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Summer of 1976

(228 Posts)
mrsmopp Thu 28-May-20 11:07:27

This is the hottest summer since 1976. The heatwave went on and on. Some areas had stand pipes because of water shortages. We were not allowed to water the garden and everywhere was parched. Do you remember the summer of 1976?

Nannan2 Fri 29-May-20 17:15:45

And not being able to sleep at night as even with windows wide open it was still hot stuffy air... (i thought we had really hot weather& a long summer a couple of years ago too?- i had a new boiler & pipes fitted then so i spent most of the days out in back garden to avoid the noise& mess!)

Sawsage2 Fri 29-May-20 17:10:04

My daughter was born end of very hot June. I was so relieved to finish work mid May (normal then). Had another child end of freezing Jan 1979. They are still have opposite personalities.

Nannan2 Fri 29-May-20 17:05:13

O.m.g.yes! I was 13 and i remember going to have a weekend with friends and we sunbathed outside on her drive and went all over her estate visiting other friends, but i also remember when my mum collected me sunday evening that id to put cold water flannels/cloths all up my arms/shoulders they were so sunburnt- and get some special calamine burnease cooling lotion from chemists (it was quite new& expensive back then) the next morning! Ah, the foolishness of the young! Never again though, I'm always careful now.hmm i remember too that we had the water stand pipes in our street- and we had to go fill up containers.

bluejay29 Fri 29-May-20 17:05:05

I had my first son at the end of October and it was still boiling hot. I was in hospital for a week but it turned colder when I was due to go home. I had to ask my mum to lend me one of her coats to go home in...hadn't worn one for months.

Bluegrass Fri 29-May-20 16:52:18

During that time I was a secretary in a large manufacturing business in Wales. There were fires burning on the hills for weeks (natural combustion). Many of the men would finish their various shifts and go straight to the hills and into fire-fighting mode. It was lovely to picnic in the grounds at lunchtime. One day I lay on my back relaxing when I heard a wolf-whistle - the skirt of my fine cotton dress had fluttered up to show my underwear! Mortified!

Destin Fri 29-May-20 16:49:31

Oh yes- sooooo well. The four of us - my husband, myself and our two young children - left the UK in May to start a new life in Canada! As the date inched towards June and the UK got warmer and warmer, we were experiencing chilly winds, very low night time temperatures and even May snow showers! It really rocked my world in those very early days!

Washerwoman Fri 29-May-20 16:38:02

Endless days spent revising - and other things ! - in fields in between where my family and that of my first serious boyfriend lived.
A feeling of complete optimism of life ahead of me
Super slim in my shorts and cheesecloth shirt and bikinis .Sigh
Lying in bed on a stiflingly hot evening with the sounds of 10cc's I'm not in love coming from a concert they were performing at our local football stadium.
Stand pipes being installed just outside our house.
An evening job at a pub that I adored,and would walk to through deliciously cool woods and the excitement of earning some money and making so many new friends.Happy days indeed.

tavimama Fri 29-May-20 16:22:54

My abiding memory of that summer is that my thick white blonde hair, which went down past my bum, was all cut off due to the heat. I was simultaneously gutted and relieved at the same time!

heatherjw Fri 29-May-20 16:21:52

It was the year that I finished university and started my job with the Ministry of Defence. As a dispensation for the hit weather we were allowed to start work sn hour early, and the men were allowed to wear shirts to work.

Callistemon Fri 29-May-20 16:10:24

2003 was very hot

Callistemon Fri 29-May-20 16:09:25

aggie!

Poor children
That must have been so difficult for you all.
A summer to remember.

Callistemon Fri 29-May-20 16:07:31

kissngate that must have been hot and itchy.
Not to mention the difficulty having a bath or shower!

aggie Fri 29-May-20 16:05:07

We took a house for a month , near the sea , eldest was 8 , youngest 18 months in plaster from armpits to toes for CDH .
Eldest broke his front teeth on the bumping cars at the fair , he had to visit the dentist , it cost so much that we had to go home early , youngest was sweating so much she couldn’t sleep
Such fun
The grass didn’t grow so we were short of silage the following winter

Keke Fri 29-May-20 16:03:23

It was a summer to remember - my first boyfriend, my O Level exams, sneaking into the pictures, the unending heat. Yup a summer to remember

Greciangirl Fri 29-May-20 15:56:20

I moved from Richmond upon Thames, to Colchester, Essex, during that hot summer.
In hindsight a silly move. Blame.mother in law.

I don’t think there has been another one quite like it except maybe the summer of 2006 came close.

kissngate Fri 29-May-20 15:51:50

Spent the summer at home with right arm in plaster after an accident. Bumped into my boss in town and he asked if I was left handed - no. I believe he went back to work and asked HR if there was anything they could find for me to do - no. He just wasn't happy that I was enjoying the sunshine and he wasn't.

Polly4t42 Fri 29-May-20 15:44:30

I was sharing a flat with a girlfriend, wearing Laura Ashley long dresses, meeting my boyfriend for picnics at old Sarum. I also remember masses of ladybirds. I had the front bedroom with a bay window and had to remove loads of living and dead ones from our carpet almost daily.

mrsmopp Fri 29-May-20 15:41:06

It was our sons birthday that summer and we bought him a chopper bike. Remember the Chopper bike? They were all the rage. and he he was thrilled to bits.

Saggi Fri 29-May-20 15:23:38

Yes I remember ‘76 ....heavily pregnant .... moving house....but once she was born...a glorious way for a new life to start.

Callistemon Fri 29-May-20 14:54:00

I lived on the Cornwall/Devon border and don't remember any rain at all until September, Rosiebee.

My little DD was astonished to see the rain, I dont think she was sure what was happening.

Kaggi60 Fri 29-May-20 14:51:26

Remember it well went on holiday first time with mu boyfriend. we got burnt but had a Good tan. We went for a walk got lost went around the block twice and fell down same hole twice was quite funny.

Callistemon Fri 29-May-20 14:51:01

I was young and fit then
Oh yes, HannahLoisLuke?, I vaguely remember those days!

And carting buckets of bath water through the house to water the garden, keeping a bucket of bath water handy to flush the loo.

AlexG Fri 29-May-20 14:35:23

Younger daughter was born at the end of April 1976. We drove to Dorset to stay with my parents when she was six weeks old and it was already hot. My mother put up the big cot as she said the baby would be too hot in a plastic carry cot. She was right but the baby looked so little in a big cot! Poor baby spent the whole summer just in a vest and we were staying at my sisters in London at end of August when the weather broke and I didn’t have enough clothes for the baby. Luckily my niece had a baby sized doll so my little one had dolly hand me downs!

phoenix Fri 29-May-20 14:07:50

LovelyLady not quite sure what how your post relates to the topic? confused

Rosiebee Fri 29-May-20 14:07:36

Teacheranne In Summer 1976, my boyfriend and I went camping in Scotland and it was glorious. My friend went camping in Cornwall and she was washed out. Don't think it was you!!