Photo Diaries of COVID-19: Spring in Neville’s Cross

But the Earth still spun, and it spun our little slice of Durham, Neville’s Cross, into spring as Britain’s natural beauty bloomed around us despite everything. While the city centre emptied out, our neighbourhood came alive with walkers, joggers and aimless wanderers (all 2 m apart, of course). Keen eyes will have seen Terra Mater introduce herself, and I decided to use my daily outdoor exercise to photograph this.

The Alien

Not being native to the UK, I found much of the flora around Neville’s Cross was

The Fauna

Animal life abounded even in the small area around Neville’s Cross. Young calves followed their herd in the pasture by Observatory Hill, bees hid in flowers, and insects left their tracks on fallen trunks. Resident ruffian and college kitty, Vlad, interrupted otherwise peaceful rambles.

By Chelsea Peer The global pandemic shut down our economic and social centres just as spring 2020 was coming on. The pubs lay empty, Mother’s Day merch dangled in darkened shop windows well into June and the libraries were locked up tight. With our cherished routines interrupted, it seemed as though the world had come to a standstill.

alien to me—from ferns slowly snaking up from the ground to spindly flowers; and a creative camera angle can make a strange plant appear even more otherworldly.

The Colours

Yet, beyond the weird, the wonderful exploded in an array of colour and texture. Designs not etched by mortal hands and colours not manufactured in a locked-down factory. Yellows, blues, purples, and pinks sprouted from lush green stems and leaves. Equally, the lack of colour gave its compliments.

The Leaves and the Trees

The bare branches of winter once left Neville’s Cross residents exposed to a gloomy sky above, but with spring came a comforting canopy of green. Leaves may sound like a boring subject for the camera, but their textures, symmetry and the ways they capture and reflect sunlight create stunning images. And

sometimes, a full tree can block prying eyes from a quarantine meeting place.

Artefacts of Hope

In the months since the lockdown began, charming little artefacts have appeared around Neville’s Cross. Paper eggs for Easter, decorated keys and rocks painted with phrases like ‘Keep Dreaming’ and ‘HOPE’ show that while faces may have been hidden from view, the community is never out of sight. Economies, shopping, dining, drinking, parties, our own Durham campuses - all these normal parts of our regular lives have either been reduced to running at a shrivelled crawl or have come to an empty standstill all together. But the seasons still change, and Earth still runs her course. Flowers still bloom, bees toil, and cats still climb through windows. Beauty exists even in a pandemic, and the calm brought on by the beauty of Neville’s Cross has been what has helped me most to carry on.