Many shoppers wear masks, even though they are now not required to. (July 2021)

The Distance Project 40
In August this year, 13 months or so after the lockdown restrictions were greatly relaxed, I went Central Milton Keynes to see what shoppers are now doing in the way of Covid precautions.

As you might have noticed on your own shopping trips, some people people still wear a mask; you may still be wearing one when you go out.

The Distance Project 39
Two years ago I visited Home Close, the field that’s the site of the annual Winslow Show. It was the August bank holiday, the day the show should have been on.

Of course it wasn’t held that year or the next, but I took some photos of the empty field, and posted them here on the North Bucks Wanderer.

I went back this year, for the first show since 2019. I duplicated my shots from my 2020 visit, and what a difference! I saw no social distancing going on and very few mask wearers. I took other photos too, and you can see a couple at the end of this post.

The Distance Project 18
Carrying on With the New Normal

(18th Sept 2020) This was taken on the August bank holiday Monday. On any other year the Winslow Show would have just opened and pedestrians would be walking in through this gate. The field, just across the road from Winslow Hall on Sheep Street, Winslow would be filled by the show.
I remember going to this show as a child, when it was called the Winslow Gymkhana.

(2022) At 9:30 am I saw a steady flow of people going through the gate; I‘d overheard a couple of stewards saying that show visitors were coming unusually early this year. The atmosphere was very relaxed.

The Distance Project 38
Now it’s been over a year since the lockdown rules were almost completely relaxed, I’ve been returning to some previous subjects. There’s been a few changes, but some things have stayed the same...

Some of us are still taking precautions. But many are more or less back to normal, in our approach to the world. I think it will be a long while before lockdown, Covid, and the drastic changes to our lives stop affecting us completely.

But some things have changed for the better. In June and July 2020 I had been going to Little Horwood to photograph lockdown life there. Let's take a look.

(2022) Fabric World in Bletchley has kept their perspex screen at the counter, and they use it to display the masks they still sell.

The Distance Project 37

Now it’s been over a year since the lockdown rules were almost completely relaxed, I’ve been returning to some previous subjects. There’s been a few changes...

This is the second post comparing things now and in lockdown; the previous one, How Have Things Changed After Lockdown? was just last week. Dates for older photos refer to the day the original post went live. The first few shots are from social calls in 2020, and the comparison shots from a few weeks ago. The earlier shots have their original captions.

The Rules Are Relaxed
The Distance Project 6 (4th June 2020)

I wrote in 2020:

Some restrictions were relaxed on Monday, so there’s been a few changes in behaviour. The more vulnerable are allowed to venture out, though there are still some curbs on what they can do. Visitors in the garden are now permitted.

(2020) My sister in law has been bringing “the boys”, my nephews, to see me nearly every week since they were babies; they are now 19 and 21. With the lockdown in place, this couldn’t happen. But with the changes to the restrictions, the whole family came to see me on Tuesday.
They brought camping chairs, biscuits and drinks. I sat at my garden table. It was great; nothing beats seeing the people you care about, face to face.

(2022) Two years later we are all sitting at the same garden table. My sister in law couldn’t make it, but here is my brother and the boys. Before, they couldn’t come in my house and we had to socialise in the garden. This time we chose to sit outside because the weather was nice. As soon as it was allowed in July 2021 we had started to socialise at close range again.

The Distance Project 36
It’s been about a year since the Covid regulations were almost completely relaxed, and I’ve been returning to some of my subjects to see what has changed and what hasn’t.

I’m going to show you some of the earlier photos with their original captions, and some of the same subjects (mostly) that I’ve taken in the past weeks. There will also be excerpts from the original posts.

There will be more Distance Project posts this year, most of them showing you old and new shots like this post. Yes, I know the earlier shots are from two years ago, but it all depends on which subjects I can practically return to.

Not Live in Stony, and few folk on the Green
The Distance Project 7 (18th June 2020)

I wrote:

“On Sunday 14th June, another regular event had been planned to take place in the town, on Horsefair Green. It’s called Folk on the Green. In previous years the green is filled with people, there’s a stage half way down one side, and stalls line the edge of the green and the road that goes by it.

“Taking these photos has been a sad experience for me; I look forward to these two events every year, and normally I would have seen a score of bands by the end of the week.

And although this has been a fascinating photographic project for me, I would far rather have been in the pub, tapping my feet and bopping along to the music.

But next year, next year…”

Little did I know…

(2020) At 12:30 on this Sunday afternoon, Horsefair Green was supposed to be full with the annual Folk on the Green event. Instead, cyclists and walkers cut across between opposite corners. The stage is normally halfway along the right hand side, with stalls lined up to its left and right. Most of the grass would be covered by the audience, many on picnic rugs or camping chairs. I took this photo from the usual location of the outside bar.

I saw much social distancing and some masks outside the temple. There are about twenty adult faces visible in this photo, and six of them are wearing masks. You might not be able to see all of them in this relatively small online image.

The Distance Project 35

Two and a half weeks after lockdown pretty much ended, I went to the Hiroshima Day Ceremony at the Buddhist temple. It was the 6th of August.

Around one in five adults still wore facemasks, both inside and out. But those who stayed outdoors were quite well spread out, most still keeping their distance. Indoors, they sat all next to each other, masked or not.

Most of the people who chose to stay outside could have squeezed into the shrine room, but it seems they preferred not to.