Locked down in Amsterdam for 15 months, now Tudor can’t wait for a pint at the Golden Eagle in Agard Street
A DERBY-born resident who travelled the world growing up has shared his experiences of the pandemic after having to stay in Amsterdam for 15 months.
Tudor Lomas, a former journalist, used his instinct to follow the initial spread of Covid-19 from China to Italy and watched the events unfold.
When the government announced their initial lockdown in March 2020, Tudor was forced to choose between moving back to Derby or staying in Amsterdam with his girlfriend.
And 15 months later, the two of them remain in the Netherlands, distancing themselves from all of those around them to ensure their safety.
Tudor said: “When the virus struck, the choice was Agard Street or Amsterdam.
“In the end it was easy, as we were at my Dutch girlfriend’s flat when we realised we had to lock down because of her asthma.
“Fifteen months later we were still there, totally isolated apart from a very careful, socially-distanced 10,000 steps a day along the river IJ, obsessed with trying to keep fit, healthy and alive.
“Staying in one place has been a shock, in many ways it’s been the strangest journey of my life.”
Tudor and his girlfriend documented their progress in discovering the threat of the virus before it became properly apparent to the rest of the world.
During that time, Tudor is adamant that he never abandoned the people from his home city and kept them in his thoughts throughout his time away.
He said: “I did not desert my home town. At first I was checking every week with relatives, keeping in touch with friends, trying to find ways to help our pub and support one or two great bands and they do seem to have survived. “I can’t wait to have a pint again in The Golden Eagle, to the earthy blues sounds of Doublecross, rather than listening to an old CD in Amsterdam.
“We’ve quite enjoyed the chance to take stock, reorganise things and make sense of the only pandemic any of us has experienced.” Now, Tudor has written a book describing his experiences of the pandemic, including news reports from the time and links to what was happening in the world.
The book, entitled Just Drink The Bleach: Surviving One Year of Covid, Lockdown and Fake News, details Tudor’s perspective on the events happening around him and how it affected his daily life and routine. He explained how he feels the book helped him cope with the “incarceration” of nationwide lockdowns. “Many people have used the time to write a book. I had four reasons,” he said.
“Early on I set up a spreadsheet, saving links about interesting stories and developments – over 600 of them.
“Secondly, I focus on all three challenges in the book’s title, surviving Covid, the lockdown and false news and show the connections with Trump’s exhortation to ‘Just drink the bleach.’
“Thirdly, I took the chance to contact friends around the world to see how the virus had changed their lives.
“A few had relatives who died, some were damaged psychologically and financially, but most have evolved a new relationship with the world.
“Finally, I wrote the book for my newly-born grandson, who I’ve only met the once, early last year when he was just four months old.
“I thought he might like to know what the world was like in the first couple of years of his life, how it had changed for us all and how it changed us.
“I give lots of nuts and bolts examples of our everyday restricted life and how we made the best of things.”
Tudor Lomas’ book is available to buy online now.
Staying in one place has been a shock, in many ways it’s been the strangest journey of my life. Tudor Lomas