SPRING IS SPRUNG
Posted: 15 Apr 2026, 01:02
SPRING IS SPRUNG
(28 March 2005)
The weather forecast for Churchill Falls in Labrador today is for a high of –7C and a low of –25c tonight with a light wind and snow flurries. So what has this got to do with the weather in Barlick? It’s a useful reminder of what other countries on the same latitude as us can expect at this time of the year. Our weather is modified by the Gulf Stream and Atlantic weather systems and the net result is that we are always a lot warmer than we would be if we hadn’t got these moderating influences.
Barlick lies at a minimum of 500 feet above sea level. In this part of the world the tree line is about 700 feet, above that and the natural vegetation is moor, bent grass and heather. I don’t know anywhere else in the world where the climate changes so much with a couple of hundred feet of extra height. This is the reason why we, and other Pennine towns in the same situation have such a late spring. When I was wagon driving and roaming all over the mainland I often noticed that we were further behind than anywhere else in the country, even the North of Scotland.
Even so, it looks as though the season has turned. The grass is beginning to stir and I leaned on the wall yesterday on Forty Steps and watched Sid Demain’s new lambs having their first tentative nibbles of the fresh shoots under the wall where they are sheltered from the wind. Mind you, there is still a sneaky East wind and the potential for bad weather, it all depends on what the Atlantic systems are doing. The forecast is that we will have a system coming in later this week and so we can reckon on being frost-free and perhaps warmer.
Spring is such a cheerful season. We have weathered the long dark nights and the occasional Arctic blasts, with a bit of luck we can start looking forward to summer, warm weather and lower heating bills! I often think how lucky we are, we have electric light, central heating, draught proof houses, warm clothing and plenty of food. Compare this with what it must have been like in medieval times. They had none of our advantages and the long cold winter must have been a very testing time, particularly for the old people. Imagine being cold and miserable for at least six months of the year. Nothing to eat but salted food and stored vegetables if you were lucky. By March everything would be going off and in short supply. Is it any wonder that our Pagan forebears had a big knees-up once they saw signs of growth?
100 years ago the situation wasn’t a lot better. If you had money you could afford better standards but for the vast majority of the workers winter was a cruel season, draughty cold houses, bad lighting and a shortage of fresh food. Even 30 years ago I can remember what a treat the first salad of the year was. There was a spring in the field behind Hey Farm and a good clump of watercress that provided fresh leaves all through the winter. It was wonderful how good that tasted on a sandwich in cold weather, even then we were starved of vitamins and fresh food. I wonder how many people have walked up to that spring over the years on a frosty day and picked a bunch of fresh leaves? How different today, we can walk into the supermarket and have strawberries, fresh salad and vegetables on any day of the year but even so, some old memory deep in our psyche starts to stir when we see signs of spring.
So, enjoy the season, watch out for the returning migrants and celebrate the new growth in the fields and gardens. Get out in the fresh air and watch summer unfold. Enjoy it while you can because as sure as night follows day we shall very shortly slip into another winter, it’s amazing how fast this happens especially when you get older. If it wasn’t for winter we wouldn’t be so cheered by spring. Let’s hear it for the seasons, bad weather might be uncomfortable at times but it helps us appreciate the good. Time Jack and I went out for a walk!
(28 March 2005)
(I looked Churchill Falls up for today's weather.... Clear and -11C)
(28 March 2005)
The weather forecast for Churchill Falls in Labrador today is for a high of –7C and a low of –25c tonight with a light wind and snow flurries. So what has this got to do with the weather in Barlick? It’s a useful reminder of what other countries on the same latitude as us can expect at this time of the year. Our weather is modified by the Gulf Stream and Atlantic weather systems and the net result is that we are always a lot warmer than we would be if we hadn’t got these moderating influences.
Barlick lies at a minimum of 500 feet above sea level. In this part of the world the tree line is about 700 feet, above that and the natural vegetation is moor, bent grass and heather. I don’t know anywhere else in the world where the climate changes so much with a couple of hundred feet of extra height. This is the reason why we, and other Pennine towns in the same situation have such a late spring. When I was wagon driving and roaming all over the mainland I often noticed that we were further behind than anywhere else in the country, even the North of Scotland.
Even so, it looks as though the season has turned. The grass is beginning to stir and I leaned on the wall yesterday on Forty Steps and watched Sid Demain’s new lambs having their first tentative nibbles of the fresh shoots under the wall where they are sheltered from the wind. Mind you, there is still a sneaky East wind and the potential for bad weather, it all depends on what the Atlantic systems are doing. The forecast is that we will have a system coming in later this week and so we can reckon on being frost-free and perhaps warmer.
Spring is such a cheerful season. We have weathered the long dark nights and the occasional Arctic blasts, with a bit of luck we can start looking forward to summer, warm weather and lower heating bills! I often think how lucky we are, we have electric light, central heating, draught proof houses, warm clothing and plenty of food. Compare this with what it must have been like in medieval times. They had none of our advantages and the long cold winter must have been a very testing time, particularly for the old people. Imagine being cold and miserable for at least six months of the year. Nothing to eat but salted food and stored vegetables if you were lucky. By March everything would be going off and in short supply. Is it any wonder that our Pagan forebears had a big knees-up once they saw signs of growth?
100 years ago the situation wasn’t a lot better. If you had money you could afford better standards but for the vast majority of the workers winter was a cruel season, draughty cold houses, bad lighting and a shortage of fresh food. Even 30 years ago I can remember what a treat the first salad of the year was. There was a spring in the field behind Hey Farm and a good clump of watercress that provided fresh leaves all through the winter. It was wonderful how good that tasted on a sandwich in cold weather, even then we were starved of vitamins and fresh food. I wonder how many people have walked up to that spring over the years on a frosty day and picked a bunch of fresh leaves? How different today, we can walk into the supermarket and have strawberries, fresh salad and vegetables on any day of the year but even so, some old memory deep in our psyche starts to stir when we see signs of spring.
So, enjoy the season, watch out for the returning migrants and celebrate the new growth in the fields and gardens. Get out in the fresh air and watch summer unfold. Enjoy it while you can because as sure as night follows day we shall very shortly slip into another winter, it’s amazing how fast this happens especially when you get older. If it wasn’t for winter we wouldn’t be so cheered by spring. Let’s hear it for the seasons, bad weather might be uncomfortable at times but it helps us appreciate the good. Time Jack and I went out for a walk!
(28 March 2005)
(I looked Churchill Falls up for today's weather.... Clear and -11C)