“The ability of a group of people to do remarkable things hinges on how well those people can pull together” – Simon Sinek

Brechin is a town and former Royal burgh in Angus in the North East of Scotland with a population of roughly seven and a half thousand. It used to be a bustling town in as they say, them days – a market town with a cathedral and the Brechin castle – the seat of the Maule-Ramsay clan. In years gone by, the town was full of different shops, two breweries, a railway and an airbase not too far from here. But over the years, many have moved away, the breweries shut, many shops shut, the station which was the Brechin and Edzell District Railway now open only as an heritage holiday railway and the airbase, which used to be RAF Edzell during the WWII and later leased to the US Navy from 1960 to 1997, was decommissioned.

Now the town is quieter but the community is grown due to the fact the town sits very strategically half way between the two cities of Dundee and Aberdeen. It is surrounded by this wonderful countryside with woodland and farms. Angus is one of the most scenic counties in Scotland and many of the picturesque Glens and national parks are not too far from here.

With the Covid-19 advancing in every part of the country and severe lockdown imposed by the Government as part of the guidelines to combat and slow down the disease, the small communities like Brechin struggled coping with businesses closing down, isolation and all support services stopping face to face appointments. The good thing that emerged in this small town was that it brought out unbelievable community spirit with volunteers helping those who needed the most support. There were so many people offering to do shopping and helping those who were stuck at home and isolated from everyone. The hospitality and food industry also pitched in with offers of food deliveries… it was amazing to see how everyone pitched in.

Now one year on, after so many ups and downs with death, suffering, isolation and now finally vaccination, there is light at the end of the tunnel…. Just do not know how long the tunnel is. The government has an exit strategy on how and when to open up and relax lockdown, but there are serious flaws and doubts in that plan. With the virus still able to spread and the different variants out there, relaxing the stringent lockdown rules and allowing free movement of people will only increase infection numbers. At least with the vaccination drives all in full gear, it might not be as bad as it was a year ago… but it is still an unknown entity.

Life is lockdown has definitely been an education. It has got us involved more in our own homes, got closer to our families, spoken and chatted with close friends and family more than we did before, learnt more about digital communications, learn more about gardening and DIY, learnt how delicate the life is, how delicate our lives are, how important our health is, how much our dear Earth can recover when man is not around…. lockdown around the world showed amazing scenes of nature recovering and blooming.

Here’s wishing the best to everyone and everything all the very best as we start our lives again, which have been on hold for a year, in a world which has learnt that life is precious and can get destroyed in such a short time. This post is in memory of all those who lost their life in the past year to the dreadful Covid-19 virus.