Living in England

Being born at the start of 1949, I have quite strong and frightening memories of the Great Smog in England of 1952 in which at least 4,000 people died as a direct result of the appalling weather. Most of these fatalities were the very young, the old and people with breathing or heart problems. At three years old I suppose I was lucky!! Living in London, with its traffic and population density, it was probably one of the worst hit areas. I remember being frightened to go out because trotting alongside my mother, holding her hand, I couldn’t see her face as I looked up. You could hear people and traffic but not see anything until it was just in front of your nose. I recall too, my Uncle being stranded as all the buses had stopped running and he couldn’t get home. Waiting that night and hoping that my father would be able to return from work, I have vivid memories of the smog creeping in through the tightly closed windows. 
By the time the next bad foggy winter hit us I was 6 years old and going to school. This was 1956 and for me now it was strange and exciting and even more so as the school was shut for a few days because the conditions were too dangerous for the children walking to and from school. By this time too I was old enough to be aware of news stories and recall a train crash during this time as well as some soldiers, who were coming back from what I now know as the Suez Crisis, being held up at sea for some time.

The main reasons for the smog, was the dark smoke and grit from chimneys which combined with fog and freezing temperatures to produce the dense sulphurous “smog”. These were the days when everybody kept their houses, offices, station waiting rooms, and sometimes school classrooms heated by coal fires. Hardly anyone had any other form of domestic heating.

The government of the day realised that something needed to be done that would control and prevent these hazardous weather conditions. Not only did they cause many accidents, illnesses and deaths from respiratory problems but also played havoc with the economy causing industries and businesses to be disrupted. In the summer of 1956 the Clean Air Act was introduced. This Act banned the emission of dark smoke from chimneys, industrial furnaces and trains by restricted the burning of domestic coal in urban areas and expanded the amount of smokeless zones, although some urban areas, like the City of London, had already created these zones after the Great Smog of 1952. The 1956 Act also contained measures to limit the discharge of grit into the atmosphere. This meant that new coal fuels were introduced which were ‘smokeless’ and gas, oil and electricity were given an extra advertising boost to encourage people to switch to different types of energy. Diesel trains were introduced and the old ‘puffer trains’ were history. However, it was a few years more before industries and homes changed over to the new sources of energy and until this was fully implemented some emissions were still allowed during the change-over period. Grants were offered to people to convert their domestic coal-burning grates to smokeless fuel but it wasn’t a popular move because there wasn’t much smokeless fuel to be had and it was a lot more expensive than conventional coal.

Three years later, in 1959, came the last awful smog that I remember. This time, at ten years old, my memories are very clear. I vividly recall people wearing what looked like gas masks to protect themselves, although my mother, years later, told me that these were ‘smog masks’ bought at the local chemist shops. There was also a lot more traffic on the roads in 1959 than in 1952 so big cities and, especially London, were thrown into chaos again. However, it wasn’t until 1968 that The Clean Air Act was revised to include a law that industries burning coal, gas or any other fuels would have to use tall chimneys.

Since those days of 1959 the ‘old foggy London town’, thankfully, has become almost a thing of the past – well at least as far as chimney smoke went. The latest pollutant sadly though is that created by motor vehicles. In 1974 the first Control of Air Pollution Act introduced regulations on the composition of motor fuels, although throughout the 1980s and 1990s increased motor traffic has led to a new kind of smog that is caused by the chemical reaction of sunshine and car pollutants and it remains to be seen whether the latest Act, the 1995 Environment Act, which has introduced new regulations for air pollutants with all local authorities having to reach air quality targets, will reduce the amount of premature deaths each year from the effects of pollution.

It has been only 7 days since, in a small village of Surrey, Eric Clapton and friends had their annual gig dedicated to the AA. Since then there have been thousands of postings and articles on the net about it. This is, I believe, because this year there were some big names of the music world with Eric and his usual band..  Pete Townsend of the Who, Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Joe Walsh of the Eagles., as well as the usual top musicians who join Eric like, Andy Fairweather Low, and Gary Brooker. The internet news started from a blog posting of someone who was there and, because I was there as well, I want to also say that the evening was a fantastic gig. But, lets not forget the excellent supporting band that opens the gig every year.  It’s a fantastic band with many of the musicians coming from the same family, the Griffiths.  Dave plays fantastic guitar and his son Nicky is a great singer and performer on the stage.  This year, Dave’s wife (and Nicky’s mum), Jackie, even joined them playing guitar for one number.

Secondly, some articles on the net state that the event was made for some selected VIPs. This is not true at all. The annual event is mostly like a family event with a limited amount of tickets. This year was possibly a bit different because with Joe Walsh coming from the States he probably brought some friends with him. I did notice that several times when I went outside for a cigarette there was a fair amount of Americans out there too.  The side of the hall where we usually sat in past years,  was cordoned off this year with reserved tables for friends and family of the musicians. That was all, no VIPs or Celebrities. As usual many of us brought from home our new year’s eve food and soft drinks in  plastic containers and carrier bags like on a picnic. Of course you can  get hot food at the premises until 11.30 but most people bring their own stuff. Finally I want to thank all people that made that night unforgettable. Good Show Chaps.