AJJewsbury:

Likewise we're having to deal with pests that were unknown - one of my elderly neighbours asked if I knew anything about these "slugs with shells" that were plaguing his garden ...

My earliest memories of winter were 1962/63 and 1963/64. It certainly seemed to be colder then, but we lived in Aberdeen and not on the south coast. I do not think that we can depend upon memories of cold snaps and heatwaves as indicators of climate change. This year, my early potatoes nearly got wiped out by frost after Easter. I have lived in the same area for 30 years and cannot remember frost that late. By contrast in 2003, I planted my potatoes exceptionally early and there can have been no frost at all after January because they were doing very well when I returned home from war in May.


I can assure Andy that there were plenty of snails in the East Riding when I was a wee boy in the sixties. Snails are a source of fascination for small children, but I wouldn't want to pick up a slug. ?

AJJewsbury:

Likewise we're having to deal with pests that were unknown - one of my elderly neighbours asked if I knew anything about these "slugs with shells" that were plaguing his garden ...

My earliest memories of winter were 1962/63 and 1963/64. It certainly seemed to be colder then, but we lived in Aberdeen and not on the south coast. I do not think that we can depend upon memories of cold snaps and heatwaves as indicators of climate change. This year, my early potatoes nearly got wiped out by frost after Easter. I have lived in the same area for 30 years and cannot remember frost that late. By contrast in 2003, I planted my potatoes exceptionally early and there can have been no frost at all after January because they were doing very well when I returned home from war in May.


I can assure Andy that there were plenty of snails in the East Riding when I was a wee boy in the sixties. Snails are a source of fascination for small children, but I wouldn't want to pick up a slug. ?