Dashing through the snow for Sepia Saturday 163

This is a post for Sepia Saturday 163.

 

The prompt picture is all about snow and sledges it shall be.

1. Anneke, Jan Kees, me, Albertine and Corrry at the Boulevard (Scheveningen) in 1956.

We 5 kids on our sleds at the Boulevard in Scheveningen, Netherlands; 1956.

Look outside! It snowed! If my mother said so, we came into action immediately. Quick, wrap up warmly, and as soon as possible with the sled out. The world looked much happier if there was snow. Even my mother enjoyed the snow, despite the cold and discomfort. My father grumbled sometimes, but we didn’t care. We were just happy at the idea that we could go play in the snow and sledding. Even when walking along the promenade we took the sledges along.

 

2. Volendam boy on sled; 1976.

A boy in traditional costume of Volendam. I’m not sure if he will come anywhere,

since nobody is pulling or pushing.

The five of us had 3 sleds. The best sled was with a whole iron frame with thick narrow laths on it. Those always slipped easily through the snow. Moreover, this was the nicest sled. The iron was painted red and there were those beautiful curls on the runners. If you were the first, you could grab that sled, otherwise you took one of the tow other sledges. Those others were entirely of wood with a wide metal strap below the runners.

 

 

3. Sophisticated sled; 1984.

I’ve never seen a sophisticated sled like this one. Look at that wheel! It even has a rod to brake.

 

Scheveningen have been built on and behind the dunes and there were plenty of sloping streets where a sled itself would slip down. But most of the streets were too dangerous to sledding. We knew the places where you could sledding, like the Lindo Dune at Westduinweg. That was not a real dune. When the second inner harbour was dug out, the sand was thrown in a heap beside it and that was called the Lindo Dune.

 

 

  4. Push sled; 1991.

When there is snow, all the children play outside. And if you are lucky someone pushes the sled.

If there was snow, we walked with our sleds up at the Lindo Dune. On the other side we glided back down. But Lindo Dune was not very steep and you got no speed. We found that not nice enough and we went there not often. (Today I discovered that there have been bunkers in WWII at the back of the Lindo Dune, as a part of the Atlantic Wall.) The Lindo Dune is leveled in 1965 and there is now a large apartment building.

 

 

5. Pull sled; 1984.

Or someone is pulling your sled, though this rope is far too short.

No, much better was the sloping lawn between the Gerbrandystreet and the Haringkade! You could slide down easily. If there was snow, it was pretty busy with the kids who were sledging.

 

 

6. Santa on a sled; 1999.

No reindeer for this Santa on his simple sled. I think this is a Dutch Santa.

On top was the starting point. There was the snow completely flattened and as slippery as ice. With a good speed you slid down, the faster the better. That was the best part of it, with most pleasure. In the flat area at the bottom of the slope you came to a halt or you had to brake with your heels on the ground. Still enjoying you walked along the quiet side up again.

We played for hours, until dark or until we got too cold. With red cheeks and sparkling eyes we arrived back home, full of stories about our adventures.

 

 

7. Sleigh ride; 1980.

Some people let a Friesian horse pull a big sleigh. The bells are ringing to warn anyone to jump aside.

Scheveningen, like the rest of the Netherlands, has a temperate maritime climate. The climate is influenced by the North Sea and this influence is more severe on the coast and results in relatively mild winters. The chance of winter weather is the same in February as in January. The average number of snow days is 7 in both months.

Now on the sleigh to other bloggers at Sepia Saturday to see what they say about snow.