This film is part of Free

Princess Di Wedding and Winter Snow

Everyone's home in Harrow to witness Lady Di's debut as a Royal and a record-breaking winter causes chaos in 1981.

Amateur film 1982 4 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

An estimated 750 million people were glued to the telly to watch Lady Diana and Prince Charles tie the knot in 1981 and the residents of Harrow were no exception. Aside from the occasional street party, the streets are empty and shops closed as events unfold on a flickering TV set at home. Then came the snow and one of the severest winters on record.

These news items shot by the local cine society record major national events from a local perspective. A family gather round their TV set in the living room to watch the newlyweds walk up the aisle and local press reports how Harrow became a ghost town for the day. The coverage of the record-breaking winter of 1981 documents the heavy snowfall, problems on the roads and the fun had by children who took to the slopes with sledges. It was a drawn-out winter and January 1982 saw some of the coldest temperatures of the century whilst parts of the UK had their first white Christmas since 1970. This film is from the collection of Harrow Local History Library, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.