The first vaccine for Covid-19 approved in the UK, made by Pfizer, gained emergency certification in December 2020 and the government programme for mass inoculation, starting with the most vulnerable groups, started just before Christmas. A second vaccine, from AstraZeneca, is expected to receive emergency certification imminently.
Although Christmas Lights were erected in Brewood Village as usual, the normal public festivities around the switching on of these lights had to be cancelled.
The start of December 2020 was cold but, when the sun shone, quite pleasant, as you can see from this drone picture my friend took on the 2nd December.
Brewood Hall: Picture from a quadcopter drone
Then the weather became very wet, causing flooding in many parts of the country. I noted the rise in level of the Brewood Stream, which runs just outside my home, on the opposite side of Sparrows End Line. Brewood Stream discharges into the River Penk just over half a mile away at Stone Bridge.
Brewood Stream at high level
Part of the flow coming down the Brewood Stream finds its way underground into a parallel system of sinks and issues in the field opposite Brewood Hall. In dry weather, this parallel watercourse is largely hidden but after heavy rainfall, a pond appears temporarily.
Temporary Pond viewed from the Holloway
Brewood Stream at high level, passing under Brewood Hall Bridge
There are a few more pictures of Brewood Stream during this period in the album Brewood: Around & About.
Although the ground has been very sodden, I've not heard of serious flooding locally affecting homes. Brewood Hall is situated at the foot of the hill on which the village centre is built so the elevation of the Hall is around 45 feet less than the village centre. During heavy rainfall, the cellars at the Hall become very wet with water finding its way from the hill to a lower level but the traditional building methods incorporating sumps to drain away this water naturally are effective and I've never actually seen the cellars flooded (so far!).
During December, I've usually participated in the operation of 'Santa Special' trains. Operation of preserved railways in the UK has been very difficult in 2020 because of Coronavirus and some railways (like Peak Rail) abandoned their Christmas programme of trains altogether. The Battlefield Line persevered with a modified and reduced service which was fully booked throughout but I wasn't involved this year. There's a post on the effect of Coronavirus on the Battlefield Line prior to the 'Santa Special' operations here.
There were different, complicated rules just applying to Christmas day making small groupings of people from up to three households legal. The Parish Church did have Christmas Services, but not in the normal format because of Social Distancing measures. Whilst some churches decided to issue tickets to the popular services, Brewood Parish Church decided to avoid the need for tickets by holding two 'Midnight Mass' services on Christmas Eve, spaced apart earlier in the evening, plus an 'on-line' version for those unable to attend in person.
Some parts of the UK had snow in time for Christmas Day but not Brewood where it was frosty morning and the local temperature was minus one Celsius. There was a weak sun, so I braved the cold as far as the garden to record the conditions.
Christmas Day at Brewood, 2020
My own Christmas was very low-key but we were able to observe the tradition of a Christmas Meal at Brewood Hall with Ann and Dean.
Ann celebrates Christmas
Dean celebrates Christmas
However, a few days later I awoke to find that it had snowed overnight so I was encouraged to don wellington boots and take a few pictures.
Snow at Brewood Hall, 28th Dec 2020
I then took a short walk up the ancient tree-lined footpath opposite the Hall. This formerly was a more significant thoroughfare which I've always believed was a 'sunken lane' or 'holloway'. There's a Wikipedia article here and an Atlas Obscura article here about holloways. The snow really emphasised the appearance of a holloway. I'm told that, years ago, locals called it 'The Dingle'.
Snow in the Holloway, Brewood (view looking south-east), 28th Dec 2020
Snow in the Holloway (looking north-west), Brewood, 28th Dec 2020
The final picture shows the 'temporary pond' (mentioned above) in the snow.
Snow and temporary pond, Brewood, 28th Dec 2020
