But he and his coach Malcolm Arnold are determined that this year, unlike previous ones, early promise will be fully realised.
Gardener’s time in the Norwich Union International 60 metres, 6.54sec, was sufficient to defeat a field which included the American who beat him to the world indoor title three years, ago, Tim Harden.It was not Gardener’s fastest start to a season – he recorded 6.52 in his first outing of 2003. Jason Gardener got his indoor season off to a characteristically promising start here at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday. It has placed 700 gritters and snow ploughs on “full alert”.At least temperatures are unlikely to reach the lowest ever recorded in the UK, minus 27.2C at Braemar, Scotland on 10 January, 1982, and at Altnaharra, Scotland on 30 December, 1995.. In Glasgow the temperature was 5C at midday on Saturday, compared with 10C 24 hours earlier.Malcolm Wicks, Minister for Pensions and Older People, encouraged pensioners to take advantage of Winter Fuel and Cold Weather payments so as not to put themselves at risk during the cold weather. “No older person should have to worry about turning up the heating during this cold snap,” he said.British Gas predicted that the cold snap could trigger more than 20,000 emergency calls a day and warned householders to be wary of frozen or burst pipesMeanwhile, the Highways Agency assured the public it would do its best to ensure that all motorways and roads would remain open during the bad conditions. The threat of snow will continue through until Thursday or Friday.

“Temperatures will struggle to rise above 0C from Tuesday onwards, but we can expect a milder start to the following week,” Mr Bodenham added.Cold air from the Atlantic has already affected some areas. Temperatures are unlikely to rise above freezing point this week, with nights in some parts of the north dipping as low as minus 5C or minus 10C.
Andy Bodenham, a Met Office forecaster, said: “We can expect areas in the north and east of Scotland and England to get the brunt of the snow, with as much as 10cm falling in the worst affected areas.”Most of the country will see either snow or bitterly cold weather and there is unlikely to be much respite until next weekend. But some local farmers put the numbers much higher, and accounts of animals seen away from these three groups are increasing.. Icy weather and snow is expected to sweep down from Scotland tonight, bringing with it the coldest snap this winter. The third group in Herefordshire, may be of a similar size to the Dorset one, and stems from an escape in the late 1990s and is found in woodlands south of Ross-on-Wye, near the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.These are the Government’s scientifically estimated figures.

It is thought to stem from an escape of several boars from a farm in Tenterden, Kent, after the hurricane of October 1987 blew down fences which were keeping them in.The Dorset group, which may number about 30 animals, is found in the woodlands between Powerstock and Toller Porcorum, from where a group of boars escaped from a farm in 1996. It came to represent strength, bravery, battle and conquest.In early Celtic mythology the goddess of the forest and hunting, Ardwinna, above, was often depicted riding on the back of a boar and Celtic war trumpets were sometimes of wild boar shape.Later, wild boars figured frequently on coats of arms and as prestige symbols. At the weekend, the number of people so far voting yes to the question, “Is the return of the wild boar to Britain a good thing?” was listed as 1066; those voting no as 65.Dr Goulding said that, although he himself was neutral, there were good arguments in favour of wild boar coming back. “They are nature’s natural plough, and their rooting in woodlands increases biodiversity, through making room for more annual plants” he said. “They are also a resource for hunting and food, and we are replacing a once-British animal that was lost through man’s actions.”Most of all, he said it wanted them to be fairly judged, and for there to be no knee-jerk reactions Not everyone is so sanguine, however.