London's Fogs

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 69, 18 October 1940, Page 5

London's Fogs

OON, we shall be hearing from England of fogs over the Channel; fogs over the Thames Estuary; fogs over London. Some people imagine that England, particularly London, ‘is shrouded in fog for the greater part of the winter. But that isn’t so. There are many grey misty days, with visibility limited; the clouds hang low, the air is chill and damp, the pavements are wet and slimy, and there is a halo around every street lamp. But that isn’t

a fog; not a real fog. There are fogs AND fogs, and what we call a "London particular," is something about which you can have no doubt at all. But there are spells of clear, crisp, frosty weather, with blue skies and still air. I’m afraid I had rather the impression that the sun seldom shone in London during the winter. I had probably got the

idea in America, where I had spent two years, before going on to England. There, so much stress was always laid on London’s grey skies and London fogs, that I was amazed the day I arrived in London

for the first time, though it was thé depth of winter, to find the sun shining in a cloudless sky. I was so surprised that I just dumped my luggage in a hotel and dashed out to take a bus somewhere-anywhere, I wanted to see London while the sun shone. I ree member how amused a policeman was when I asked him which bus, and where to go. "Take your time, take your time," he said genially. "The sun will shine again another day; we get lots of sunshine in London-even in winter." (Nelle Scanlan, " Shoes and Ships and Sealing-Wax,’ 2YA, October 1.)