A Very Special Day
Sunday, April 6, 2008

This day in Steyning was not an historic day. In some parts of the world it would seem like a miracle and in others all too ordinary. Living near the Sussex coast, we thought it was very special and children literally screamed with joy. How long might it be before we see this again?

Amazing! On an April day near the south coast, it was an event to remember. Ten centimeters of snow fell over Steyning like a feather duvet: that's four inches. Older local people were used to more frequent snow before global warming. Nonetheless, they might agree that April snowmen were always quite rare. What a surprise to see them in 2008.

For most Steyning children, this was the first time ever that snow was deep enough to build a snowman in the garden or throw snowballs in the park. Good Friday fell on March 21 this year, which was so early that the full end-of-term break was delayed for schools until Monday, April 7. It was a great start to the holiday. Even Christmas was never this good.

Blizzard conditions and more gentle snowfall continued for much of Sunday, but by Monday it had nearly all melted away. Then we had a hail storm and Steyning briefly turned icy white again, with a clap of thunder or two before the Spring sunshine returned. Soon it was as though nothing had happened.

Was it all a beautiful dream?

Here are the pictures to prove it was real.

And finally - on April 7, cowslips and primroses
battered by hailstones.