A Newcastle street combined sun and social distancing as residents held a street party with a difference.
Neighbours of all ages stepped out of their doors in Dumpling Hall on Sunday to join in the festivities from the safety of their own gardens.
Two weeks into Covid-19 lockdown, weekend entertainment largely involves sitting in front of the television, and a night out seems a distant memory.
But as people start to adjust to the new norm, and try to keep their spirits up away from friends and family, residents on Ottershaw decided to lift their spirits with an isolation street party.
Around 20 households hung up bunting from the lampposts outside their house and socialised from their respective driveways and gardens.
The event was organised by neighbours Bill Warren and Louise Potts in a bid to bring everyone a bit closer together - metaphorically, of course.
Bill, 55, said: “I’ve only lived here six months - I moved from about three streets away but I used to do this sort of thing all the time there.
“Any big celebration we used to put bunting out and things like that.
“Louise has been great since this happened - she’s got us all getting together doing stuff - we all did Clap for Carers and most of the houses have got rainbows up, so we decided it might be nice to do something else.
“We decorated the street this morning and had a little bit of a drink and a chat.
“Someone brought a keg of cider they’d been fermenting for five years.
“It was in a keg on a stool, with hand sanitiser next to it, and plastic cups for people to go and help themselves.
“We had a good old giggle and it was nice to see some of the neighbours we didn’t know that well.”
Bill, who is a key worker working for the NHS as a subcontractor, said: “There’s a lot of people on the street working from home and obviously obviously not happy about being locked down. It’s difficult but hopefully this has helped.
“We’re conscious of the distance we’ve got to keep apart but everyone’s sticking together and if anyone needs anything, we’ll sort it out.”
