Firstly, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s taken part in this project, giving up your time and telling me your stories. I’ve loved chatting and catching up, and speaking to people I haven’t spoken to in quite a while, sometimes years. It was a chance to record a unique time in people’s lives, and give them a gift of their lockdown story. I didn’t … Continue reading Tales from lockdown – author’s note
I recognise the sofa on the screen, and realise Bev is back in her house in Cheltenham. She’d spent the previous six months with her husband Rich travelling through Europe in their motorhome, and I ask her how she feels to be back. ‘It’s nice being in the house but I’d rather be in France. It’s FREEZING,’ she laughs. Bev was in Portugal when COVID19 … Continue reading French sunshine
‘There are three main words I can sum lockdown up in-Mum, masks and memory teddies.’ Ged laughs. Her Glaswegian accent is a treat to listen to, and I lean nearer to the screen. ‘Mum is now 92 and went into a care home about a year ago with vascular dementia. I don’t think I’d have had anything like the worry about COVID if it wasn’t … Continue reading All the M’s
‘I was like, let’s just stay home forever,’ Clare said in her wonderful Northern Irish accent, laughing at the screen when I asked her how she found lockdown. ‘I found it pretty good. I’m really introverted, so the opportunity to stay at home in my own company, for an unknown amount of time, just seemed brilliant. I felt safe here, confident that Jacinda was in … Continue reading Watercolour riches
Ben, or Coops, as he’s more widely known, runs a hospitality and events consultancy, and work just disappeared when COVID19 hit. He says: ‘There’s no restaurants open, no hotels that want consultancy and no events going on in the British summer. My cash cow from May until the end of September, gone. I thought shit, what do I do now? I’ve still got a mortgage, … Continue reading Chef with a heart
‘I thought it was going to be like Little House on the Prairie. You know, rolling around in hills all day frolicking and baking. Actually it was nothing like that at all.’ Vic is sat outside, making the most of a warm June evening in the UK. ‘I think I was a little bit unrealistic in my expectations of how much time we’d have. Like … Continue reading Little House on The Lincolnshire Wolds
“I’m glad to be back in New Zealand but it’s definitely not the homecoming I’d envisaged,’ laughs Abi. She arrived in New Zealand on 1st January, returning after years living away in the UK, Switzerland and France. She was just getting settled and had some job offers on the table when lockdown hit. ‘Lockdown was horrible. Now, a couple of months on, I can’t think … Continue reading Caricatures and containers
‘It’s gone faster than I thought it would. I was teaching on the Monday, someone came in and told me we’d be finishing as we were about to start ‘locking down’, and all of a sudden it was organised chaos.’ Linda’s smiley face is on the screen, glass of wine in hand. She’s one of those people that you meet a few times and feel … Continue reading Teacher times
Alex pops onto the screen. He has a beard. He starts talking and I hear some words about having sunburn and working in the garden but I’m distracted trying to figure out whether I’ve ever seen him with a beard. It’s a long time since I’ve seen him. ‘It’s really hard to explain. It feels like it’s gone really quickly, but it also feels like … Continue reading Diazepam and dog walks
