Debate sparked by rare snowy shot of 1969 Torquay

As its the weekend before Christmas, we thought we’d celebrate the season with a snowy photograph from Torquay Museum’s historical archives.

Thanks to our new partnership with Torquay Museum, we can now share historical images of iconic and beloved locations across the Bay with you each week.

This week, we’re highlighting this charming shot of Barton Post Office and the surrounding shops on Barton Hill Road in Torquay, captured during a particularly heavy snowfall in February 1969.

Above: Barton Hill Road 1969. Image: Torquay Museum

The image stirred up significant interest on Facebook, with many people taking to the comments section to debate the details of Torquay’s weather in the 1960s.

Perhaps because the English Riviera so rarely experiences snow nowadays, much of the digital conversation is divided between those who remember a particularly frozen winter that year and others suggesting the photograph might have been misdated.

Ingrid Marsh says: “69? Not 63? Although thinking about it, I have a vague memory of a heavy snowfall one spring, which would fit.”

Sharing a similar mindset, Carol Eyden adds: “I used those shops and the post office all the time when I lived in Fore Street just at the bottom of Clennon Lane. I only really remember the snow that bad in '63, but I was a busy mum, so I could have had a memory lapse.”

The winter of 1962–63 remains vivid in people’s memories as the time of the Big Freeze, when snow blanketed the ground for over 60 days, and temperatures barely rose above freezing for three entire months.

It was the coldest UK winter on record. Near the coast, the sea froze over, and boats became trapped in thick ice on rivers across the Eastern Counties.

Paul Galbraith recalls: “We moved to Torquay in Nov 68, but I have no memory of heavy snow that winter.”

However, Steve Bowden, who shares a birth month with this image, assures: “Born in February that very year, 1969... always remember being told, had very bad snow.”

Ned Scoot adds: “Remember that winter so well; it went on for ages.”

Above: Barton Hill Road December 2024

In addition to reminiscences about the weather, people also expressed nostalgia for the shops they once visited.

Though it is difficult to fully ascertain which shops are pictured in this photo, you can clearly make out a sign reading “newsagents” in the window of the building that is today a traditional Turkish barber’s. The building with the attractive pointed roof is now the premises of a Day Lewis pharmacy.

Carol Mackenzie recalls: “I lived on Clennon Lane in the 50s & 60s, but I don’t remember the snow. I used to go to Audley Park. I do remember the Co-op, the chemist, and the Prince of Orange.”

Ian Sharam says: "The Wool shop was Ingrams; they used to sell 1/- catapults if I remember correctly.”

Mike Berry adds: “Yep and the ironmongers where I used to go up and get paraffin for my mum. There used to be a great bakery at the end, and there was the butcher's past Stringers. Frank was the butcher, he was a nice chap.”

Perhaps Pat Badcock's simple comment sums it up best: “Those were the days.”

Do you remember the snow of 1969 or any other periods of extreme weather? Let us know at news@torbayweekly.co.uk