One said that it hadn't made much difference...but for others there were changes-some for the better:
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Chloe Adams is a working mum, with a husband and young daughter. Her experiences described below are typical of those of many young women during the lockdown periods.
I
I had worked in hospitality for 25 years, working unsociable hours 3-4 nights a week, juggling full time work life with parenting meant not being able to always do the school runs and spend precious time with my daughter, ironically there were times when I wanted the world to slow down for a minute and all of a sudden it did.
I was working the late shift on Friday 20th of March (2020)
holding a very small wake, numbers had dropped all week, less
and less people coming into the hotel due to the increasing
concern of the new virus.
The chefs and I listened to the prime minister's speech in
shock, the doors were to be closed that night and no date was
given as to when they would re-open. We had Mothers Day that
weekend with almost 100 covers, we had weddings booked, fridges
full of food and cellars full of drink.
Winsham School did so well delivering schoolwork by hand and my daughter
looked forward to her teacher dropping off books at the door so she
could wave at the window.
At this time in the pandemic the school was not set up for virtual
leaning and we hadn't ever had a zoom lesson in our life! Of course like
the rest of the world we became professionals at virtual meetings!
Having never really had the need for a computer at home, we mainly used
the mobile phone for anything virtual which proved to be quite difficult
especially during the Joe Wicks PE sessions!
I
made dinner every night for the first time in my life and had a regular
sleeping pattern which was unheard of. Of course it wasn't always easy,
there were times when I wasn't sure what to say to my daughter and it
was scary. I thrive on having things to look forward to as we all do but
all of a sudden this was taken away from us and I wasn't sure when we
would see any of our family and friends again.
I am a positive and optimistic person but there were challenging days.
My husband worked through the pandemic as manufacturing never stopped,
he did the shopping for us and told us what it was like outside of
Winsham, including the petrol prices which were at an all time low!
Daddy bringing the shopping home on a Wednesday was a highlight of the
week for us.
It had certainly taught us never take anything for granted again
I returned to work for 5 months before we were closed down again, this
time things were not so easy.
The weather was cold and it was coming up to Christmas, a time which we
love and look forward to as a family, but rules of 6 came in place and
eventually not being able to see anyone again for many months.
Schools closed in January 2021 and and it was hard to get the motivation
to do home school, it was too cold for the caravan and not so many
people were out walking
We lost some family in this time and it was incredibly hard not to be
able to attend funerals. Virtual meetings had got tiresome and 'cabin
fever' set in. We all celebrated birthdays in lockdown including my 40th
where we had a party for the three of us and spent hours talking to
friends on the phone. My husband continued to work and I was unsure if
the hotel would ever reopen.
But we got through it and the days got brighter again, my daughter went
back to school and I went back to work although only for a couple of
months; it took a pandemic for me to realise that I needed a career
change and the most important thing was to be with my family.
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Jane Simkins, lives in Winsham, with her husband Andrew, who has distinguished himself championing Armed Forces Veterans causes, and other charitable work, following a very active 37 years in the Army Air Corps. He also served on Winsham Parish Council for several years, and , for a period was chairman .
Jane won the Grand Winsham Poetry Challenge competition 2020, as well as four other competition categories, and this and another poem on the subject of the pandemic can be found below
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Freefall in Lockdown So here we
are, Retirees both, just missed the Baby Boomers, Jogging
along life’s merry way, until we hear the rumours… A dreadful
scourge is on its way; Boris says to close all doors, Must stay
inside and wait it out, all British life on pause. A fatal
illness hits our Earth, to add to human strife. What’s to be
done? What can we do?
Stay home, wash hands, save life.
So I look at him and he
at me, it seems we’re stuck together, Well, here
we are, let’s make a plan; Boris says it’s not forever!
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Missing And so we all must now adapt, To Lockdown’s strange new land, We long for family every day, Yet apart now we must stand. Miss pudgy fingers squished in dough, With concentration deep, Make sausages and Chorley cakes, And ginger-men to keep,. Miss flour clouds and pouring milk, Lick spoon when making cupcakes, Gooey eggs upon the floor, And fun-faced pizza bakes. Miss sticky play and arty times, With finger patterns swirling, Florescent glitter butterflies, Their straw antennae curling |
Back on
well-trodden paths…
Covid 19 has wreaked havoc, both globally and
locally, in more ways than anyone could have foreseen. The mood has
shifted from stoic optimism to, for some, moments of despair, and
hopefully back again to a more positive outlook.
Here in Winsham, we have been fortunate to have
escaped the worst of what this horrible illness has thrown at mankind.
 Jane also expressed her support for the NHS during the pandemic, visually, with these self made banners displayed outside her home. Many other villagers did the same, but this was one of the biggest. |
Today I continue to feel gratitude for our rural
idyll. The Shop and Post Office remain a focal point, offering
provisions and smiling support. The School and Pub similarly act as
places of comfort and continuity, with the Parish Council overseeing the
well-being of village life. Now, for me, chatting to folks, familiar and
unknown, around the village, has become one of the great pleasures.
‘Winsham Village Open Gardens’ in July 2021 opened
the door – gate! – onto a burst of joie-de-vie for everyone lucky enough
to make the trek around 15 stunning gardens. The village quite literally
took a fresh, buoyant step forward, emerging from a dead end, turning a
few corners, and setting out onto new paths.
Thank you Winsham for providing such a secure
backdrop in these unparalleled times.
Steven Corrick-a new-comer to the village:
‘
Twas in the middle of January 2021 that my two furniture lorries drew up in the middle of the village, containing my worldly possessions. A bright sunny day. A good omen.On the doorstep of my new home was a small package.
“Welcome to Winsham” and inside some flapjacks with a card from
my new neighbours. What a
welcome.
In the following weeks I could meet nobody, and
invite no one in for a coffee and a chat,
as everyone dutifully hid behind their masks or sheltered in
their homes.
But every time I ventured out of my front door I
was greeted by a wave and a smile.
Every time I went for a walk round the village,
which I tried to do every day, people stopped (still social distancing
of course!) and made a point of saying “Oh, you’ve moved into The George
haven’t you. I’m Jill, we live at...... How are you settling in?”
Covid and lockdown might have affected everyone in
all sorts of different ways, and sometimes disrupted their lives.
To a few, it brought tragedy.
But, thank goodness, it never affected the
wonderful friendly feel that living in this village gives.
Thanks everyone!
Of course the pandemic and its resultant
lockdown(s) have been a nasty, horrible series of events for many
people. For me the most negative aspect was missing out on more than a
year’s visits to grandchildren (two in the Netherlands, one in South
Ealing); several of my free-lance work projects fell through, which
meant a fall in income, and missing the chance for some exotic
fieldwork. But I would like to dwell here on some of the positive
outcomes – a bit perverse, with so many people suffering, but this is a
personal account.
· For the first time since we moved to Leigh, we experienced all the seasons here – usually we are away part of the time, every other week a few days in London for work, or on foreign trips either for work or for fun. Linked to this were my lockup walks, discovering more of our surrounds and walking over 1800 miles from March 23
rd 2020 (start of the first lockdown) to July 19th 2021, the end of the third lockdown. Walks in Winsham parish and surrounding parishes, mostly, with a very occasional car trip (in the later stages, when restrictions eased) to Wagg’s Plot, Horton or Crewkerne and doing circular walks from there.
·
A much
quieter countryside, certainly at the beginning, when we could walk the
Fosse Way without (almost) meeting any other traffic! Hardly any
airplanes coming over also helped.
The only increase was… in
other walkers.
·
So much
spare time, with quite a bit of DIY and carpentry going. More chance of
reading, too, and I finally got to read the 1875 Book of the Axe by
G.P.R. Pulman of Crewkerne fame, from beginning to end. Heavy ain’t in
it – it weighs in at several kilos! So much local information! And I
read two (of five…) volumes of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, too, a book I had always heard about but never started.
· And finally I had time to comply with John Sullivan’s request to write up nature notes for the e-letter/Web museum. This has been an enjoyable task, and it has made me learn a lot: from spiders to hoverflies, and even plants that I thought I knew but needed to be sure about before I put pen to paper, or plant to lens.
Henk Beentje
During the first lockdown, my abiding memory of
life in the village is of peace and solitude: no cars; no noise;
birdsong; local walks to quiet streams; cheery greetings from fellow
villagers who would have crossed the street or lane to avoid close
contact. We have kind neighbours who offered to do our shopping. I
remember spending hours trying to book a delivery slot from various
supermarkets – unsuccessful, but the neighbours added our shopping list
to their requirements. We followed the protocol over safe delivery,
including the post, cleaning all items with sanitising wipes. This we
still do. At this point it was not felt safe to produce and
deliver the Joint Parish Magazine. One month’s issue was delivered by
the editor’s daughter, then no magazine at all until now returning to
normal.
| No
funerals, of course, but a welcome innovation of the funeral
director leading the cortege through the village en route to the
crematorium, passing respectful crowds lining the village
streets. An idea w |
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When churches opened again, we had: the QR code at the
church entrance; sanitizers by the door; a sheet to sign on entry and
exit; some pews marked with a green tick, others with a red cross. We
had to turn the card over when leaving the pew. Communion involved only
the wafer and these had to be fed via the mask – some material, some
plastic visors. At the end of the services we had to leave without any
chatting at the back or at the door.
On the Sunday when it should have been the London
Marathon, people were encouraged to do 26 different things. I decided to
dip in to 26 different church services on line. Of course, I ‘went to’
our Zoomed service and then to our daughter’s church in Poole, Forefront
in Chard, the Little’s church in Canada, a friend’s church in
Bratislava, another friend’s in Pittsburgh, All Souls, Langham Place,
next to the BBC, plus a few more. By this time I was getting punch drunk
and so sadly did not get to 26! We did, however, ‘go’ to All Souls every
Sunday until life here returned to the new normal – whatever that is.
Clubs and
Societies
In the early stages, when the weather was fine, all was quiet and
we were allowed to have six people meeting in a garden, we held
Poetry with two groups of six
meeting in a large garden. When things livened up, when we had incessant
lorry reversing signals and the weather got colder we ‘met’ on Zoom.
This worked quite well. When the pub reopened, we met in the back room
of The Bell. We have now had several months in members’ homes but the
number has grown to such an extent that we have decided to return to The
Bell.
Music
did not lend itself to meeting in a garden or the pub so sadly we didn’t
meet until quite recently. I tried to send members of the group a
you-tube clip of a musical performance each month.
Play
reading
I am afraid this didn’t function at all until quite recently
and of course there were no performances by
The Winsham Players
Bryan Goodman-Treasurer on the Jubilee Hall Management Committee, and expert beekeeper
Living in the village was I think good because we
could still go out walking for recreation in conjunction with walking
our dog, so we kept up our exercise routine, without meeting others,
although we did, but it was easy to maintain social distancing.
Shopping for food was tiresome at first, having to
go into Crewkerne for 0800hrs, but once I had mastered the Waitrose
delivery schedules it was easy to order each week and wait for it to
arrive. This was the only urgent shopping carried out and although we
missed going out to local towns, Bridport, mainly, for coffee we did not
really miss general shopping we just turned to the internet and ordered
what was required on line. Since lock down ended it has been nice to go
physically to stores and look/feel the merchandise, which I suppose on
recollection is better than looking at a picture and then having to
return something not suitable.
As a beekeeper I was required by DEFRA to maintain
good care of my bees and having 4 hives at Magdalen Farm and 3 hives at
home at the start of lockdown in 2020, I was able to go out and about to
inspect them as per normal.
As Secretary of Somerset Beekeepers Association South West Division and
a listed Swarm Collector and also a team member of the Asian Hornet
Action Team I could legally respond to any reports of either swarms, of
which there were 9 reported to me, these were all caught and re-homed in
hives ,or reports of hornets,
which when inspected were wasps.
. This generally enabled me to remain sane and not go housebound crazy.
Our Current Situation
The lockdown I thought would give me the chance
To do all those jobs which I normally can’t
So I’d look at my list. I would sow all those seeds
I would dig, I would prune, I would fork out the weeds
I would clean all the silver and polish the brass
I’d prepare some tasks for my Spanish class
I would clean the windows and wash the floors
I could find some gloss and paint the doors.
But of all those jobs did I even do one?
I’m afraid I did not – I’m blaming the sun
The weather’s been fab and the sky clear blue
So I’ll do the jobs later – honest, it’s true!
Liz Earl