Councillor Rupert Bevan writes:

It was 30 degrees yesterday in Salisbury. I found myself there at the invitation of a friend to listen to the Gesualdo Six, a group of singers forming a sextet and performing some remarkable music, written over several centuries. I mentioned Salisbury a few weeks back, lamenting the closure of multiple teashops before 4 pm, the time when most of us fill the kettle for a well-earned cuppa. No change there, I can sadly report.

In St Thomas's the chancel arch is ablaze with an impressive 'doom' painting. This is a restored mediaeval depiction of the fate- presumably- of local characters at the Last Judgement. On the left there are innocents rising up from their graves, washing themselves apparently, in preparation for heaven. On the right you see people tumbling downward, to be intercepted and devoured by a huge fish with a cavernous mouth whilst the Devil looks on gleefully.

I couldn't help but be reminded of the calamity that Covid-19 has brought to communities up and down the country, and abroad. We have now been 'let go' to cope with the virus in any way we can. Even Radstock Town Council finds itself in a curious limbo; whilst Covid is in the air they cannot meet physically and cannot take decisions. These have been delegated to a few and only essential items are under scrutiny.

Let us hope things improve enough for us to get back to our old lives – with tea at 4 pm please!