Ploughing On

 

Photo L9670/1 388.342, by Ian Tulloch, from our Copy Collection

L9477/2 551.645

It’s been a beautiful morning in Orkney, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the birds have been singing their peedie hearts out.   Even us archive staff have been whistling a merry tune as we kick our heels down the strong-room corridor.  We’ve made it to the end of the month, and we’re also celebrating adding information about February blizzards and some lovely contributions from local people reminiscing about the ‘big snows’ to our current exhibition, 'Isolation and Desolation'.

George Mackay Brown in his Islandman column describes the snow's mischief in returning again so soon.  His column had been delayed by a week as he had been unable to get his copy from his home in Stromness through to Kirkwall where the paper was published.

“It seems, looking back on it, that the first thaw was too swift and sudden to be entirely wholesome.  While most of us were congratulating ourselves  on thick snow-banks visibly disintegrating under our eyes, a few of the wiser ones shook their heads.  The snow was up to no good when it decamped so rapidly.  It was merely going away to gather reinforcements.

And so it turned out.”

The Orkney Herald, Tuesday 8th March 1955 

The county had barely had a chance to thaw out from the January snow-storms when, on the night of Wednesday 16^th February 1955, another fierce blizzard caused chaos, cutting off telephones and power, and bringing all transport to a standstill.  For ten days, hundreds of men dug tirelessly again to keep the roads clear, before gale force winds and driving snow blocked them again with deep drifts.

The Orkney Herald, Tuesday 22^nd February 1955

We are very lucky to have copies of some fabulous photos, taken by Ian Tulloch, which show the County Council workmen trying to clear channels in the roads so that the snowploughs were able to pass.  These were all taken on Wideford Brae, between Kirkwall and Grimsetter airport on the Deerness road.

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L9476/4 551.645

 L9477/4 551.645

At the County Council general meeting of 29^th March, the cost of snow clearing was estimated to be £18,500 – equivalent to just over £412,000 now – and the work of these valiant souls was noted:

 

“During the emergency the number of men employed amounted to approximately 600.

They worked under very difficult conditions - often soaked to the skin - for seven days a week and usually overtime each day.  A good deal of damage had been caused to lorries and ploughs by the heavy nature of the work, and the County Garage employees had done good work in keeping the machines in service, often working at nights in order to have the ploughs ready for the following day.

CO3/1/15 - Orkney County Council Road Executive Committee, 8^th March 1955, pg 256

Although daily life was hard work for people, some were able to take time to acknowledge the beauty of the snowy scenes:

 

L9479/3 551.645, Trees at Wideford by Ian Tulloch

 

 There is nothing to equal the pure magic of the snow… All the surface of the snow had crystallised into unbelievable ferns of microscopic dimensions, the phone wires had a tinsel sparkle of frost crystals, every twig and stem of grass projecting above the snow bore the same breathtaking perfect frosting of transient feathery foliage.  Hoy looked more Fujiyama than ever, and the Orphir hills, rising above the misty white valley, could, with a little imagination, have been Alpine peaks.

 'JBG', in The Orcadian, Thursday 3rd March 1955

We’ve been so delighted to hear memories about the snowstorms, on social media and in person, and we would love to hear more. If you would like to contribute then you can reminisce below, send us your story on archives@orkney.gov.uk or come and visit, and we’ll add it to our display.

If you’ve not been in to see our exhibition yet, it will be on display until the end of March so do come on down - the price is right (i.e. completely free)!