This year, the world changed radically as shops closed, streets emptied and travel stopped

Katherine May Author of Wintering

I always thought I valued my daily walk along the beach at Whitstable, but lockdown has made me feel like it’s an urgent and radically important need that I must assert. I’m feeling keenly the things I’m missing out on this year: the swallows that don’t swoop anywhere near my house; the pink thrift that will now be covering the cliffs of Devon.

But at the same time, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the daily changes in my local environment so intensely. I’ve loved watching the blackthorn produce blossom, and then the hawthorn; the Alexanders and the Jack-by-thehedge spring up on the verges. The beach is now clouded with pink valerian, and the horned poppies are putting up leaves. I’ve got to know my own home turf a little better, and it’s been a pleasure.

Without the option of getting in my car and driving across the county, I’ve had to innovate, and I’ve discovered new delights on my doorstep. Craving bluebells, I followed friends’ directions to a tiny patch of woodland half an hour’s walk