When the big snow came

DOZENS of recollections were this week shared of a major snowfall 30 years ago.

George Trudt set the ball rolling when he posted on his Lockerbie Past and Present Facebook page about February 5 1996, aka ‘the day the snow just kept falling’.

He said: “Our locality was hit with one of the worst snow storms for 50 years and a state of emergency was declared in SW Scotland by the Government.

“The A74(M)was blocked for two days and many other routes throughout the region remained blocked for days on end.

“I remember an emergency centre being set up at Lockerbie Academy and in other locations to provide welfare for stranded drivers and passengers.

“I was lucky to get off the motorway onto the slip road and then make it to my home in Lockerbie but had to abandon my car 100 yards from my house.”

George invited others to share their memories of that time and was inundated with responses.

Keith McWhan worked for the ambulance service at the time and said it took them five hours to get to Dumfries and back, which included being hauled up Torthorwald hill by a tractor.

He added: “Later, we took three hours to go to Johnstonebridge and back, escorted by a snowplough. That night, I was picked up at home by Alan Linwood from the Ae 4x4 Club to attend to calls. It was organised mayhem.

“The next morning I “dipped” the snow in the ambulance station car park, we were at Nether Place then, and it was 19 inches deep.”

Jacqueline Callander worked part time in a local supermarket and said the shelves were cleared out with panic buying.

Malcolm Mcadam and his family in Kettleholm had no power for three days.

“I also remember Shaun Ryder from the Happy Mondays and Kermit from Black Grape were in the snug bar in the Blue Bell/Kat House having a beer as they’d been stranded on the M74 on the way back from Glasgow and ended up staying in the Bell for the night,” he said.

Hazel Moore was sent home from Lockerbie Academy due to the conditions but it was clear back in Chapelknowe. She added: “I think that was also the year a pregnant lady in our village was taken by helicopter to hospital. Quite eventful.”

Meanwhile, Lucie Dudgeon remembers going to the academy with friends to help and: “Jumping in giant snowdrifts that swallowed you whole. No photos though didn’t have a camera phone back then.”

In Eaglesfield, then teenager Julie Frood recalls the motorway being shut and the village hall being used for stranded travellers.

She said: “Nobody could drive cars and it was lovely seeing everyone out and about helping each other.”