I was glad to be able to attend the midweek Eucharist with six others at St Catherine's this morning. From there I walked into town and back for the first time in a couple of weeks, to enquire at the Camera Centre about a better telephoto lens for my new Olympus. I've hardly used the one I bought as its range of view is too limited for my purposes. I didn't find anything to buy, but I did learn something new about optical specifications for Micro Four Thirds lenses I didn't know before.
On Castle Street, the larger section of the outdoor restaurant furnishing has recently been removed, the remainder should be taken out shortly. I wonder how successful in supporting local hospitality this initiative has been over the period it has been in place. Discussion still continues about whether or not to keep Castle Street traffic free, or how to reconfigure the road layout to create proper and bike lanes.
Building work on the new bus station continues apace. The lift shaft for the apartment block over the bus stations site now reaches up twenty storeys, dominating the skyline. When the building is complete it's going to block a lot of natural light into Wood Street. Newer taller buildings will funnel east-west winds and make the area far less pleasant to walk in. Such a contrast to the more human scale of the street's long gone Victorian buildings, and those of adjacent St Mary Street. I still take an interest in progress made on construction work in the city centre, raking photos as I have done over the past fourteen years. Amazing to think it's been that long since the Grand Redevelopment Plan for the city was conceived and first acted upon.
I got back in just time for lunch, and didn't go out or do much for the rest of the day. Ir was lovely to have an email from Valdo sharing his photos of Aigle and Sierre. The Parish where he lives in retirement has lost clergy due to retirement and no replacements yet in sight, so he's returned to taking occasional Sunday services. He wrote about living with the pandemic and said that the usually efficient health care system is showing some signs of not working properly.
The Swiss track and trace system seems to be working well, with several different smartphone apps available. Their public health precautions are much the same as ours, with the interesting exception that when small groups of people meet indoors, if they do so for more than fifteen minutes, this becomes a matter of report in addition to date, time, place and names of participants. Useful information if you assume that longer contact time means greater risk. Surprising nobody has thought of this here.
Local authorities in Wales are now to be empowered by the Senedd to prevent people from high infection areas in England from entering Wales, where infection rates are lower, to reduce the risk levels. It seems that twice Mark Drakeford our fine First Minister has asked Boris Johnston to take this measure on the English side and been refused. Fortunately the Senedd has legislative powers of its own to fall back on. He gave a reasoned and lucid account of the reasons for this faced with a BBC news interlocutor who to my mind was faintly hostile in his questioning. A typical London establishment journalist.
After centuries of having its natural wealth leeched from it by central government, Wales will never be in a position to be an independent nation, but the case for increased regional autonomy and having mote power devolved to the Principality gets stronger by the day, when government from Westminster fails to act in the best interests of Welsh citizens.
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