Candid Caller

ANOTHER August bank holiday weekend arrives, another summer passes. In remembrance of blue- skied days gone by, this week the Candid Caller asked: Are Britain's summers what they used to be?

Mrs Debbie Summers of Coventry: 'No, definitely not. They're much colder now, and when we do get good weather it only lasts a few days then packs up. It's deceptive, though. We think the weather has turned in our favour and start wearing fewer clothes - that's why we get more colds now.'

Mr Colin Day of Torquay: 'We recall our childhood summers as endless and bathed in sunshine and winters being long and cold because when you're a kid every day is longer. I think the summers probably were better then because they lasted from June to the end of August; now they seem to fit into June.'

Mrs Jane Bright of Cardiff: 'I don't think British summers were ever that wonderful - nostalgia plays tricks with your memory. I remember plenty of wet, thoroughly disgusting summers over the years, but as they were so awful I put them at the back of my mind and prefer to forget them.'

Mr John Long of Great Yarmouth: 'The weather in this country is completely up the spout now. We can't count on sun in summer or even snow in winter. All the days have become the same, grey and overcast. Horrible.'

Mr Jeffrey Meadows of Blackpool: 'I've always lived in Blackpool and the summers are just the same now as they have always been: cold and damp. We usually go to Torquay or Bournemouth for our holiday and even if it's wet, it's never as cold as up here, so it's still a welcome break.'

Mrs Jill Rivers of Ross-on-Wye: 'Oh no, the summers are just as great now. If you live in the country, there are as many birds and as much sunshine and warmth as ever, but you've got to get up early to enjoy the day to the full, starting at dawn. The sun then is often glorious and warm.'

Mr Mark Brooks of Wolverhampton: 'The summers were better in the past, because then we used to win the cricket occasionally. Mind you, things are looking up - perhaps we're about to get an Indian summer after all.'

Mrs Elaine Pollen of Edmonton, London: 'I think we think our summers were better only because we didn't know any better. Then we thought we were blessed if we had a few weeks of warm sunshine. It was relatively unheard of to jump on a plane for two weeks in the sun in Spain; now we enviously compare our summers with those of Spain or Italy.'