Welsh Journals

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The severe winter continued, with a few days break at the end of January, until 11 Febuary, 1841. On 8 January his men "were obliged to dig up the turnips with the pitaxes and chop them with hatchets for the cattle." A dry spell at some period in late January and in February is not unusual and by 6 February Hancorne wrote, Scarcely any water left to be got for the cattle, even the River nearly all frozen over." From the second half of February until the middle of May, however, the weather was mainly unsettled, but the wet and somewhat cool season was not unfavourable for the crops, The young barley is looking very fine and is come up as regular as I could wish (14 May)." On the morning of 8 June there was an unusually late hoar frost with ice on the pools. The clover crop which he mowed between 11 and 19 June was a very good crop which had not been affected by the drought since the last week of May. The summer was not a good one, and, after a wet early August had impeded the hay harvest, Hancorne expected to hear of a deal of hay spoiled (7 August)." The grain harvest in Gower was not easy, and 12 September, although a Sunday, being fine saw a great deal of work done in the fields but the frequency of wet days prolonged harvesting until 18 October. Heavy snow on 15 and 16 November was followed not by cold weather but by more rain, the most remarkable weather that was ever remembered. Not two dry days together." Apart from a brief snowy and frosty interlude 17-21 December, the rest of 1841 was generally wet "A greater continuance of rain than has been this autumn is not in the rememberance of the oldest men." 1842 commenced with cold severe enough to prevent ploughing, but a tremendous gale of wind and rain" on 26 January introduced milder and wet weather. April was a cold month and, after snow and hail on the 3rd, a most remarkable fine spell of weather, wind E., a noble time for tilling but very dry on the growing crops prevailed. The early summer months were mainly dry and, despite moderate rainfall in the last 12 days of May, we read on 12 June, still very hot and dry and the land becoming quite parched. Things beginning to complain. Many people planting their potatoes over again, rotten in the ground." Heavy thunderstorms on 12 and 14 June gave the land a good soak and the dry spell was ended by wetter conditions in the latter half of June and the first 18 days of July. An improvement enabled Hancorne to finish his hay making by 30 July. After a mainly warm, dry August the entry on the 31st is a surprise, Wind N.Sharp frost, the vallies white­." Rain did not unduly interrupt the September harvest which was completed on the 24th with generally good crops. The dry, fine first half of October which made it too dry to sow wheat (6 October) gave way to a foretaste of winter on the 20th when the mountains were snow-covered and the air altogether changed." The weather was mainly fine until a wet spell after 9 November. The rest of the year was mild, 19 December quite like a summer's