Turvey in Lockdown Archive
In March 2020 and in the months that followed Turvey, like the rest of the country, was affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Here in this community where people have lived for over 2000 years there was history in the making. As the government imposed lockdown and the A428 fell quiet, we could hear the birds sing, just as former villagers would have done when carts and carriages were the only traffic. The lack of traffic, and the almost total grounding of aircraft, left the air clearer and the sky radiant blue. People enjoyed the excellent weather, walking the ancient paths across the former open fields and in the old cottages and newer houses there was a rediscovery of pursuits which would once have been commonplace such as baking, gardening and craft work. As in the past, many people worked at home, although on a keyboard rather than at a cobbler’s last or on a lace pillow. Village meetings and even church services were held online, via Zoom or live stream on YouTube. The school was closed to all but the children of ‘key workers’ including those in the health service, and home schooling or online lessons became the norm. Like in earlier times too, the community came together and found its own way of helping those who needed support as Turvey Helpers delivered shopping and medicines to those who had to shield at home.
The local shops provided an excellent service for all essentials, and queues often formed outside, as a result of the limitations on the numbers of people who could enter at a time. The pubs were closed, but provided a takeaway and delivery service of meals. Bus services continued to operate, but rarely had more than one passenger on board.
We wanted to preserve for the future the story of how our village was affected by this unique moment in history and so have created this Turvey in Lockdown Archive. Just like the material which we have used to tell the story of Turvey’s past, it contains photographs, art work and personal accounts contributed by the people who live here to tell the story of life in Turvey during this global pandemic.
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