Tunnels of Green: Winter's Last Hurrah

Just as I had given up on seeing any decent cold weather before spring, the first week of March saw an unexpected dose of proper winter, with the arrival of 'the beast from the east' - an arctic vortex from Siberia - which collided with Storm Emma from the west, creating widespread snowfalls and seriously low temperatures across Britain.

Further north conditions were quite severe, but even here in generally mild Surrey we were treated to several days of intermittent snow showers, followed by two days of proper snow.

Farnham is pretty in all weathers, but Farnham with a dusting of snow is pretty special.

Terraced cottages

The pitched roof of one of our local pubs looks lovely dusted with snow

We got out and about as much as possible to enjoy the snow
and invigorating temperatures

Farmland behind our street

Something that fascinated us both, given that this region is not exactly renowned for snowy winters, is the fact that every single Farnham resident appears to possess a toboggan.

Whilst walking through the town we were struck by the sight of kids and adults alike toting toboggans - boarding buses, entering shops, and generally ambling along the streets, with these great pieces of plastic under their arms. The snow was pretty scant in some places but clearly Farnham's residents were determined to make the most of the opportunity to dust off their snow equipment. Were all these people really so desperate for snow play that they would pull each other along the town's pavements?

And then we took a stroll up to Farnham Castle, to enjoy the novelty of that structure under snow... and stumbled upon Toboggan Central, aka Farnham Park.

Young, old, dogs... they were all there.

Watching tobogganers across the moat from Farnham Castle

Kevin on The Blind Bishop's Steps (which lead up to the castle)

At -6ºC, a tad chilly for taking tea on the lawn at Farnham Castle

The castle walls dusted with snow - the White Walkers are coming!

Just follow the squeals of delight to find the tobogganers...

Eyes red and cheeks pink from the Siberian winds

Toboggan-aggedon... the snow gone, and cheap toboggans in pieces

Naturally the country's workers were affected by the unusual conditions. It would seem most people took to heart the advice that they shouldn't drive unless absolutely necessary, and that they should think about making alternative arrangements for work if possible.

I'm fortunate in that my employers are incredibly relaxed about flexible working arrangements. So instead of just my usual Wednesday working from home, I was able to work the entire week from Farnham - meaning I didn't have to do battle on the roads. I had driven over to Tadworth on the Monday, and the snow had started falling while I was still en route via the M25. Having arrived at the office safely, the snow fell solidly all morning so after lunch I decided not to temp fate, and drove home to continue working through the afternoon.

It was very pleasant not having to do that one-hour trek twice a day.

My workplace - The Children's Trust in Tadworth

For a couple of days the temperatures, and the wind particularly, were truly glacial. Our daily maximums were around -6ºC but the wind chill factor meant the 'feels like' temperature was more like -10ºC.

Those conditions sorted the goats from the sheep, let me tell you. Aside from the tobogganers (who only appeared on about day five of the wintry weather, probably out of desperation due to severe cabin fever), we were often the only people walking around outside.

Because of our frequent travels to Norway and other cold climes, we know how to dress properly and have the correct layering clothing - thermal first layer, heavier second layer, and windproof and waterproof outer layers. The number of people we saw walking around with inappropriate footwear, bare ankles (no socks), no hats... no wonder so many people in the UK claim to hate winter. Nobody likes being freezing cold - not even me! Thinking you can gad about in those conditions without making adjustments to your clothing is just plain stupid.

Alas, just 24 hours of milder temperatures in the single digits was enough to melt away all trace of the snow and that's the last we'll see of the cold weather until next winter. It was nice while it lasted.

The week ended on a very social note with a few friends joining us at The Mill House to celebrate Kevin's 60th birthday.

We had a very decadent cake and Kevin slid into his seventh decade fairly painlessly.
The school made quite a fuss of him too, with a gigantic cake decorated with a student's miniature bicycle sculpture.