‘First pint in months... and it won’t be my last’
9.04AM
The Silver Slipper amusement arcade at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk – open for just four minutes – greets its first customer. On a weekend break, Jessie Henry, 46, and daughter Jenny, six, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, try their luck on a pick-and-grab machine, winning a cuddly elephant.
‘We were planning to go for a walk on the seafront when we saw the arcade was open,’ says Jessie.
‘We have been cooped up for so long, only going out for exercise. It’s just nice to get out and do something different.’
9.20AM
The first campers arrive at Caffyns Farm in Lynton, Devon. Beset by gusty winds and fog, the 160-acre farm, mentioned in the Domesday Book, does not – for now at least – present the idyll many were expecting.
But despite a 210-mile dawn trip from Burbage, Leicestershire, Jane Booton and her partner Neil Todd, both 38, emerge from their car laughing along with seven-year-old twins Cayden and Conner, still in dressing gowns.
‘ We’ve been desperate to get away,’ says Jane, a teaching assistant. ‘We’d normally wait for better weather but at least we’re here.’
Once the weather lifts, they will savour breathtaking views across the Bristol Channel and explore secluded coves. They are staying
with other family members including Phillip Godfrey, 41, also from Leicestershire. ‘I brought ID in case we were suspected of coming from the Leicester lockdown area,’ says Phillip. ‘We’ve heard of friends having holidays cancelled.’
The group are planning a barbecue party with chicken, kebabs and belly pork, washed down with Devon cider. ‘There’s just one worry. It’s a new tent,’ says Jane. ‘We’ve never put it up before. Should be fun in this wind.’
Campsite owners Colin and Jill Harman lost £70,000 worth of sales during lockdown. ‘And we had to throw away £4,000 of food and beer,’ says Colin. ‘A couple of people have asked us to guarantee there will be no risk. We can’t do that.
‘There’s a risk with any shared facility. But we’ve worked hard to keep people safe and there has to be some personal responsibility.’
10AM
First on the Wicker Man rollercoaster – the main attraction at Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire – are adrenaline junkies Kim and Marc Roe, both 40, from Wolverhampton and their 11-yearold son Tristan.
Marc says: ‘I’m so glad to be the first person to ride Wicker Man today – I’m a massive fan.’
At the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear, families follow the socially distanced orange spray- painted starfish markers towards the entrance.
Trudi Kennair, 37, from nearby Whitley Bay, and her four-year-old son Luke are among the first customers. As Luke’s excited eyes search the glass tanks for sharks, his mother explains: ‘There was so much excitement about this in our house, it was just like Christmas morning – in fact there was considerably more excitement than if Santa had been.’
11AM
Truck driver Paul Shellabear, 54, reverently examines his pint of lager on the bar of his local, The Three Horses, in Keighley, West Yorkshire. ‘ This is my first pint that hasn’t been from a can since March and it is not going to be the last,’ he says.
‘ I’ve really missed this place and I’m looking forward to seeing some old faces and getting back to the pub banter.’
Tiler John Durkin, 48, agrees. ‘I’ve been Zooming from home with mates and having the odd can of beer, but there is nothing to beat a proper English pub atmosphere and socialising.’
Their musings are shared by thousands across the land, among them, Nigel Farage, who, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the first through the door of his local near Biggin Hill, Kent, when it opened at noon. By and large social distancing is observed, though few take their responsibilities as seriously as Bobby Kitson, 21, and his four friends, who arrived at The Wellington, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, wearing forensic s-style suits and masks.
‘It’s making drinking a bit tricky – but we’ll get there,’ says Bobby, who works at Pinewood Studios.
1PM
Dan Edison, 27, and his partner Callum Perry, 21, both wearing masks, arrive at the Odeon cinema in Norwich for the first film of the day – t he f antasy adventure Onward. Customers must sit in their social bubbles, leaving three empty seats between groups.
Dan, who works in publishing, says: ‘ I am quite anxious about going in because of everything that has been going on, but I can see that they are taking really strict precautions which is very reassuring.’
Callum, who works for the student union at the University of East Anglia, says: ‘It is nice to come out and get back to doing the things we love. It is all about trying to get back to normality.’
2PM
Wearing a bespoke silk duchess dress, a lace veil, and a mask to match, Debbie Curtis, 34, glides down the aisle of St John the Baptist Church, in Bisley, Surrey.
It usually seats 90 to 100 people but only 14 witness her big day. What was planned as a big communal celebration becomes a quiet, more intimate affair. Debbie is given away by her widowed mother who has formed a ‘ bubble’ with Debbie and her husband David Curtis, 44. A seating plan ensures that households remain two metres apart – with each bubble getting their own pew and being separated by an empty row.
With singing banned, the best man instead plays the banjo during the signing of the register. Despite the complications of holding a wedding during the middle of a pandemic, Debbie and David are eager to start married life. Debbie says: ‘We can still have the party next year. It’s a shame, but it’s a one-in-a-hundred year type of unforeseeable issue.’
2.45PM
Stepping across t he threshold of the White Horse Inn, Exford, in Exmoor National Park, David and Noreen Paveley, both in their 80s, can scarcely contain their glee.
‘The thought of a break on Exmoor has kept us going,’ says Noreen, from Honiton, Devon, who has been shielding. ‘We’ve just been waiting for Boris to say the word.’
David adds: ‘We’ve been coming here for 15 years. We know all the staff – they’re excellent and they’ll take care of us. It feels very safe.’
3PM
An exultant cry rings out across the vast, 1,200-seat Mecca bingo hall in Gateshead.
‘Yes!’ shouts the winner of the £109.80 jackpot.
‘My husband doesn’t even know I’m here,’ her friend confesses, carried away by excitement.
‘ He thinks I’ve gone shopping but I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.’
Another player, Marilyn Rutter, 67, who shielded for 90 days due to ill health, adds: ‘It’s like I’ve got my life back. There really is nothing better than bingo.’
Manager Angela Haggarty says that for some customers, ‘this is the first human interaction they’ve had for months. It’s not just about winning at bingo, it’s a social lifeline for many’.