Do you remember the summer of 76?

Youngsters taking a dip in the hot weather, 9 June 1976Youngsters taking a dip in the hot weather, 9 June 1976
Youngsters taking a dip in the hot weather, 9 June 1976
Do you remember the Summer of 76?

For people of a certain age that long lost haze of 40 years ago will live on in their memories.

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The 1976 United Kingdom heat wave led to the hottest summer average temperature in the UK since records began.

At the same time, the country suffered a severe drought.

It was one of the driest, sunniest and warmest summers (June/July/August) in the 20th century.

I remember the grass was brown and huge cracks appeared in the ground.

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There was a water shortage and reservoirs around the country were at all time lows.

In Derbyshire at the Ladybower reservoir the water level was so low you could see the church tower of the flooded village of Derwent.

(The building of the reservoir resulted in the ‘drowning’ of the villages of Ashopton and Derwent (including Derwent Woodlands church and Derwent Hall).

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There was a national plague of ladybirds which washed up on beaches around the country.

Number one record was Don’t Go Breaking My heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee and Abba’s Dancing Queen, in the days when you taped Top of the Pops on Cassette.

In the last week of August, days after Denis Howell was appointed ‘Minister for Drought’, severe thunderstorms brought rain to some places for the first time in weeks. September and October 1976 were both very wet months, bringing to an end the great drought of 1975–1976.

What are your memories - if you are old enough to remember that is.