What's the worst.......

The second was in the Philippines. I was on a diving expedition mapping out a potential marine national park around a small, uninhabited island off Negros Occidental. Just at the end of my month's stay, a typhoon came through. Luckily, the eye went well north of us, near Manila, so we weren't in such high winds as that, but even so, tents and typhoons don't mix too well.

Luckily, too, we were very well sheltered on three sides, with a typhoon beach on the fourth. There was also a hut, which gave some additional shelter to some of the tents (but not to mine). I had a very good geodesic mountain tent, designed for high altitude use, and it stood up very well. I got a crack in one of the poles when some oil drums came adrift and crashed into us, and some tents were lost. Also, the two RIBs anchored in the lagoon were capsized and their engines wiped out. My main worry was coconuts. There were some above us and I was afraid of being killed by one coming through the roof of the tent.
The next day, it was time to leave, but far too rough for boats from the mainland to come to the seaward side where we were, so we had to carry all our packs and diving equipment across the island, through lagoons, to the landward side where the boats were waiting.

That has reminded me of being stuck on a fishing boat in a storm between Greece and Corfu. We got swept to Albania and this being over 30 years ago the fishermen were very worried. It had been a beautiful day, we had chartered them to take us to a few beautiful secluded beaches, from Corfu to Greece and the storm came from nowhere and it was getting dark. It was only a small boat. I was very grateful that I had never been someone to suffer from seasickness. I don't know how they did it, but they got us back to the small fishing village and half the village was there with lamps - but the sea was too rough to go to the jetty. We had to jump into the sea and swim back to shore and leave boat and possessions to fend for themselves. Some of the men from the shore swam out to help us in case we weren't strong swimmers. Do you know - I have never written these all out before. Earthquake, hurricane, snowdrifts, storms at sea - I don't have many lives left. The hurricane was the one that scared me most and I think that was because by then I had a child.

Sailing back from Guernsey with a force 4 forecast, turned into a force 8 with mountainous seas. A fishing trawler went down off Berry head and there were just the two of us in a 29ft boat. Very scary.

Just sitting on the M2, at "my" junction, for six hours, needing a wee, phone battery dying, running out of petrol...oh, the joys of commuting.

In the snow!

One Monday in 1960 (I think) - riding a Vespa from N London to Nottingham - fog, fog and more fog -- arrived at Barton le Clay - sunshine! Rode out the other end of Barton - fog again. Took nine hours! Horrible...

1961 - a gig in South Wales - snow. Returning to London, no heater in the van, we got stuck half-way up a hill. In the morning trudged down to a garage at the foot of the hill, where they thawed out a Land Rover (with a candle!) to come and get us moving again... Also horrible.

PS The hill was somewhere in Goucestershire.

Just outside Melton Mowbray (no exotic locations for me ), driving 3 children to school, sliding sideways down a steep dip in the road on packed snow and watching in horrified fascination as a truck did exactly the same coming the other way. The other driver managed to get his vehicle under control and drive it away from my path.

Driving back to my friends farm from a pub in Cornwall [I know , but it's what we did back then] with zero visibility. Part way back one of us thought to wipe the inside of the windscreen and, hey presto the road appeared in front of us as if by magic. Can't imagine what it's like being on a boat round the Greek Islands; saw the speed and verocity of storms when we stayed on Kefalonia once..it was bad enough being on the beach.

Oh Feetle was it Birdlip hill ? We were going up there in a bus from our college in Gloucester to a 'do' at The Royal Ag Coll at Cirencester when the gear stick came off !. We all trooped down to the pub half way up the hill to wait which was abit of a shock to the other drinkers as we were all going to a pyjama dance and our get-ups were not quite what they were used to !
Sorry - going off subject here !

Sorry tig - no idea - I just remember snow, cold and the garage at the bottom of the hill!

You were luckier, with a pub...

January 1981. Waking up in an hotel in Llandovery and realising that there was a foot of snow on the ground and it was still falling. Rang my head office and told them that I was not going to be doing any work that day, but instead I was going to try to get home to Newport. Had a hearty breakfast in the hotel then set off for Ammanford and the M4. No 4-wheel-drive in those days, just a basic Ford Cortina - standard issue for reps which was my job then.

I reasoned that the motorway would be clear, and as long as I could get to Ammanford then I would be able to get home. Big mistake! Made it as far as Junction 37, then the long climb up Cornelly Pitch finished me off. Slid sideways into a snow-drift - and there I stayed.

I sat in the car for about an hour, getting colder and colder, and quite frankly wondering what to do next when suddenly someone knocked on the passenger window. I wound the window down and there stood an elderly man in a duffel coat who said "It's not getting any clearer - you'd better come and have a cup of tea". His name (I later learned) was Sid, and he and his wife lived close to the motorway. I followed him back to his house, picking up 2 other stranded reps on the way. By early evening it was obvious that the snow was not easing, and we were all stuck there.

This was Friday. It was three days before the snow eased enough for us to get out. The three of us slept on the lounge floor and Sid's wife Vi kept us fed as well as she could. On Monday morning the snow had stopped and we attempted to get out. My car had been vandalised so I had to go home on the train and go back on Tuesday with a low-loader from a local garage to bring the car home.

I have never forgotten the generosity and sheer humanity of that elderly couple. Who, in these suspicious times, would invite three complete strangers into their home just to escape the bad weather?

My employers sent the couple a generous cheque to cover costs - they based it on what it would have cost if I had decided to stay put in the hotel. And I know that the employers of the other two reps sent payment as well.

Driving home from seeing King Lear in Newcastle. Couldn't see the road at all on the dual carriageway in the blizzard. It took us until two in the morning to get home and we never did get up the last hill to our house.