Fortunately, the weather now began to improve. The men forced a passage through the snow and brought in some very lean hens for a meal. Then, the snow stopped, rain came, and no-one starved at “Broomielaw” after all. All was well for the human beings. But the animals had not been so fortunate. Hundreds of sheep and lambs were discovered dead beneath the snow. Others were rescued still alive. It was a sad sight. Let us hope that all our sheep and lambs are safe this winter.