BIG LEAP OUT OF LONG LOCKDOWN
With the Foxes’ FA Cup win enhancing the feel-good factor, the city embarked on a tentative return to normality yesterday. TOM MACK assesed the mood
IT was a day people up and down England had been looking forward to – pubs and restaurants being able to welcome them indoors once again. And in Leicester there was an extra sense of excitement after the Foxes’ first FA Cup win two days earlier.
Most of the people I spoke to around the city centre yesterday morning talked about their relief at the latest round of lockdown easing and added something along the lines of: “Especially after Saturday.”
I met up with one of our photographers at the Clock Tower at 10am and there was already a feel of happy optimism about the place.
A police community support officer on duty in the area told me: “It’s not a lot busier than normal, but people seem to feel some normality has returned – I think everybody feels more positive.”
A group of college friends enjoyed their first breakfast together at McDonald’s in a long time ahead of their day of studying.
Poppy Gamble, 17, said: “It’s very nice not to be outside in the cold. We went to a restaurant on Saturday and sat outside and it was freezing.”
Her friend, Ava Benjamin, also 17, said: “It’s so nice to be back indoors.
“I can’t even remember how long it’s been – Leicester has been in and out of so many lockdowns I just rely on my mum to tell me what’s going on. It’s so nice to socialise again.”
At 11am, with a few more shopexcellent
It’s very nice not to be outside. We went to a restaurant on Saturday and sat outside and it was freezing Poppy Gamble
pers out on the streets making it feel like a pre-pandemic weekday, the doors opened at Leicester’s longestsurviving pub, The Globe, in Silver Street.
John Loom, 77, of Goodwood, Leicester, was the first through the door. He met up with his fellow regulars to enjoy a pint at their usual table.
He said: “We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.
“It was hard after the pubs were closed, but we’ve all been phoning each other and this lot have kept me going.
“Last month we came back to sit outside, but it’s good to be back at the same table where I’ve been drinking for the past six years.”
His friend, John Gallagher, 60, of Braunstone Frith, was very grateful to be back at his table inside.
When I asked him if it felt good, he said: “Big time! And after winning the FA Cup – which was 52 years in the waiting – it’s a good day.”
John said the recent months had been difficult, adding: “The pandemic hasn’t been good. My family all had it and we suffered with it over Christmas.
“Then in January I lost my dad to it.”
Their friend Helen Finnigan, 66, of Western Park, Leicester, said: “It’s to be back. I’ve missed the company.” At the next table, Kayt and Magnus Cooke were happy to be back where they belonged.
Kayt, 51, who lives in the city, said: “It’s great to have my stool back – the outside chairs were too low and I couldn’t stretch my legs out.
“It’s fantastic to be back inside and we won the FA Cup!”
Her husband, Magnus, 53, said: “During the pandemic, like a lot of people, I’ve felt the frustration, lone
liness and a bit of agraphobia as well. I think it’s the same the world over and it’s been depressing just having this stream of bad news.
“I’ve also lost a couple of people who died from Covid.
“It’s so good to be back. It’s a step on the road to everything being normal again.”
While the obvious signs of change around the city centre were the scenes inside pubs and cafes, there were other changes at the forefront of people’s minds.
Martin Stanley, of Birstall, who visited the city centre on Monday morning, was most looking forward to seeing his grandchildren again, as the rules on visiting people at their homes have been eased.
He said: “My grandchildren are aged two and four and although I’ve seen them on the computer chatting to them, it’s not the same.
“I’ve not seen them for more than
a year now. It’s hard for them to understand it.”
The 75-year-old also said he had been worried by the pandemic and feared dying, so was glad the disease was easing in the UK.
“I found it all quite upsetting during the pandemic because it sounded like everybody over the age of 70 was bound to die if they caught the disease, so I thought I was on my way out. It really upset me. “
Business owners were also happy to see people returning to the city centre, hopeful that things would soon be back to normal.
Ercan Dogan, who owns the Bruxelles bar in High Street, was looking on as a long-awaited big drinks delivery arrived.
He said: “Hopefully it’s going to be a good day.
“We’ve been closed since last year and it seems like a very long time.
“I expect we’re going to be very busy this evening – hopefully people have been looking forward to getting back inside again.” As well as reopening the hospitality sector, the Government’s third step of its roadmap out of Covid-19 means friends and family can get together in greater numbers.
Covid-19 infection rates in Leicester remain above the national average and public health officials are urging people to enjoy their new freedoms carefully and in a way that minimises the risk of spreading the virus.
The city council’s newly launched We Miss You campaign aims to get the safest unlocking possible.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “Leicester has so much to offer, but sadly we’ve all been unable to enjoy much of it over the last 14 months.
“This campaign is the first step of putting that right.
“We are working with businesses across the city to ensure they can reopen safely, and in a way that reassures customers and encourages them to take those first steps back to rediscovering Leicester’s huge range of hospitality, entertainment and retail.”
The We Miss You campaign also involves various local artists, Leicester-based design agency Arch Creative, and PR firm FU Media.
The specially-commissioned poem, By The Clock Tower, was written by Arch Creative co-founder Joe Nixon and read by local actor and voiceover artist Bradley Foster.
Follow-on events will involve residents through poetry workshops, social media campaigns and activities to help build confidence in the city and its businesses throughout its neighbourhood retail areas.