People
in the Pontefract and Castleford districts have become so accustomed to
warm and sunny Easters in recent years, that the weather which attended
the first general holiday of 1950 was something of a shock.
Throughout
the whole period there was cold, blustery winds, which reached gale
force at times, and brought intermittent rain and showers of hail, and
the sun played hide and seek with the racing clouds-- the white fleecy
ones and the black rain distributors. Temperatures ranged from 40 to 60
in marked contrast to the heat wave last Easter. Apart from those who
had arranged to spend the holidays at the seaside, or with friends,
local residents generally do not travel far. The hardy ones went to the
football matches, but there were no record crowds, Others went indoors
to the cinema, or the ‘local’ or stayed indoors by the fireside. The
local beauty spots, which usually attract many visitors, either on foot,
or by bus and car, were almost deserted.
A
number of rail excursions to the sea were arranged but the trains which
left Pontefract on Sunday and Monday had many empty seats. Baghill
Station reported a very disappointing holiday, "at Pontefract
alone," said the Stationmaster, "the weather cost us about 600
passengers on these days. On Sunday we had 80 day trippers instead of
the four hundred expected, and on Monday there were only about 50. Our
receipts are well down." Main line, long distance traffic was well
up on the average, however.
Local
bus companies told a similar story. An official of the B&S Company
said; "Easter has come and gone, and we have not noticed it.
Everything has been of a lean nature; in fact we could not have had a
leaner time."
Services
and trips to the coast were well booked before the holidays, but not
after Saturday, and the customary local services were similar to those
on an ordinary day. The West Riding Automobile Company also reported a
"very thin time" with traffic not up to expectations, apart
from the normal customary services on Thursday and Saturday. The rural
services, which took in some of the beauty spots in the area, were very
sparsely used. "Monday was very poor - it could scarcely be
worse" said an official.
The
gales made conditions difficult for drivers of double-decker buses on
exposed sections of road, more than one vehicle was forced off its
course, and compelled to stop before it could regain its proper side of
the road. Two fair size trees on the south side of the railway in the
Knottingley Playing Fields Park were blown down on Monday.
All
the services at All Saint’s Church, Pontefract were fairly well
attended during Holy Week. Evensong was held Monday to Thursday
inclusive, and on Good Friday Matins and evensong and a service of
devotion were 1.pm to 2.pm. A children’s service was held in the
afternoon and was well attended by the Sunday School Scholars and many
parents but the attendance in the evening was affected by the inclement
weather.
