Rarely-seen pictures show some of the worst winters Yorkshire has ever had

The storms of the winter just gone were testament to how harsh the Yorkshire climate can still be, but these rarely-seen pictures recall a time when the county seemed to be ankle deep in snow and slush from Christmas to Valentine’s Day.
1937:  Alongside the snowbound and hazardous Standedge Road in Yorkshire is a well-located advertisement for the Welsh 'sunspot' of Llandudno.  (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)1937:  Alongside the snowbound and hazardous Standedge Road in Yorkshire is a well-located advertisement for the Welsh 'sunspot' of Llandudno.  (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
1937: Alongside the snowbound and hazardous Standedge Road in Yorkshire is a well-located advertisement for the Welsh 'sunspot' of Llandudno. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

In January 1962 the drifts were so deep on the York to Bridlington Road, near the top of Garrowby Hill, that only the tops of the signposts could still be seen.

These early news photographs also document a golden age of motoring, when only two principal routes – the Snake Pass and the Woodhead Pass – connected Yorkshire with the settlements west of the Pennines, and it was not unusual to find both closed.

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Slightly further north, on the Standedge Road near Huddersfield, a driver in 1937 passes – more in hope than expectation – a hoarding advertising the Welsh “sunspot” of Llandudno. With no grit on the carriageway it is only the stone verge that prevents him from sliding into it. Another car at the same location was less lucky and is seen abandoned with an apparently broken axle.

Heavy Snow In Yorkshire, Driving cattle along the Leeds - York road near York during a snow storm, Yorkshire. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Heavy Snow In Yorkshire, Driving cattle along the Leeds - York road near York during a snow storm, Yorkshire. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Heavy Snow In Yorkshire, Driving cattle along the Leeds - York road near York during a snow storm, Yorkshire. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

It was not only cars but also trains that became stranded in the frequent moorland drifts, and a picture from 1940 shows workmen digging out a snowbound locomotive on the line between Manchester and Sheffield, while in an undated shot on the Leeds to York road, stockmen resort to using the deserted highway to drive their cattle.

It has been several decades since the drifts have been quite this bad, but as the devastating floods of this year and last have reminded us, nature can always have a surprise up its sleeve.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

Heavy snow at Standedge, Yorkshire, and a severe frost made roads extremely dangerous for traffic. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Heavy snow at Standedge, Yorkshire, and a severe frost made roads extremely dangerous for traffic. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Heavy snow at Standedge, Yorkshire, and a severe frost made roads extremely dangerous for traffic. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson, Editor

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