After what seemed weeks of cold, dark weather, March started quite mild and sunny.  Walking on the footpaths and bridleways around Chicheley on 3rd March it did look and feel as if Spring was finally in the air. There were plenty of snowdrops and crocuses in bloom in Chicheley gardens.

However, after the Vernal Equinox, and a week before the start of British Summer Time,  Chicheley was covered in an unseasonal blanket of snow..

The snow started during the night of Friday 22nd March,  continued falling during the weekend. A bitter east wind  forced snow to pile up against obstacles such as hedgerows. The drifts were as deep as 4ft in places.

Beneath the snow was a thin layer of ice, and below that the mud resulting from the heavy rain before the snow.   The conditions transformed the walks around Chicheley from a gentle country stroll, into an Arctic Expedition.