I Remember The Summer of 76

In Britain when we talk about hot summers in recent memory .... just one, the summer of 1976 stands out in myth and folklore.

The Summer Of 1976 Has Achieved Legendary Status

But more interestingly, I don't recall us ever having had such a great early summer as we are enjoying at the moment in Britain. Any tourist lucky enough to have arrived in the last 4 or 5 weeks will have seen Britain at its very rarest .... sunny, warm and dry.

Apparently June/July/August and early September of 1976 were the hottest in the UK in the 20th century, although 1995 is now regarded as the driest. Sure it was a great. But certainly this May and June have been bloody hot .... so are we at the birth of another legendary year?

I really hope so, but it's just  fraction to soon to be sure. So for the moment, 1976 retains its place in my memory .... ah  I remember it well, or I thought I did. Just in case you, like me, are racking your brains for the events of that year I will give you are few reminders:

• It was only a run of 15 days of unbroken sunshine, but felt like forever.
• Temperatures regularly reach 35C (95F).
• It was the hottest summer ever recorded in that century.
• Number one in the pop charts that summer (they still counted back then), was 'You To Me Are Everything' by The Real Thing.
• London and the South east of England saw a plague of 23 billion seven spotted ladybirds.
• Some rivers ran dry, and water standpipes had to be set up in some areas.

Water Stand Pipes Were Out

• Skateboarding was the craze of the summer.
• Topless sunbathing became common in some city parks and the coast ~ we were still a largely white British population then.
• Punk Music broke through - both The Clash and the Sex Pistols hit the charts, but in October The Damned release 'New Rose', which was the first single actually marketed as "punk rock".
• Logans Run was the Sci-Fi hit of the cinemas.
• Tiswas was the kids hit TV show.
• Oscar Best Picture 1976: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 
• Oscar Best Actor 1976: Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 
• Oscar Best Actress 1976: Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
• Harold Wilson had resigned as Prime Minister for health reasons and Jim Callaghan had taken over as Labour Leader.  
• Jeremy Thorpe had been forced to resign as Liberal leader over a gay murder attempt scandal. David Steel is elected as Liberal leader.
• Iceland Wins the "Cod War" with Britain.
• Big Ben clock stops running, and takes 9 months to fix.
• Women's Peace Marches in Northern Ireland and earn Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan the Nobel Peace Prize. 
• Inflation stands at 16.5% pa that summer - hard to remember that this was actually improvement on the highpoint of 24% pa in the same year. Labour voters be warned what can happen!!
• Jeffrey Archer (remember him) made his financial comeback first million from 'Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'.  

Drought Or Great Summer?

Ah yes, I still remember the summer of 1976.