Fifty years ago, Britain endured the driest summer for 200 years – and one of the hottest on record. On Thursday, the Daily Mail documented the great heatwave of 1976, when the temperature reached well over 30C, bringing in weeks of drought.

People were mobbed by swarms of heat-crazed ladybirds, water shortages meant the government imposed a hosepipe ban and a 'minister for drought' was appointed – however, schools and workplaces remained open.

When we asked readers what they did during that scorching summer, nearly 3,000 responded. Here are some of their memories:

I was ten years old in 1976, living on a farm in an East Sussex village.

I remember the cattle feeders were so covered in ladybirds you couldn't see the wood beneath.

I went to the local primary school, which didn't close for one day. We had a sports day that lasted all day and sat in the shade between races. The teachers wore shirts and ties despite the weather. We didn't need a government-funded quango to tell us to drink more, wear light clothing or close our curtains, and we all survived.

RACHEL CASTLE,

Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex

I had the greatest summer of my life playing in the sun every day.

A friend and I were into the Zorro films at the time, so we took our plastic swords and fought with wasps that we found nesting at a nearby stream. We got stung every day, but had such a great time.

WELSHMAN3, UK

I was 11 years old in 1976. Sharing the bottom bunk bed with my younger sister and my younger brother on the top bunk. Brentford Nylons sheets made it even hotter.

Dad got us out of bed at about 10pm one night and drove us to Sandbanks beach in Poole when the thunderstorm broke the drought. It was incredible to watch the lightning over the sea.

MRS MARK, UK

I recall leaving the house with a packed lunch and a bottle of water and a shilling to buy a frozen Tip Top lolly. I'd be out with my friends in the hills near our home all day. No mobile phones – just each other, and we had fun!

We instinctively knew when it was time to head home and we'd arrive tired but happy. Our parents didn't worry about 'stranger danger'. Simple, happier, innocent times when children could play freely.

I feel so sad for children today and grateful I got to live in the best of times.

CYMRULADY, UK

I worked in a footwear production factory through the 1976 heatwave, so along with the high temperatures we also had to cope with the heat from machinery and a glass roof.

But at no point did anyone ever suggest taking a day off. The only concession was a change in working hours from 8am-5pm to 6am finishing at 2pm. This went on for months. It was hard and uncomfortable, but we soldiered on because we needed the money and also because it is what us Brits were expected to do.

MRS B. CROXFORD,

West Yorkshire

I was 16 that summer and had just taken my O-levels and met my future husband (still going – it was our 46th wedding anniversary yesterday). It was the best summer ever. I remember a school trip after exams had finished and the heatwave had started. We went to Stratford-upon-

Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and watched Much Ado About Nothing starring an unheard of Judi Dench and Donald Sinden. I felt the world was wonderful and I could live for ever that summer.

WITCHY ROSIE, UK

I vividly remember the heatwave of '76 and especially the grass fires. The fire brigade would give wooden-handled rubber beaters to anyone who wanted to help put them out.

My mates and I never had so much fun. I was six years old! Imagine the same scenario now – the 'elf and safety gang would be having heart failure.

KKYHUIO, UK

Those in their seventies, like me, had young children. I remember the scorched grass and sizzling hot nights that seemed to go on for ever, but we just got on with it. Schools stayed open, people continued their everyday lives. Nobody copes with anything these days and expects help for every small thing. I am so glad I lived those days.

POLOCROWDSPRINT, UK

During the 1976 heatwave I went to the park with my cousins when staying with my grandmother in Cardiff and played all day, filling empty cans with stones.

We came back looking like coal miners and got a right shouting at because of the hosepipe and bath ban.

My grandma would only run us a bath with about an inch and a half of water in it! The sludge left is ingrained in my memory, and that day was the closest I ever came to making my church-going grandmother swear!

A. WRIGHT, UK

I was working in central London in the West End, beautiful women were everywhere, no tattoos. English was spoken everywhere, two weeks of holidays on the South Coast near Rye.

Life was so sweet then: English pubs, proper food, clean beaches, people were happy with their lot. We loved the hot weather without constant 'warnings'.

Bjorn Borg won Wimbledon, a true champion. No posy, overpaid footballers. Decent politicians, even Nixon – a saint compared to the current excuse for a president.

JON24, France

I was doing my O-levels and there were no hydration breaks for students!

The top story from the BBC was whether you could fry an egg on the bonnet of a car. Reporters filmed at the beach eating ice cream and interviewing holidaymakers. 

Fast forward to today and [the Beeb] are saying we are all going to die because it is so humid. The reporter said, 'If it gets to that level we wouldn't survive anyway', accompanied by scary graphics. When did the BBC become so worthy?

BRIDGET THOMAS, Flintshire

I patrolled the streets of Birmingham in a heavy, dark-coloured uniform [as a policeman] and loved every minute of it during 1976.

In the later days we were allowed to give evidence in court wearing short-sleeved shirts. Those were the days we looked smart and had the support of the public.

THEGREATGREYSURFER, UK

I got smothered in greasy Ambre Solaire by my mum, then rode my bike with a tape recorder attached to the handlebars using a whole roll of Sellotape.

The hits of Boney M. and other disco favourites blaring – all the while keeping my mouth shut to avoid swallowing the millions of ladybirds. The happy times of an eight-year-old me!

ILOVEFATHERTED, UK

Riding about on our bikes and playing football on the common all day. Getting squash from your mate's mum. Tyres sticking to the roads, scraped knees, blinding sunlight, a holiday in Devon, Grandad getting sunstroke, Dad in shorts and sandals. Glass bottles of Coke with a straw, melting sweets and chocolate. Paddling pools, panting dogs and seeing the tortoise chase the odd-job man around the garden. Family over the back having 72-hour reggae parties. Dad sleeping in the bath.

LADYSHAKESPEARE, UK

I got both my flip-flops stuck on melting tarmac and had to get a construction worker to rescue me. For four years an orange cone was melted into the footpath, left to give a warning to others.

MYOPINION9, UK

I started my Army training in Surrey in May 1976 in the infantry. The training, mostly outdoors, was always physically demanding and the intense heat made it more so. I remember going on a 48-hour exercise. We had one filled water bottle to last 24 hours. That was for drinking, cooking and washing with. Sounds horrendous, but it was all to toughen us up.

RONNIE C., UK

My boyfriend was a postie and they were all given salt tablets for the heat. My friends and I lay in my back garden, listening to Wings' Silly Love Songs and Candi

Staton's Young Hearts Run Free on Radio 1 on my transistor radio.

SHELLEY, UK

Back in 1976 we didn't have all these fancy gadgets. If you wanted to know something, you either remembered it or spent three hours arguing about it down the pub.

We watched comedy shows where the comedians told jokes instead of giving TED Talks about their feelings. Young people today panic if their phone battery drops – in '76 my dad drove a car that only started if you threatened it with a spanner. We had one television, three channels, and somehow still managed not to complain we were bored.

MARROWDROP, UK

I was in my second year of a bakery apprenticeship – it was extremely hot in the bakery. My boss went out and bought us a fridge full of beers while we worked. When we finished everyone headed straight to the beach and dipped into the sea – it was a welcome relief!

SAINTJIM, UK

In 1976 I was 25 years old and my wife and I were moving into our first home.

It cost £9,500 and we couldn't afford a moving company, so my dad and brother helped us. My employer lent me a box truck, and we spent the weekend shifting furniture. It was exhausting in the heat but no one complained, we just got on with it.

GEORDIEPENSHIONER, UK

I was pregnant and the weather broke three days after I gave birth to my wonderful son! The hospital care was awful – no air-conditioning, no fans, no running water... you had to carry jugs of water yourself and that was after being shouted at by midwives who were more concerned about looking after themselves. Plus ça change.

PINWALLETSUNDAY, UK

I was 13 years old and remember laying in the grass in the back garden with Jackie magazine, reading the problem page and with lots of Sun In on my hair to try and get blonde streaks.

I also played a game staring at the sun with my friends – which is probably why I wear glasses now!

MS FINLAY1, UK

I was 16 and had just left secondary school. I had a Garelli moped and along with friends, would ride to a nature reserve south-west of Nottingham and swim in the old gravel pits. We had the time of our lives. We tried out pubs to see if they would serve us.

ERMINE SOUP TRACK, UK