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Win a Kindle Paperwhite worth over £100 plus a copy of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep **NOW CLOSED**

(602 Posts)
SorchaGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 16-Jan-17 15:23:26

To celebrate the publication of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, a charming coming-of-age debut novel by Joanna Cannon, we're giving you the chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite.

Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. The neighbours blame the disappearance on the heatwave, but ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly aren't so sure.

As the summer shimmers endlessly on, the girls decide to start their own investigation. And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives find more than they imagined.

Joanna Cannon graduated from Leicester Medical School and worked as a hospital doctor, before specialising in psychiatry. She lives in the Peak District with her family and her dog.

To be in with a chance of winning a Kindle Paperwhite worth over £100 & a copy of the book, tell us - do you remember the heatwave of '76? If so, what are your memories of it?

Post your entry below by midday Monday 13 February.

Usual T&Cs apply.

This discussion is sponsored by HarperCollins

NotAGranYet1 Tue 31-Jan-17 15:34:59

I was 9 years old in the summer on 1976. We lived at the top of a culdesac, shaped a bit like a capital T. That top op the T become our Wimbledon for the entire fortnight, our British Bulldog and Red Rover games pitch for the rest, and, when we were feeling very adventurous, our open air barbecue as we tried to fry eggs on the pavement.

I really remember the smell of the bitumen, as it melted and stuck to our shoes.

lucycakeface Tue 31-Jan-17 13:59:13

Getting off the train after spending the day in Southend-on-Sea. It was so hot that my friend and I decided to walk home bare footed. BIG mistake, it took us double the time to walk home from the station as we were hopping up and down to stop our feet burning on the pavements! Ouch I can still feel it now.

WilmaKnickersfit Tue 31-Jan-17 11:53:45

Cycling up and down country lanes with my best friend, trying to find the Bay City Rollers. They were staying at a secret location to recover from stress and exhaustion. The innocence of youth. grin

Molly10 Tue 31-Jan-17 11:29:01

Ah yes, my first teenage on our own (so grown up) holiday with a friend in Devon. This is the life for sure! I particularly remember all the ladybirds.

chrisbishop55 Tue 31-Jan-17 11:01:59

It was the year my late husband and I got together and went for our first holiday together - camping somewhere near Sidmouth. We went to the beach every day and it was just glorious.

Larsonsmum Tue 31-Jan-17 10:55:41

1976 has very fond memories as it is the year we married, but we were apart a lot as my husband to be was already working in the Middle East, where I joined him in 1977.

What I remember most about the summer of '76 was Aberdeen being sweltering as I went around arranging our November wedding, while also keeping down two jobs!

The laugh was that what was hot for us in the North East of Scotland was nothing compared to the heat my dear hubby was enduring in Dubai in the summer!!

tamsind123 Mon 30-Jan-17 21:32:28

remember being two years old that year and my mum pregant with my younger sister (which I wasn't happy about, lol) and going to the stand pipes for water. It is strange that I can remember that from such a young age but with the heat and younger sister turning up, plus with a funny older sister it was an odd year

grandmaz Mon 30-Jan-17 17:50:16

It was so hot that I used to put my baby sons nappies on to wash overnight and hang them out really early in the morning, about 6am - it was so lovely to be outside before the sun started to scorch everything. If I had to hang washing out later in the day I draped a damp towel over my head and neck to keep the sun off as I am very fair skinned. No-one could sleep at nights, we had all the windows wide open night after night...

jkenn Mon 30-Jan-17 14:00:36

We had family over from Italy and they could not believe it. I remember taking them to Trafalgar square where they fell in love with Mr Whippy despite having I think the best icecream in the world.

ContentedNan Mon 30-Jan-17 11:32:27

It was the first year we took our children abroad and it was warmer at home than where we were. Not what we wanted

albertina Mon 30-Jan-17 10:48:24

I lived in Newcastle in 1976 but was visiting Dartington Hall in Totnes in the hot hot Summer. The grass was white and the head gardener was worried about all the wonderful trees that were suffering in the drought. At the time we were all limited to a 3inch bath of water, so my sister in law and I filled bowls and buckets with our bath water and poured it near the trees. The gardener was very moved but gently told us that we probably wouldn't make any difference as the roots went so deep.

mrsplum Mon 30-Jan-17 10:24:28

I remember the grass being completely brown in the front and back gardens and the hosepipe ban seeming to go on forever. My children were quite young then and really missed the paddling pool and Dad chasing them with the hosepipe!

SusieB50 Mon 30-Jan-17 08:41:04

My DD was 2 and my SiL and her 2 came to stay as they were only allowed to use a standpipe in Devon . I thought at the time that surely it was better to be by the sea than stifling London ! They played in the paddling pool all day in our shady garden and made ice lollies every day . Also remember fires all over the common nearby, and going on holiday in September and it raining !!

Radley Mon 30-Jan-17 08:03:21

Teenager outside soaking the rays with my mates and not
a care in the world Bliss

clairew137 Sun 29-Jan-17 19:31:38

I wasn't born until 1977, so I missed it all.

carol21 Sun 29-Jan-17 18:40:06

I was 11 in the Summer of 76. Just remember sunbathing in the garden and emptying the bath water to water the plants.

purplevamp Sun 29-Jan-17 16:29:30

I remember playing outside for most of the summer. My Mum let us have cans of cherryade, which had Tom and Jerry on the can smile

SusieWilkinson Sun 29-Jan-17 11:18:52

I was 5, and don't actually remember the heatwave, but I do remember summers around that time when my parent's friends would come to our house with their children of similar ages, and we'd all be in our underwear in the garden squirting water at each other out of washing up liquid bottles, and we certainly weren't cold!

fmonson Sun 29-Jan-17 10:17:22

Vague memories from when I was 9 but I took everything as the norm back then

celticsoulbrother Sun 29-Jan-17 07:36:36

Having a ball as a 10 year old, warm weather in Scotland! Who would've thought!

heathermw Sun 29-Jan-17 06:42:37

I got married! It was very informal but my mother in law insisted on wearing a hat, she was positively melting by the end day!
The following summer I was pregnant with my first child. The happiest summers of my life.

daveg Sat 28-Jan-17 21:54:36

It seemed to go on forever, and all people could talk about was hosepipe bans and dying grass. I remember not being able to fill paddling pool for kids because of hosepipe ban. It caused a hell of a lot of problems for the firemen. What a long couple of months it was.

granfromafar Sat 28-Jan-17 21:18:12

My Dear Dad had died suddenly just before my 21st birthday that year. I was pretty upset of course, and didn't do well in my Uni exams that summer. Remember revising for my resits in the sweltering heat when everyone else was sunbathing. Also met DH that summer so it was definitely a hot year in more ways than one!

JOANNEMINKY Sat 28-Jan-17 20:24:36

having a bath with an inch of water not flushing the loo!

MaggieMay69 Sat 28-Jan-17 20:14:32

My daughter was born at the beginning of July '76, and I was miserable as I had chickenpox, and to top it off my daughter was born with them too which made me feel terrible. However, Doctor was lovely and kept coming in to walk with my baby because she was suffering too, yet trying to breastfeed when you're stiflingly hot and covered in sore spots was a nightmare!
My husband was a paramedic and was able to give me a lift home in the ambulance with our daughter when we were discharged, and I spent hours in the paddling pool with my baby under the shade of the trees, listening to the radio, and looking like a walking Dot-To-Dot book!
I also volunteered with my Mum who worked at the local Childrens home, the kids helped loads with the baby. Was a good year!
Wonderful memories!