Sunday is traditionally our day for shopping so we accordingly dragged our trolley round to Sainsbury’s in Liverpool Road. We went just after 11am in the hope that it would not yet be very busy.

I did not take any photos, partly for lack of inspiration and partly because it’s my job to drag the trolley which keeps one hand occupied. Tigger took photos, though, and I include some here.

Sainsbury’s has a queueing system
Photo by Tigger

During Lockdown v 1, Sainsbury’s instituted a queueing system. Red barriers beside the building made a narrow corridor leading to the entrance, making it easy for security staff to halt the influx of customers as necessary. Part of the road was likewise separated off with a barrier to provide a pathway for non-shoppers to pass by. The pavement was marked off at intervals to show the distance customers should keep between one another while waiting for the queue to move forward. Although numbers of customers entering are not monitored at present, the barriers remain in place, lending a slightly surreal atmosphere to the proceedings though I am tempted to suggest that these days, “surreal is the new normal”, however paradoxical that might seem.

Just inside the door is a stand with a pump for hand gel though very few shoppers seems to avail themselves of it. One reason might be that the one they supply leaves the hands feeling sticky.

Chapel Market
Photo by Tigger

On the way home we passed through Chapel Market. This, as you may recall, is a street market that takes place on every day but Monday. As all shops except those selling “essential” goods such as food are supposed to be closed during Lockdown v 2, we were interested to see which stalls would be present. In “normal” times (remember those?) Sunday was the main day for the market when the street would be full and many stalls would be present that did not appear on other days.

Looking pretty bare
Photo by Tigger

As you can see, it was looking unusually bare today. You would normally expect to see both sides of the street lined with stalls closely side by side and the lane in the centre full of people.

A few stalls near the top
Photo by Tigger

Further along there were a few more stalls, seemingly huddling together for comfort. They attracted a certain number of potential customers.

No food but “essential”?
Photo by Tigger

Some stalls have food items on sale but some did not. An example is this one which neither sells food nor (in my opinion) anything that can be described as “essential”, with or without quotation marks.

To be honest, I haven’t managed to find out whether market stalls are bound by the same rules as shops but the emptiness of the market suggests that they are and that stalls selling the “wrong sort” of goods are risking a fine. If their margins are slim, though, they may feel that they have no choice.

Florist’s stall, White Conduit Street
Photo by Tigger

In White Conduit Street, a large florist’s stall is often present. It was present again today by whatever justification.

Across White Conduit Street runs a taut cable. One day, someone had the idea of tossing a pair of shoes, joined by their laces, onto the cable. Since then, others have added their own contributions. You can see some of these at the top of the photo.

White Conduit is today but a stub of a street but was once longer, going through to Tolpuddle Street. It was truncated, and buildings demolished, to build what is now Sainsbury’s car park.

The name comes from a water source that once existed in a meadow and supplied water to the local area. All traces of this have disappeared by being built over.

Buy your coffee here
Photo by Tigger

On the corner of White Conduit Street is Mercer & Co, a coffee shop. “Normally”, you can sit in but during lockdown they are allowed to sell takeaway only. We paused here to buy coffee to take home with us.

Hot coffee does not stay hot for very long, especially in cardboard cups carried in the open air on a cold day, so we now hurried home to make the most of it.

Tigger is furloughed once again and will be staying home all week. We therefore decided that the shopping run was enough of an outing for today. We will see what the following days bring us.