In the first of a new series of features, Paul Haywood offers a rural perspective on how life has altered for those of us living outside the cites and towns

TODAY, as we follow the roadmap for leaving lockdown we have an opportunity to look back over the past year and the challenges that the virus caused in the local villages.

In March 2020 as the country entered the first lockdown, the villages of White Ladies Aston, Broughton Hackett, Spetchley and Churchill had just been collectively awarded the title “Wychavon’s Village of Culture”.

The villages had such plans for their communities in the year ahead but many of the activities involved people meeting together inside.

Social distancing and stay at home instructions put a stop to such plans.

To their rescue came technology in the form of Zoom but while it offered a solution to socially distancing, it also brought its own problems.

Some villagers were naturals: while others needed personal tuition: some locations had good reception, while others had poor or unreliable links: some equipment was a little suspect.

Eventually villagers started to link together for a range f activities, Fun Fridays involving games and quizzes; Wednesday’s Talk and Chat” given by organisations such as Maggs Day Centre, St Paul’s Hostel and Worcester Foodbank; online talks; auctions and craft demonstrations and if an event was missed there was often catchup recordings to listen to.

The phrase “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” was certainly true in the early days.

Individuals lost links and phoned for help during events; the mute button was forgotten at delicate moments and sometimes strange sounds emerged from someone’s system.

Despite all of these setbacks the villagers enjoyed the opportunity to meet and speak to others and one of the best ideas was online wine tasting which avoided the problems of drinking and driving.

So popular has Zoom become that there is a desire to continue its use on at least some occasions, even when the pandemic is over as it offers advantages to the elderly and rural communities.

There’s no need to go out after dark along unlit lanes, reducing the fear of falls: there’s less time wasted travelling to events and when holidays begin again you can still attend events from almost anywhere in the world.

So as we leave lockdown we now ask, “ to Zoom or not to Zoom, that is the question?”