THE seasons don’t always keep within their calendar months.
The significant point about this wintry scene of a bus battling through the snow up Victoria Road, Keighley, is its date – it was photographed on May 16, 1935! Nor was this a momentary freak. The snow lasted for three days, was heavier than any during the previous winter, and lay four inches deep in parts of the Worth Valley.
Vehicles got into difficulties, especially in the “snow-clad hills”. A bus from Hebden Bridge skidded and crashed through a wall near Haworth Brow top, ending up with its front wheels overhanging a five-foot drop. Two passengers were slightly injured, one breaking the basket of eggs he was taking to market.
The May snow had a disastrous effect on that year’s grouse, which had been enjoying an early nesting season after a mild spring. Gamekeepers found hundreds of dead nestlings and many deserted clutches.
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