Clearing away the snow from Northampton's Drapery at its junction with Gold Street are four workmen with shovels. The lorry in the middle of the road is steam-powered which must have provided a welcome warming presence during the harsh winter of 1947 which began on January 21st. Several cold snaps brought wide-spread chaos with coal shortages at power stations resulting in  domestic electricity supplies restricted to a chilly nineteen hours a day. Crops rotted in fields adding extra hardship on top of rationing, still in place after the Second World War. 'The thaw in Mid-March caused widespread flooding throughout the UK.