Friday night and Wales’ city centres are eerily deserted amid THE GHOST

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HESE pictures are remarkable and eerie – it’s Friday night in Wales’ biggest cities.

Normally, they would be full of revellers seeing in the weekend, catching up with friends and family, having dinner, cocktails or a pint.

But this is not a normal day.

A few hours earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told all pubs and bars to close. Once they reached closing time on Friday night, that was it.

These hubs of social activity are now deemed as centres of unacceptable levels of risk as our health workers battle the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Johnson’s warning did not kick in until midnight and many places stayed open. But the warnings seem to have sunk in, leaving the centres of Wales’ three largest cities – Cardiff, Swansea and Newport deserted. And it wasn’t just Wales – London’s normally heaving Leicester Square was quiet, too.

“To be honest I didn’t think it would happen this quickly,” said Ben Browne, owner of Pitch, on Mill Lane.

“I thought it would be London first – I thought we might still have the weekend. I was expecting it but with perhaps more of a delay than this.

“We’re quite small, so it hasn’t affected us too much in that lots of our staff were uni students and parttime workers. Everyone is adjusting.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to downsize with not too much disruption.”

Ben has a good idea of what is to come because his mother is already on lockdown. He told us: “I don’t think it’s going to be short-term, I think realistically we’re looking at perhaps three months or more.

“My mum lives in northern Italy, they’ve already been in lockdown for three weeks and look at the situation there now. I think we’re going to be like this for a long time.

“Obviously, they’ve all been worried but all of the staff have been amazing – they’ve all been spot on.

“They all have their own things to worry about but they’ve all just been amazing. I told everyone to come in tonight to collect some of the fresh food so it doesn’t go to waste and to be honest we’re having some drinks from the draught. It’ll be the last time for a while.”

Emlyn Thomas, assistant manager at the Goat Major on St Mary Street, said: “I think we were expecting it, after we saw Ireland shut down their bars before St Patrick’s Day. When the Irish stop drinking, you know.

“There were a lot of questions until the statements this afternoon, I think people feel a bit better about it now, there’s more certainty. I think now they’ve said they’re doing something about rents people do feel better.

“Brains have been quite good, too – they’ve set up a coronavirus page where there’s constant updates and there’s a Q&A page so that’s helpful.”

But for many people the uncertainly is difficult to deal with.

A worker at Peppermint Cardiff said: “I don’t know how I feel really, maybe a bit misinformed, I think there’s h ’ b been a lack l k of f i information f i from the Government.

“The worst bit is not knowing when all of this is going to end – it’s all confusing really.”

But the nightlife in a city is about more than just alcohol, it is about people and community.

Jay Page, a worker and social media co-ordinator at Mary’s on St Mary Street said: “We’re all really sad that we’ve had to close, we’re a busy city centre venue and a proud part of the LGBT community.

“We get a lot of people coming in here on their own and they get talking to other people – it’s a big community spirit here. It’s sad to think that people will be on their own.

“We know it’s going to be a minimum of four weeks, but we’re already planning our big welcome back party.

“We just want everyone to know that they can still message, they can still get in touch if they want to talk to us – we’re here, keeping up the spirit.

“We closed at 8 o’clock tonight, all our regulars were here, the last song we played was Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again. It was emotional but we’re saying to everyone that we’re ploughing on. Keep calm and carry on, as they say.

“I think St Mary y Street is like the golden gates of Cardiff. You come off the train and it’s the first street you see and it’s so busy and full of life so it will be sad to see it quiet. Seeing the characters off the streets too – it’ll be a ghost town.”

The scenes were no different in Swansea. Noah Redfern, who owns Flickering Light on Wind Street and Noah’s Yard in Uplands, said: “I think there are going to be a lot of positive things coming from this.

“Closing is not a problem to me. I’m not angry at a morally correct thing to do. I think this will make people re-evaluate what is going on in their lives and maybe make them focus more on their families and friends and what is important.

“For me, it reinforces a need to be careful with Mother Nature. Hopefully that’s something that highlighted to the world.

“I promised my staff I will keep their wages going the best I can and give them opportunities to work. I’m going to make sure they are looked after.”

Assistant manager of Peppermint James Stone said: “The announcement does help us in a way as we are able to tell employees and staff.

“Obviously, it is not ideal, but it is what it is. We sort of knew it was going to happen.

“It’s been a lot quieter over the last couple of days, probably 50% quieter.

“On Monday and Tuesday it was a little bit busier because of the students. It’s hard to tell how everyone is feeling at the moment, but it is just a case of getting a plan together. We have closed already as a precaution.”

Managing director of both Jack Murphys and Coyote Ugly Saloons Steve Lewis said: “The announcement from the UK Government to close all venues is the right decision, although we would have preferred it sooner. The well-being of our staff and customers is paramount.

“Both our Coyote Ugly Saloon venues and the Jack Murphys venues will also be closing forthwith during the Covid-19 isolation period.

“We will be back bigger

I think this will make people reevaluate what is going on in their lives and maybe make them focus more on families and friends and what is important...

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