As part of the project we recruited and trained a group of Heritage volunteers, equipping them with skills that they needed to collect oral histories of people from a wide range of ages and backgrounds. These oral histories will be catalogued and archived at the Arboretum, helping people to learn about the ways in which different people experienced the outdoors during lockdowns, and enabling us to engage even more people with the Lockdown Landscapes project in the future.
As we collected people’s stories, repeating themes began to emerge. By looking at these stories we can start to see the things that we all have in common, which experiences were shared, and which were unique to each person’s circumstances. Some of those themes and stories are explored here.
For better or worse, change was something that we all experienced during the pandemic. This could mean changes in the people that you saw each day, changes in the places that you visited, or how you experienced those places, changes in the way that you felt, or changes in the way you looked at things.
Naturally, the pandemic brought with it a lot of concerns surrounding our health, or the health of loved ones. Covid-19 led to the loss of loved ones, reduced access to essential healthcare, a national crisis in anxiety and struggles with mental wellbeing – the consequences of fear, loneliness, and feelings of isolation. Essential support groups were prevented from meeting in person, leading to serious consequences for those struggling with issues such as addiction. Young people suffered the mental and emotional effects of separation from their friends.
On the other hand, thanks to the hard work of our NHS and volunteers around the nation, the vaccination programme gave us all hope that lockdowns would soon end. Some of us even felt that the pandemic gave us more time to exercise, with its opportunities to head outdoors, breathe the fresh air and move our bodies
For many people, the pandemic presented new opportunities to develop new skills, start new projects, explore our outdoor heritage, learn, craft, and bake (banana bread, anyone?). Things that we would normally do together turned virtual, and some activities such as team sports couldn’t take place at all.
New reasons to head outside provided people with the chance to see outdoor heritage in new ways, finding new perspectives on places that they had visited before and new experiences in places they had not. Outdoor spaces and places that previously held little or no meaning to us became increasingly important, representing precious moments spent away from the isolation of the indoors.
People took the time to relish in the sensory experiences of the outdoors, noticing the sounds of animals, footsteps on the ground, rushing water and wind in the tress. They also noticed the absence of other sounds, with the noise of aeroplanes and cars often being conspicuously absent.
The pandemic brought with it new ways of working, with those who were able carrying out their duties remotely, online. Some people were furloughed, and others, such as key workers in essential services such as healthcare, shops and food production, had no choice but to continue to work in person.
Businesses felt the strain of what felt like endless lockdowns, with some people facing losses of income that would never be recovered as the nation moved back towards normality.
Young people were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with remote learning having an impact on their education. From primary schools to universities, methods of learning were turned on their head to reduce the spread of the virus.
Whether volunteering to deliver groceries and medication, helping with the roll out the Covid-19 vaccine, or carrying out the work necessary to keep the country running, people all over the Nation went above and beyond to help those in need. Neighbours and local communities came together, offering support to those who needed it most.
The connections that we shared with others in our households took on new importance during the pandemic. Those that were shielding or isolating alone often had to make do with speaking to people virtually, or from the safety of a window, depriving them of the human contact that people sorely need.
We found new ways of connecting with people, through virtual meetings, across fences in our back gardens or metres apart from each other on walks. The outdoors became a lifeline for many people who felt isolated in their own homes. Whether in parks, gardens or out on the streets, outdoor spaces were the first places in which we were able to come together again.
Some people feel as though Covid-19 has changed their outlook on life entirely, carrying some of the habits that they developed during the pandemic into the future with them. Others feel that some effects of the pandemic, such as remote, flexible working practices, have enabled them to lead a better quality of life, spending more time with loved ones.
People whose physical and mental health was most strongly impacted by Covid-19 are still experiencing the effects of the pandemic, with the feelings of uncertainty that many of us have left behind still very much being part of their lives.
The pandemic was a historical moment for all of us, and forever transformed the ways in which we engage with our outdoor spaces and heritage, as well as the ways in which we connect with each other.
