Today’s reflections come from much nearer to home, from Di who lives with her husband Eric in Worcestershire.
Bishampton is a small Worcestershire village (about 700 of us) lying between Evesham and Pershore. We are on the edge of the blossom trail (plum, pear, apple) which in normal times brings the tourists. There is a wide age range in the village and a wide variety of houses from old timber framed wattle and daub to recently built social housing. Nearly all families have their own transport as buses to Pershore and Evesham are only once a week. Yes, this is rural England!
We have been here 50 years now and brought up our three children here and are very attached to our little community.
We are surrounded by fields with plenty of public footpaths, so social distancing isn’t a problem and we are lucky to be able to enjoy our walks.
But, just like everywhere else our village is locked down.
The village church is closed for now. There will be no church fete this year. The pub is closed. The village hall with its children’s play area is closed, so no amateur dramatics, no meetings of the parish council, no talks, no table-tennis, no playgroup, etc. We remember the sponsored walk to raise the last bit of funding to build that hall.
Fortunately, the village shop, has stayed open. We have not been out of the village for over 3 weeks and have managed to eat!
Obviously, the children are not at school. Usually they travel to primary school, 3 miles away, on the school bus, then to middle school in Pinvin and finally to Pershore High School which includes sixth form.
Just under a mile away is a golf club, closed of course. This may have a long term effect, as the weeks and weeks of wet weather in January and February meant that the course was closed for many weeks and now in the good weather, it must remain closed. Although we are not golfers, we frequently walk over the fields to stop for coffee or a meal, as a public footpath goes through the middle of the grounds and the wildlife is abundant – deer, hares, occasionally otters, and oyster catchers who nest each year. At least they will not be disturbed this year! Lucky for some!
