LAST week I sat listening to my local radio station reading out a list of schools closed due to bad weather.

I am in my 70s and cannot recall any school closures in the treacherous winters we had when we went to school.

I can remember prior to the winter months starting, there used to be a great heap of coke outside of the school boiler house.

At the time I was living in Trimdon Station where I attended Trimdon Foundry County Boys School.

Each classroom had the oldfashioned radiators with the connecting pipes running through each classroom.

The caretaker was called Mr Bruce and he lived in the old foundry houses not far from the school and tended that school boiler day and night to make sure we had nice warm classrooms next day.

We all walked to school in those days and so did the teachers. The school milk was always frozen like ice cream.

Nearly every village had a local coal mine. Ours was Deaf Hill Colliery.

These collieries never closed in winter because the men had to get there to keep production of coal up.

If there was no transport once again you walked, sometimes miles through woods and fields.

The local haulage firm – Jack Young – used to be contracted by the council to spread grit on the roads.

Jack would drive the wagon and two men would stand on the back to cast grit onto the road with shovels.

Local bus services would run day and night to do their bit to try and keep the roads open.

So much for technology in this day and age.

Harry Aunger, Wingate.