Daily archives: January 18, 2026

There have been many hard winters in the past, often followed by the Trent flooding at Sawley. In 1607 the Trent was frozen hard enough for a horse and rider to cross the ice. The Great Frost of 1683/84 saw temperatures in central England thought to have to dropped to -30deg C. After the winter of 1794/95, the floods and broken ice destroyed most of the bridges along the Trent. The winter of 1813/14 was also severe.  We have no records of the weather around Sawley, but in November 1813, Jane Davys, a 70-year old widow in Sawley was holding a candle in her hand when the flame set fire to her clothes.  She died from burns a few days later. In the winters around1880 Daniel Barkham operated a skating ring on the ballast hole known as Sawley Lake, until he fell through the ice and died. In 1893 the Trent was frozen over thick enough to bear the weight of a horse and cart.  When the ice broke up, it demolished the original Long Horse Bridge.  By the 1920s Long Eaton had taken over New Sawley, but not Old Sawley.  So, the council snowplough only cleared Tamworth Road as […]