Derbyshire 92 - Chesterfield - Boris is back/ the clouds were social distancing /rain ahead for the Bank Holiday

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Shall I let you into a little secret ? oh go on then . I am quite enjoying this walking . Lying in bed unable to drop off to sleep I sorted out in my mind where I was walking to in the morning . The weather whas a let down . Over the past few weeks someone told me that the clouds were social distancing too. The lovely weather had made this inprisonment bearable . But then late yesterday afternoon the clouds arrived broke and the heavens opened . The April showers had arrived with a vengeance . Good for the potatoes , the carrots, the peas and beans but a river running down the hill meant no sitting out. A wet and damp walk in the morning .

By morning the rain had ceased but everywhere bore the signs of heavy rain. The air felt damp . It was going to be a very different walk today . After a few slurps of the morning tea it was time to set off in search of pastures new. Middle Road today . I was still trying to find the elusive paths through the woods back home. Perhaps today was the day I was going to find them. Before you ask I can tell you the answer . No I did not find them but that did not put a dampner on the walk .

Middle Road is flatter than Top Road . It was a gentle stroll to the top . Not quite knowing where the road would lead me. I could see it in the distance but a turn along the way obscured any long term view. As I walked I noticed the high end houses again . A glassless greenhouse . A wood signed private - a habitat of special interest . I passed Cross Street and imagined it linked Middle and Bottom Roads but that too was marked as private road which finished at a dead end .

The road was less dusty due to the rainfall. The woods had that wet smell. The ferns dripping with water droplets . Everywhere felt fresh and clean . Another week started on lockdown . As I walked as always in between looking our for anything that interested me and the camera I thought Boris is back . Our tussled haired looking like he has been dragged through a hedge backwards Prime Minister will return to Downing Street . No doubt he will fill the lunchtime news and the evening Boris o'clock update will be back on the TV. No doubt he will tell us about his hospital experiences and his thoughts on how the NHS in coping . What he won't tell us is how long we have to suffer this misery of staying home. He won't give us any idea of what his scientific advisers are telling him, He will tell us he is governed by the science . He will be questioned on why the lockdown took so long to implement. He may be asked about the cost of providing field hospitals which are empty . If I were a journalist I would probably ask him about Protective clothing and why Dyson was allowed to waste his own 20 million producing ventilators that the government no longer will buy . Walking on your own makes you ponder these questions .

By the time I had put the world to rights and asked all the right questions I had reached the top of Middle Road . No sign of any path up to the quarry . I did find a path leading into the woods in the opposite direction but the overnight rain had left it too muddy to investigate . The only option retrace my steps back to Birken Lane . I had seen but one runner along my journey so far . The London Marathon had been cancelled and a new challenge put out to runners and walkers . Complete something with 26 in it or 2.6 . 26 times round the village perhaps . 26 times up and down steps . The list could be endless . By the time I reached civilisation and our village the runners were out and the dogwalkers . With cars on the pavements and bins left out for the refuse collectors it became an obstacle course to pay by keeping social distancing.

Bank holiday is just round the corner . That normally means rain . As I finished the walk I was reminded that someone, somewhere had the idea of documenting the changes of Covid 19 on society in order to leave a photographic record for future historians . When the question is raised then the photographs would show empty shelves , supermarket queues , neat and tidy gardens , no traffic on the M1 , The lazy leaving dog poo bags on the pavement rather than dispose of them properly . Blue surgical gloves discarded in the hedgerows . I wonder what other photographs will tell the story of Covid 19.

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