Out and around in lockdown: a memoir for a time like no other

How odd the world is when there's nobody in it!

Capturing the moment when the world went quiet, Wendy Funnell's debut Out and Around in Lockdown records life beyond the front door after we walked away from shops, buses, pubs, streets, the places we ordinarily share. Her series of blogs takes you around this world on the country bus route, not the express coach. Welcome aboard!

The story develops through incidents as they befell Wendy in a time when ordinary doings became extraordinary - the etiquette developed when meeting others, strategies for shopping, gardening skills adapted for hairdressing. During the relaxation of summer 2020, day trips developed confidence for staycations. The nights lengthened, case numbers increased, restrictions returned. Constrained Christmas sociability, corralled by a lockdown winter, break out began when painting the fence became garden art. Double-jabbed, days out brought personal triumphs. Covid security still ruled eating-out even when eating-in with friends, until in summer sunshine Wendy enjoyed freely, safely the fun of general company once more.

Wendy's story is both personal but also national, showing how we as a nation faced the unique time of a pandemic, alone but also united in families, communities, and wider still. Humorous, interesting and easy reading, Out and Around in Lockdown is a snapshot of a world that the history books will look back on as almost story-like so abrupt the change to society, one that will never be forgotten.