8.
1973 WEATHER
Perhaps one of the joys of living in this temperate
island is the unpredictability of the weather, and even
after a lifetime of experience we are still surprised
by the sheer suddenness of its changing moods; no
wonder the vagaries of our Northern climate always make
a popular talking point and a means of "breaking the ice
Towards the end of the last war I was stationed for 12
months by courtesy of H.M. Government on the West coast
of Africa, and after experiencing six months of the dry
season in the Gambia (and in the Gambia it is really a
dry season), I was moved a few hundred miles North to
Port Etienne in the desert, an area completely devoid
of terrestial vegetation of any kind and where it never
rained at all; so that apart from one brief thunder-
storm just before leaving Bathurst it was continuous
sunshine and cloudless skies all the way. Very pleasant
for sun-worshippers, but how terribly boring, and
certainly not a topic for conversation or for breaking
the ice; one couldn't even complain of the heat for it
was always hot!
Here at home, coming down to earth, 1975 has followed
the usual unpredictable pattern. A wet Autumn was
followed by one of the mildest and wettest Winters I
can remember with the soaking carrying on well into the
Spring. Then as soon as we were looking forward to the
Summer, Winter came just in time for Whitsun and our
tomato plants, potatoes, fruit crops and many of our
garden treasures were blasted by the dreaded June
(actually on 31st May) frost. The snow and frost had
hardly melted when we were in the midst of a heat-wave
of tropical intensity which has lasted throughout June,
July and August and now possibly into September. In
this part of Essex we have had less than 11/2 inches of
rain since early June and some parts have been even
drier. Pastures are as lifeless and golden brown as
the adjacent stubble fields and these are cracked and