AFTER a long, cold winter of discontent and storms with stupid names, it’s finally nice to feel a bit of sunlight on our vitamin D-starved bones. Yet as we bask like unsightly seals on the rocks of spring and ponder the merits of global warming, it’s worth remembering things can get hotter, with or without a demonic entity named carbon dioxide fanning the flames.

Take the summer of 1976 for starters.

The sun was so fierce and unforgiving that year, local rumours suggest that a gentleman from the Avenue Road area temporarily lost leave of his senses and even contemplated committing the cardinal sin of not wearing socks with his sandals.

Thankfully, he soon regained his senses and order was restored, but elsewhere in Wales, things, as they are prone to do in the Sun, went a bit wacky.

In 1976, Monmouthshire’s Wentwood reservoir dried up completely, and a trio of camels from Longleat Safari Park were snapped trekking through it. Why? We may never know.

What we do know is that there were a lot of other reservoirs drying up quicker than a slug in a salt factory.

In the first week of July, the Chronicle announced that the Usk was at its lowest level in 50 years.

The article went on to document a number of other problems being caused by the heat.

Apparently, a paving stone in the Mardy had exploded due to perpetual exposure to direct sunlight, and ice creams and cold drinks were in constant short supply.

Drivers were complaining about burned hands every time they touched their steering wheels and allegedly, one of the hottest places in Abergavenny was the market hall with its glass roof and one of the coolest was St Mary’s Church.

Elsewhere, Abergavenny residents were furious and fuming about the short opening times of Bailey Park’s open-air swimming pool.

An enthusiastic swimmer barked that it was absolutely ridiculous in this extremely hot weather that the pool only opened in the afternoons from 3.30pm until 6pm.

Just imagine the muddle they’d find themselves in nowadays without a communal puddle to wallow in.

Due to the perpetual heat and abnormally low rainfall, water was rationed that summer.

A spokesperson for Abergavenny’s Chocolate factory explained at the time, “I think we shall probably be able to scrape by.”

The Angel Hotel caused a stink, quite literally, when it warned its guests not to have baths first thing in the morning and to fill up the wash basins in their bedrooms.

The Hen and Chickens revealed it was coping with the cuts but warned, “If we have a big function, things could get tricky quite fast.”

Meanwhile, back on the farm, the sons of the soil were facing one of the worst disasters in living memory.

Because of the absence of lush green grass, farmers were already feeding animals on winter stocks of hay.

Yet in early September, the heatwave came to an end with one of the wettest weekends in memory.

So remember folks! It may be hot out there, but it never lasts. Stay safe and make hay while the sun shines. Because as proof and pudding always proves - it always ends in storms!