Footprints advising where to stand on the escalator

The restrictions will be lifted on the 19th July but we are not coming to the end of the pandemic.  We are entering a new age of living with the virus.  The discussion about mask wearing continues, the sun is shining and society needs to open up.  Is this a good time? Vaccinations are high and therefore the government is confident (if this is the right word) that the restrictions can be lifted.  For my photography journey. I wanted to catch life during the final days of the restrictions.  I was in Solihull to collect my glasses in Touchwood. I was armed only with my iPhone. The following black and white pictures give a brief insight into the mask wearing and restrictions that will soon be a thing of the past.  Let’s just hope so!

Mask wearing in Touchwood
An elderly couple wearing masks in Touchwood
sharing a kiss - no masks
Just outside Touchwood a younger couple share a kiss – no masks
Masks on or off
Masks on or off?
Social distancing
Keep apart but the writing is starting to fade
Touchwood
Segregated corridors in Touchwood
social distancing
Only one urinal in use
Social distancing
When you are buying your cards and gifts
Flower stall
Still selling flowers
Covid19 shop
The most popular shop in town is the Covid one
Solihull and Covid19
Have we done our part, have we done the right thing?

Read more
BBC news about the easing of the Lockdown
My stories about the Lockdown when I visited Solihull Town Centre in January 2021


Having done Digbeth, I felt brave enough to go into Birmingham again and look around both Gas Street Basin and Centenary Square.  My first difficulty was parking as car parks and on street spaces were either shut or there were traffic cones preventing you from parking.  I found a place and wandered down into gas street.  What I noticed was how many runners there were out and about plus cyclists using the tow path.  It is wide enough to do social distancing and it was being patrolled by two police officers as well.  

Some parts are locked up
The basin is still colourful
Many runners around

After Gas Street I went to Centenary Square and I had brought along my lensball as I thought it might give me some different and creative photography.  Sometimes the lensball is frustrating as it just does not add anything more to the picture.  In this situation, the shallow pool of water allowed you to place the crystal at the water’s edge and then lie low to line up a picture.  I was pleased with the result and it was well received on the social media.  I also noticed that whilst Broad Street is undergoing changes for the metro tram, there are social distancing notices all over the pavement.  The virus is still around and although walking around the streets of Birmingham has a normality about it, you do realise that we are sill in a state of crisis.

Work on the tram makes for lockdown pictures of the Library
The lensball likes being reflected
When will the Rep open for performances?
Centenary Square is quiet
Evidence of neglect on Broad Street
Changes and more Changes on Broad Street
It is a difference world
Social distancing on Broad Street

Knowle is opening up and the notices on the shops are changing to ones of positivity.  “We are opening up” is the general message.  Three of the restaurants had resorted to boarding up their windows so it is nice to see them taken down and messages of how they are resuming their services.  Several of the shops look very empty and places such as the opticians and the hairdressers are missing the human interaction.  They will be difficult to manage for social distancing purposes but I know they will find a way around it. I have taken several photographs which provide hope and are looking to the future. Very different from my earlier posts at the start of the lockdown.