I am extremely fortunate to live here on the outskirts of Braishfield, Hampshire. I have lived in or around here for most of my life having moved here in 1966 from central Southampton.

The first weeks of lockdown took me back to my childhood when there was little traffic on the road and life was lived at a slower pace. This is one aspect of these troubling time that I have truly loved.

I have been able to walk from my house and explore the country lanes and footpaths of what seemed at times to be a bygone age.

It has been a long time since I really took notice of our lovely surroundings and the comings and goings of the seasons.

We were truly blessed with great weather during this period of enforced captivity, and I certainly made the most of my daily walks or cycle rides. Seeing the countryside start to wake up from winter was a privilege that I would have missed if we had managed to stay in Spain, as planned.

The bluebells were stunning this year and they seemed to last for ages…..

I have well and truly explored the footpaths in and around Braishfield and Romsey……….

And it’s great to discover new places so close to your front door……..

Its also great to revisit places you haven’t seen for years and years. This is Braishfield church where I was star of the Christmas Nativity as King Herod’s chief fan-waver in the late 60s!

Further beyond Braishfield it’s so very quiet even when there isn’t a lockdown.  I walked for two hours on this day and didn’t meet a soul…..great!

The only noise to be heard was the wheat rustling in the wind!

On the odd occasion, for a change, I cycled in to the centre of  Southampton. It was reassuring to know that there was very little traffic on the roads and that you could safely go about your journey without having to worry about those large lorries coming too close!

But the best of all was to be out in the countryside and to see places like Farley Mount without the usual throng of people……….

Mind you if we see scenes like those at Bournemouth, where thousands of people are flooding the beaches when we haven’t fully come out of lockdown, then the restrictions will be reimposed and we will have to start all over again!

Ten minutes walk from our house are the Harold Hillier gardens and although they were closed we got to see the rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias at their very best from the side of the road!