The last one took place in the January of 1814 with the frost lasting from 27 December 1813 to 5 February 1814, one of the largest fairs on record. Booths lined the way from Blackfriars-bridge to London-bridge. Thousands of people enjoyed the entertainments, dancing to fiddlers, sitting round blazing fires smoking and drinking, even a parading elephant!
The end of the Little Ice Age and demolition of the medieval London Bridge which blocked the movement of ice conspired to end the opportunity.
I recall the exceptionally cold winter of 1963 was enough to permit skating on Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, and an attempt to roast an ox on, perhaps more accurately over the ice.
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Today here, up in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London, we have just had our 4th snowfall since the beginning of December. That is about 3-1/2 more snowfalls than average. Four snows in two months is far from remarkable in Ontario, but it's a real pain when no one owns a snow shovel or knows how to wield one.
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