Icelert 1964

There’s still ice about. Quite a lot of it. Wrote this for Motor in January 1965. Right-click to enlarge
I wonder if the Icelert system still operates in Edinburgh. Quite a good idea on the face of it, a warning system that goes off in the office responsible for sending out the gritters. I suppose you would need an arrangement for shutting it off in winters like this one. The way snow has fallen deep and crisp and even and extremely fast, you scarcely need a warning siren; you just look out of the window and marvel at the incompetence of authorities who can’t keep airports open or trains running. Only goes to show that cars remain a great means for getting about when all else fails. Not good when jack-knifed lorries block snow-bound roads of course. Pity the poor individuals who had to sleep on the M8 and other roads. Pity too anybody who tried to use the M25 when a tanker fell off the edge. You get cross with fractious policemen who close down both carriageways whenever there’s a hint of an emergency. More than their jobs are worth if anything else goes wrong. Still, it’s the season of goodwill and here’s a scene worthy of a Christmas Card, taken by me, like the one above, at the end of our road last week. Happy Christmas