Yesterday the UK lockdown began (for those not already self isolating.) It will last at least three weeks. The new rules are that we can leave the house to shop for basic necessities – infrequently as possible. We can go out to take one form of exercise a day – alone or with members of the household. We can also go to work so long as we don’t need to self-isolate (if our job is on the list of allowed work).

It was a lovely sunny day and very quiet for West St Helen Street. This is the view from our upstairs window on the first morning of the lockdown.

South and Vale District Council wanted this message shared:
If you have been shopping for neighbours or family members who are vulnerable, elderly or self-isolating, please continue to do so. 

The government says you are allowed to leave your home to provide care or to help a vulnerable person. Just be careful to follow the usual guidance about washing your hands and keeping a safe distance from others.

 Where possible, it is sensible to leave the shopping on the doorstep for them rather than handing it to them directly.

Here are three pictures from our ‘exercise’ walk in the Abbey Gardens and Meadow.

Pressure is growing for more social isolation after a sunny weekend and Monday. We cannot change the virus and how quickly it transmits but we can control the amount of contact between people who could possibly pass it between themselves.

Abingdon Library closed soon after my Saturday post. The Abbey House is also closed.

Many information desks can still be contacted by phone or email. Volunteers have started a new website called abingdon.help. They are starting to put together lists of how to contact various services and where help may be found.

There is also an email address to try and get volunteers to help people who are socially isolating in Abingdon.

There will be a big shout for the NHS on Thursday to show appreciation for their efforts. With immediate effect from today (Monday 23 March) the Oxford University Trust will not allow any visitors to their hospitals – with a few exceptions.

More non food shops have now closed in Abingdon town centre.

Other shops have reduced their hours. There was a queue outside Savers who were later opening this morning. They had a stack of toilet rolls visible through the door.

The other large queues I saw in town were at Boots, and Santander (the bank). Those queues had more social distancing than the one outside Savers.

The Market was also in town today and had food and flower stalls. Some prices had gone up.

As the first week of schooling at home starts, a lot of school children will now be doing their school work with only telephone contact from teachers – or however different schools find ways to communicate with pupils. There is an initiative to get school children to put up rainbows or other pictures of hope.

We used to think of 21st March as the first day of spring, but the newspapers had the 20th March as the Spring Equinox. Magnolia are in flower as seen here in Stratton Way. It has been a cool sunny day so far.

R&R has closed, but a lot of the other coffee places are still open, and serving takeaway coffee. People were chatting as they drank coffee, trying to keep some social distance in the open air.

There is now only one charity shop open in Abingdon. The rest have closed. Acacia UK were due to open soon but will delay the opening.

Queues for the Boots pharmacy start before they open and continue throughout the day. The queue sometimes manages to keep a social distance and then people, after a while, can get talking and forget the government advice.

Abingdon Library seems to be the only public building open. Libraries were not one of the services told to close yesterday. Some Counties have closed their libraries, but not Oxfordshire County Council.