In December 1962 there started one of the worst cold spell for centuries. The cold spell lasted 10 weeks from Boxing Day the 26th December to the 6th March.
Below I have shown the event in Numbers along with a few photos my father, Billy Bowen, took during this time.
The big photo shows the river Neath completely frozen over, I am in the foreground of the photo on my knees, down by the river bridge you can see a number of people on the ice.
The photo on the sledge shows my neighbours and myself enjoying the ice, from left to right: Keith Atkins, Terry’s dogTinker, myself Roy Bowen, with Terry Kelly behind me on the homemade sledge and then Alma Biggs resting on her knees.
The third photo shows the river Neath before the freeze really took hold, you can see the coal railway trucks just behind the woods.
Resources and References:
Various newspaper reports from the time and Wikipedia.