Clapham Winter Wonderland

Those arctic winds we felt in Cambridge, was not us feeling a pinch of a country breeze; no those were winds brought to us from Siberia. Really. And we know what Siberian winds bring – snow!

As darkness fell on the Sunday, so too did the snow. We were immeasurably excited as the small little parcels of ice fell from the sky. We rushed out with our camera to try and catch some of it on film as a memory of this special treat for us (as we did with every snowfall). It seemed to be coming down hard, but we felt reassured from our experience thus far in London that within 20 minutes the snowfall would cease and it would begin to melt…

Yet, the snow continued. By our bedtime, the snow was still falling intermittently and starting to settle. However, as I fell asleep I felt sure I would wake in the morning and it would all be gone.

At 4:30am, Nick woke me up because Clapham had been transformed into a SNOWHAM! There was a good 20-30cm snow everywhere! I was so excited, I almost couldn’t go back to sleep!

By 6am, we got up and decided to get out there early to try and avoid any type of havoc the snow might cause to London’s public transport system. Of course, we had no idea just how much havoc the snow would cause to London’s public transport system.

I dressed for work, instead with a snow jacket, sneakers and snow gloves as I tried to battle my way along the street, stepping into 20cm thick powder along Clapham Park Road! Buses were cancelled, so I headed to the Tube station to commute my way in. Although some lines were delayed, the Victoria Line was running without a delay.

I was at work by 8am; and as I opened my work email, I started to get all the messages from my work colleagues that due to the weather they couldn’t make it in! Meanwhile, one colleague walked from Wandsworth, and another from Chelsea as they had no other way! As most of the company seemed to be “snowed in”, I whipped through my tasks for the day and decided to head home about lunchtime (I did not fancy having to walk home to Clapham should all the tubes stop running as they were threatening!).

Nick met me at the Common (his boss had sent him home as they didn’t want him snowed in in the office) and we went for a walk around the Common before heading home: there were droves of people playing in the snow. It was as if NOONE had attempted to even go to work! They were all in Clapham Common building rude snowmen, pushing themselves along on sleds, rolling giant snowballs, and having violent snowfights! (No wonder England became the laughing stock of Europe…)

To see a snowfall such as this, which never happens in London anymore, we both feel truly lucky. It was amazing to wake up and have the snow almost knee thick, and see the beauty of a snow-laced suburb right before our very eyes. What an expierence!