Remember the heatwave of 1976?

I remember travelling from Scotland to London with my dad, who was on business at the time. We took a walk to Hyde Park and stopped to buy some ice cold cans of juice from a man who was selling them near the park - he wanted £1 a can - even now that would be expensive, but at the time, it was outrageous! My dad was scandalised and needless to say, as a thrifty Scot, told him what to do with his vastly inflated prices!

Our family was noted for having bad weather on holiday. We went to Wales in 1976 and the heavens opened

Two children, 3 & 4.5. Husband offshore nearly all summer. I reverted to the living patterns of my tropical childhood. Got up at 6.00, did housework etc until 9.00 then shut the windows and drew the curtains until 6.00 pm.

I let the children run in and out as they wished. There was a paddling pool in a shady spot and DD had a battery operated toy washing machine for her (May) birthday. it lived on the patio and I gave her a bucket of water each day and did not worry how wet she got.

We spent the whole summer waiting for roofing contractor who was going to strip and retile our roof. He started the day the drought ended. Spent all day Monday stripping off the tiles and laying roofing felt. That night the heavens opened and it poured with rain non-stop. The roofing felt was so well laid not a drop came through and there were no leaks.

I started working in a bank in June 1976, it was ridiculously hot, so hot the bank manager gave in & reluctantly allowed the men to remove their suit jackets, ties had to stay firmly in place though. We had to wear tights no matter what, we weren’t allowed to go bare legged or even wear trousers at that time.

Another memory of that scorching summer is of going to visit my grandad (dads dad) in hospital. It was still the old fashioned long wards at that time with beds on either side. There was a very frail old man in the bed opposite reaching out towards his bedside locker, my mum spotted him and thinking he was literally dying for a drink went over and poured him some lemon & barley & gave it him to drink in what she thought was a special drinking bottle. My gran who was a retired nurse had just arrived on the ward and saw what was happening & rushed across to stop my mum who was now holding the bottle up trying to get the poor old man to take a sip. My mum was so embarrassed when she realised the bottle was for him to wee in & not a special drinking bottle. We couldn’t stop giggling about her faux pas, at nearly 87 she still laughs about it.

The part of the office I worked in was a prefabricated building, very cold in winter and airless in summer. Personal were so worried that, they came in with jugs of water to make sure we drank a beaker full every hour. But we were expected to be correctly dressed… ladies wore tights/stockings even though none of us saw clients
We didn’t have standpipes in the area I lived in.

I remember standpipes being put up. We had just moved into a house with windows down to the floor in both the lounge and main bedroom and double aspect kitchen. Never been good in the heat so we both struggled. When it eventually started to rain we stood on the patio with our arms in the air giving a jig of joy.

The TV programme shows everyone was drinking fizzy drinks not water! I do remember drinking a lot of Coke myself. What did that do to the children's teeth? Does anyone remember whether they gave their children lots of fizzy drinks? I think it was pretty normal then.

In the 1970s we had a weekly delivery from the 'lemonade man' who came around in a milk float.

Consulting my pocket diary for 1976, I find references to upcoming business trips and committee meetings, but no mention of anything associated with the heat or the drought, nor indeed of DW's diagnosis of twins at 20 weeks and their eventual birth a month early. I was no Samuel Pepys!

I do remember pouring washing-up water on the plants

Remember searching for a canopy for my 8month sons pram. Everywhere sold out, (no internet then) this was end of May 76. Something you rarely see now, poor babies open to the elements or stifling under pram hood.

Chestnut

The TV programme shows everyone was drinking fizzy drinks not water! I do remember drinking a lot of Coke myself. What did that do to the children's teeth? Does anyone remember whether they gave their children lots of fizzy drinks? I think it was pretty normal then.

Mine just had one bottle of lemonade a week. I was a mean mother.
However, they were very envious because next door eighbour had a soda stream!

Neighbour

So judging by the posts on this thread, the 1976 heat wave lasted for a few weeks, that's how I remember it.

My first child was 8 months old when we went on holiday to Devon in the summer of 76. We had a holiday lodge with its own bit of garden and a washing line. By the time Is pegged out the baby clothes at the far end of the line the first ones at the other end were dry, they weren’t much bigger than a man’s hankie!

She had her first ice cream her face was a picture!

I’d not is

Another pregnant mum here Chestnut!

My second child, a boy, was born in August 1976. Remember watering the garden with washing up water.

Also going to our county agricultural show in the June, wandering around all day in the heat. On the way home we called in at the local hospital to see my sister in law who was also pregnant (her baby born two days before mine). She was in with pregnancy issues for weeks. She could not believe I had been walking round all day in the heat, and told DH, her brother, he shouldn’t have let me!

I was fine!

I was pregnant and had shingles. I remember the water standpipes and the earth being cracked.

I am suffering more today, I think it is an age thing.

We worked all through that long, hot summer, then went on holiday in September to S.Devon. On the way down, we were travelling through, I think, the village of Modbury, and there was a cottage down a pretty lane that had been painted black all over. Printed in large white letters on the side it said that this had been done as a punishment to the householders for wasting water in the heatwave. I still haven`t come across anyone else who remembers this. On the Thursday lunchtime, we were sitting on the beach at Thurlestone when the sun suddenly disappeared and the heavens opened, oh boy, did it rain! And all day Friday as well, but when we were settying off for home on Saturday the sun came out again.

Smileless2012 I think the programme says how long it lasted, I think it was 40 days, although I wrote in my pocket diary it was scorching from 5th June and then got cooler 9th July. But then I think it got hot again in August. Not sure of exact dates, will have to watch the programme again.

Smileless2012

So judging by the posts on this thread, the 1976 heat wave lasted for a few weeks, that's how I remember it.

It lasted months. April until September and there was a long hot summer the previous year too. I’ve very happy memories of ‘75 and ‘76, and when we have lovely summer weather it makes me feel good remembering these. ‘Bliss it was that dawn to be alive, to be young was very heaven’

We had just moved house and found that our garden had a vast number of stones. Armed with a garden riddle I spent that summer sieving and filling container after container with stones. I ended up with a great tan and a stone free garden!

I remember my poor mother sitting at the kitchen table in her bra and petticoat, looking like a wilted flower. She was probably menopausal and feeling the heat badly. ?

I had a toddler and she ‘helped’ me water the garden with the bath water. Luckily our bathroom was downstairs.
I do remember wondering what the fuss was about. I grew up in HK where ,not only was it hot but also humid.

PamelaJ1

I had a toddler and she ‘helped’ me water the garden with the bath water. Luckily our bathroom was downstairs.
I do remember wondering what the fuss was about. I grew up in HK where ,not only was it hot but also humid.

Oh yes, I remember the sweet little watering cans with a flower for a spout and DD used the paddling pool water to water the garden.

Goodness, I remember it being long but not that long and here we are with all this fuss being made over a heatwave that's going to last a few days.