Click on picture for a larger version.
The first lockdown was announced on 24 March 2020. We had to stay at home, and we couldn't meet people.
We talked online of course. But there were other ways to communicate. One was by putting things in windows. people were still allowed out for exercise, which for many of us, was a gentle walk round the block. So people could look at the windows.
The first group is a nation-wide symbol - the rainbow. It symbolised hope at the end of the storm, I suppose. I believe it was started by a teacher somewhere, and it just spread nation-wide. It was supposed to be by children, but I couldn't resist joining in! I'm a lacemaker, and the lace rainbow with hearts is mine. The pattern is here.
This rainbow was in a bank. The acidic comment was added by me!
You might notice above a pretend Ofsted report saying "Failing miserably". Children (apart from the children of essential workers) had to be educated at home, with lessons set by teachers online. Here is an outdoor lesson by our next door neighbour.
Then there was the tradition of "Clapping for the NHS". In my diary, I noted on Thursday, April 2nd 2020 "We join in 8pm clapping for NHS". It happened weekly. Why? Somebody, somewhere in England, suggested it, and it seemed like a good idea. Lots of things seemed like a good idea at the time! The idea was to show the NHS workers that we knew that they were making an enormous effort to help those who were ill, and providing comfort for the dying. In some places, it became quite raucous, banging saucepans. Some people even objected to those who didn't clap. Then the government joined in, and there was clapping outside 10 Downing Street. Various people started muttering that a decent wage and some PPE might be more important than clapping. Still, when it started, it was something we could do together, and we could wave to our neighbours, and it felt good. We couldn't socialise, remember.
This is in Gwydir Street, showing the street empty (the cars are parked - we don't have garages round here). Then as the sound of clapping started, heads starting to poke out of doorways.
Eventually, it was decided to have a "Last clapping for the NHS" on May 28, 2020. I took a photo of our clap in Gwydir St. Note the bike - traffic was picking up as regulations were relaxed. Then suddenly, we heard the sound of bagpipes...
Various other Gwydir Street windows during 2020:
Usually there is an Open Studios in July, where everyone can visit artists' studios and see their work. Obviously we couldn't do this in 2020. So there was an Open Windows instead. Here are a few examples:
I liked the idea of having windows with something interesting in for people to look at, so I started my "Window Museum" (an idea from Ipswich). The first is World War II (as 2020 was 75 years since the end of the war). The teddy bear was just there as I'd heard of people "going on a bear hunt", so it tended to crop up in my window displays!
Fossils (sorry - a bit blurry):
Measuring:
Bobbin lace:
Halloween:
Starting in Christmas 2020, Gwydir Street now does regular Festive Windows, and good displays for Halloween as well. I'm not sure if this was started because of the pandemic. It may have been!
Cooking was an obvious activity. Banana bread was common. (So was sour dough, but I didn't try that!) I made a Victoria sponge as I'd enever made one before. I attempted American biscuits and sausage gravy, the recipe coming from an American correspondent, which was ... interesting. But her recipe for scones was better than mine, and gave an excuse to eat some clotted cream and jam (which we wouldn't normally do). The pandemic was certainly a time of "treats". We needed cheering up.
See my website for these and other recipes.
Return to Covid index
© Jo Edkins 2024