Thursday 31 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Thursday 31 December


Ring out the worst year in memory...


Throughout the world everyone must be glad to see the end of this, the last day of probably the worst year in living memory. A year to forget. It started benignly, full of promise. It is ending more malignant than ever.

In January 2020 no-one could have dreamt it would be such a nightmare. Since then, coronavirus, which came out of the blue, has infected  52 million, killing 1.79 million worldwide.In the UK, of the  2.38 million cases, over 70,000 have died. Horrific.

Even more dispiriting, the second wave of the mutant coronavirus is threatening to overwhelm the hospitals, with higher than ever infection rates. 

To try to limit the unexpectedly dangerous surge many more areas of the UK have been moved into higher tiers. Wales is in another lockdown. 

There is little more to be said of this dying year except to be glad it is at last over, and to welcome the new year tomorrow with the fervent hope that 2021 will see the end of this misery. 

Wednesday 30 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 30 December

Robert and Rosemary (right) with Jim and Betty Wise, Des Moines, 1982

As with my German friends, Werner and Ursula, Jim and  Betty Wise in Des Moines, Iowa, and Doreen Murphy in New London, Connecticut have kept me up to date with their coronavirus experiences.and it’s very much in line with ours.

Forty years ago I was at Cardiff airport to welcome the first Friendship Force group to Wales from Iowa, 200 parents and children, visiting Britain for the first time. President Carter had just founded the charity to encourage international friendship.

I became involved when, as county public relations officer, I was called at one day’s notice to go to Iowa to brief the visitors on Cardiff and Britain.

I spent a week at the at the home of their leader, Jim Wise,  a Des Moines education chief, and his wife Betty, secretary to the finance minister in the state parliament based in the city.

After being officially welcomed at the airport by Cardiff’s lord mayor, the visitors were taken to the city hall to meet their hosts with whom they stayed a week.

The visit was a great success, the highlight, folk dancing on a float in the Lord Mayor’s parade.

Friendship Force is still going today, as is my friendship with Jim and Betty who, in a Christmas letter, tell of their experiences ‘in this challenging and perplexing time’.

In lockdown at their residential care home since March, they said they had been ‘blessed with a wonderful team of caregivers', but had not seen their grandchildren since January.

In Connecticut, former teacher Doreen tells me by email of her experience in very severe restrictions and how she also misses her family.

One of her neighbours was quarantining in a tent in her garage - the only place to ‘hunker down' -  as she has three girls, her husband and mother living in the house. ‘We have a foot of snow, so it is not very comfortable’ for her’ said Doreen.

Like Jim and Betty, Doreen is not despondent. They see hope for  the new year.

Tuesday 29 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 29 December


Hospitals throughout the UK are struggling to cope with a huge influx of patients, more even than in April. The governments have warned that the next two months will be critical.

With more than 21,000 coronavirus patients and serious staff shortages due to sickness, hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed.

Wales is so badly affected that the Cardiff and Vale health board recently called in medical students and other staff to help.

Just before Christmas all its intensive intensive care beds were taken and 10% of the staff were off sick. ‘We were under unprecedented pressure’, they said.

The Welsh NHS Confederation warned that the situation was ‘incredibly serious and worsening’.

In one day this week there were 40,000 new cases and 357 deaths in the UK.

Professor Andrew Hayward told the BBC the new coronavirus created ‘a very dangerous new phase. We are going to need decisive, early national action to prevent a catastrophe in January and February’.

The sombre news is countered by the steady increase in vaccinations - over half a million to date, 70% over eighty years old - and half a million tests were carried out in one day, still significantly short of the target.

Monday 28 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 27 December (posted 28 December)

Christmas is over and the fervent hope is that next year will be totally different. While I expect to have my vaccination very soon the national programme will stretch over months, but surely not as far as Christmas 2021.

We just have to remember this little Christmas with relief and be patient in the months ahead. 

At least we had something to celebrate, the last minute Brexit deal. If we had completely cast aside our close links with Europe we would have faced  some difficult years with almost certain shortages and inflation.

I remember well January 1973 when the UK joined the European Communities, the same day as Denmark and Ireland. There were celebrations throughout the country.

In Cardiff I helped to organise the Fanfare for Europe concert at the old Capitol cinema in Cardiff when we had an international singers and performers

But the strong ties between the city and the continent were already well established. For many years from 1961 I was involved in the twinning between South Wales and Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart in southern Germany and I still have close friends in Germany.They have undergone the same experience of coronavirus and have been dismayed at the prospect of a no deal Brexit. They too are much happier today.

I doubt if there will be celebrations this time over the deal although I am relieved and happy that the link has not been broken completely. 

Coronavirus diary, Monday 28 December

I wrote yesterday how my ties with Europe are still strong after 60 years. In 1961 I reported the start of the town twinning between Caerphilly and Ludwigsburg. A year later, as Caerphilly council’s public relations officer, I became the twinning organiser. It was the start of the happiest of my roles, with friendships formed then that I cherish today.

The first visit in the partnership was by the Ludwigsburg choir with young Ursula Bergdolt, a former au pair in England, as interpreter.

Ursula - Uschi - became a good friend of Rosemary and me over the years, visiting each other regularly.

Bob and son Robert with Werner, Sabine and grandson Lino, December 2019

Another of our long lasting friendships began when Werner Bleyhl, a young Tubingen University graduate, was seconded to teach at Pengam grammar school. We invited him to our home and have since made family visits to his Esslingen home in lovely Esslingen, a vineyard at the end of his garden. Werner, distinguished Professor Doctor, retired three years ago. 

Today we are in touch regularly by email.

I found Germany’s local government for more efficient than ours. One reason is the system of elected mayors - oberburgermeisters in the cities and burgermeisters in smaller towns and villages.

They ran their councils whatever the political set up. And with eight years the normal term, they have time to shape their council’s future.

Stuttgart’s first oberburgermeister after the war, Dr Klett, was so successful and popular that he ruled for almost 30 years. 

On my last visit, accompanying  Cardiff’s Lord Mayor and chief executive, he gave us a lavish civic dinner. Britain has finally followed the elected mayor system.

Over recent weeks the emails between Ursula, Werner and me have concentrated on the feverish last minutes attempt to avoid a no deal Brexit. They are relieved that Britain, although out of the EU, is still in many ways a partner.

Saturday 26 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Boxing Day 2020

The most insidious result of the coronavirus pandemic is the drastic, unprecedented loss of our independence, our ability to control our lives. Just twelve months ago no-one would have dreamt that on Christmas Day 2020 we would be imprisoned in our own homes unable to see our elderly parents let alone give them a hug. And what about party goers being fined £10,000 for having a fun evening? Impossible, we would have thought in this normal, free and easy Britain. 

This nightmare, this clampdown on individual thought and action, we have always assumed, was the style of totalitarian countries with their all powerful dictators but here we are having almost daily examples of our own leaders issuing instant orders, not even passed by our elected parliament. 

Over all these depressing, dangerous months we have complied, sensing that we were saving lives.The danger is that this move away from a free state may become acceptable, tolerable, an excuse for future leaders to accept it as a pattern for our government. It is unlikely but we need to beware, to make sure that we regain and retain our ability to do what we like when we like, subject to democratically passed laws. 

During two world wars British people accepted the hardship created by restrictions on their daily lives as unavoidable and trusted the leaders. When the fighting stopped we celebrated victory and freedom regained. That is what we must do when we have forgotten this ghastly Christmas, just months away, we hope. 

Friday 25 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Christmas Day 2020



Christmas Day. A day so different this year from any other. A strange day, with most of us missing the usual family gathering, and millions with no family, unable even to give their elderly parents a hug. A day to remember, and to forget..

A day to look look forward to - 25 December 2021 when the world may have calmed down and sanity returned.

Bob on the Christmas Zoom call


I am enjoying my second Christmas at Sunrise. My day started with Christmas greetings by Zoom  from Robert, Karen and Rufus, all three resplendent in Christmas jumpers, Owen’s a spectacular Welsh one. Nadolig Llawen!

I was sporting my first ever Christmas bow tie. After trying to tie it for nearly an hour last night one of the carers managed it in a minute this morning. 

Then it was downstairs for the get together and to receive our gifts from Sunrise.

I was patient, opening my presents under my Christmas tree mid morning. 

One was a magnificent photobook album from Robert, Karen and Owen, The Penarth Years, bringing back so many happy memories.

Highlight of the day was the Christmas lunch. More subdued than last year, with the table arrangements spoiled by spacing, with most of us on single tables.

The festively dressed carers and Sunrise team were as cheerful as ever, making it another happy day although I would love to see those masks and visors removed. 

But, thank you, everyone, you made it a special day day, again.

Thursday 24 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Christmas Eve, 24 December




So prime minister Boris Johnson has got his Christmas present. A day early. He had the caviar and champagne all ready for him but Santa could not make it. He was self isolating in Lapland. Instead, he sent angel Ursula and she delivered it the night before Christmas.

Boris could not wait to open it. After all, he had been looking forward to it for so long and even thought Santa might make a mistake. When he excitedly opened the box he realised how complicated it was. Like a thousand piece Lego set. It would take him ages to put it all together. But, he consoled himself, he should make it in four years.

He was so relieved and excited that he went out into Downing Street to tell everybody. 

He thought he might send a note to David and Theresa but, perhaps not. They might think he was boasting and he never did that.

No, he would go back into number ten to Carrie and baby Wilfred Laurie Nicholas and have that caviar and champagne. 

It was a merry little a Christmas after all.

Wednesday 23 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 23 December


Centre stage: England's CMO, Chris Whitty

They are, without doubt, brilliant men and women, dedicated to their profession - the scientists and modellers, the academics, but when the pandemic is over I shall be happy not to hear from them for a long time.

For almost a year they have been centre stage in the coronavirus drama. Not a day has passed without their advice, forecasts and dictums.

They have been daily on television and radio and have stood behind lecterns with their graphs beside Boris Johnson and ministers at hundreds of briefings

They have not always been reassuring, especially when, inevitably, presenting ‘worst case scenarios', and forecasting horrific death tolls.

Most have never encountered such a situation before but they ooze knowledge and confidence, enough to convince and frequently frighten us.

Yes, they have been useful and sometimes comforting  and we will never forget the heroics that produced the vaccines but I shall be happy to see them return to their day jobs, to their laboratories and offices, to calm academia. 

Tuesday 22 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 22 December


Crises are coming thick and fast for battered Britain.

One: the ‘new’ variant virus, said to be 70 percent more infectious than the original, is sweeping the country, filling the hospitals, creating more and more lockdowns.

Two: more than 40 countries have locked out Britain. France, with a brutal, instant decision, stopped cross channel trade, affecting thousands of lorries and causing a miles-long traffic jam on the approach to Dover harbour.

Three: Brexit. The talks deadline already past, whatever the outcome, evidence is mounting of the huge costs and disruption Britain will face, probably for years.

It is reminiscent of 1940, post Dunkirk, when we stood alone, driven out of Europe, our future bleak. Over 70 years later, what do our leaders have to tell us?

Captain Calamity

No consolation, no encouragement, no fighting spirit. All the harassed and palpably out of his depth health secretary for England can muster is that ‘it is out of control’, adding weakly, ‘we must control it'. Not we WILL. Not fighting words.



Can we imagine Winston Churchill telling us ‘it is hopeless? No, he set our pulses racing with his historic call to action, ‘We will fight them on the beaches...'

If the pandemic is a war we need warrior leaders, not a general who hopes for the best and delays and dithers, led by a team of rookies.

Britain deserves better.

Monday 21 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Monday 21 December


Today is the shortest day of the year, the darkest of the winter. December 21, 1942 was one of the darkest, saddest days of my life.

It was wartime and we were facing a stark Christmas. The war news was grim, there was rationing and shortages. 

It was the day my father, Frank died.

Bob with his father Frank, Margate, around 1938


At sixteen I had just started work as the Penarth Times reporter and was in Penarth police court when called home. My father was seriously ill. I knew before I got there that he had died. It was from a heart attack. He was 52.

Like this year, it was an unusual Christmas with families separated, celebrations muted. I remember very little of those few days, and have no recollection of Dad’s funeral. 

I did go out one evening, to join our church’s young people’s group carol singing. Mum thought it would do me good to get out of the house for an hour.

Looking back, the saddest part was that I had so little time to get to know Dad. 


Bob with his father, mother and older brother, August 1939

Two days before war was declared our family separated, never to be all together again. I went to Cardiff to live with an aunt, Dorothy moved with her school out of London and Bert left for the RAF.

I have too few memories of Dad. He was away from home long hours, working as a crane driver at a Thames side wharf in Wandsworth - a dangerous place - not arriving home until the evening.

One of my happiest memories is of sitting on his lap for a cuddle, and saying ‘Don’t whisker me, Dad!’ when he gave me a kiss. 

The signed bat

He was a quiet, gentle man. We never heard him shout. And he found time to be interested in me, watching me play football and cricket - he bought me a bat autographed by the England and New Zealand test teams in 1937 or 1938, seen above.

Frank in the Great War


He served in the first world war in the Dardanelles, but never mentioned it. His death changed our family life. Mum became seriously ill and Dorothy gave up her first job to look after her, later with her husband George, for over fifty years.

So I feel sad today, but proud of Dad.

I remember him every morning as I brush what little hair I have with his one hundred year old hairbrush with the F monogram.

Sunday 20 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 20 December


Christmas is cancelled, for Wales and much of England. No surprise, except  the decision should have been taken weeks ago, but typically in England, Boris Johnson put off making it. Once again his judgement has been proved disastrous, creating huge disappointment for millions of people.

The prime minister has been panicked into action by his ever doom ridden advisers who always present the worst case scenario, this time citing the new danger of a different strain of coronavirus.

Mr Drakeford, Wales’ first minister, probably felt he had no alternative, with the number of cases soaring and the failure of his latest lockdown. Scotland and Northern Ireland have also clamped down on the promised Christmas break. 

I was looking forward to seeing my family again, a long awaited meeting already once postponed. I will have to wait until the new year.

The folly of  England's sweeping four tier policy is highlighted by the disparity in the number of cases in different parts of the country. Chalfont St Giles, my son’s village, has had only a handful of cases yet Buckinghamshire has been moved into the category.

By now everyone must be used to such setbacks. Just as well as there is nothing we can do about it.

As I wrote yesterday, I consider myself lucky to be able to look forward to my Christmas in Sunrise. It’s a a calm sea, not the raging ocean of the world outside.

It is not just the UK that is being affected by the frightening surge in infection resulting in drastically scaled down Christmas.

Restrictions in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands are just as stringent while In France an 8pm to 6pm curfew will come in after Christmas Eve, lasting until mid January.

Even Sweden, which has not imposed any lockdown, is imposing new restrictions following public criticism of its go easy approach that has not prevented a substantial increase in the infection rate.

The general feeling .must be relief that this blackest of years is at last coming to an end and that next week will see the start of a recovery.

Saturday 19 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 19 December


The Ventura. Photo: P&O

Six years ago my wife Rosemary and I had our only ever Christmas without our family, a Caribbean cruise. Sunshine and calypsos.

A lovely experience, made even better by an email telling us of the birth of our first great-grand daughter Rosa.

No cruise, no family this year but I have the consolation of enjoying Christmas at Sunrise.

And, thinking about it, I realise that living here is something like enjoying an extensive cruise. 

The passengers are different, of course, generally older than the cruisers but more of a family. 

My ‘cabin’ is bigger, and more comfortable than on our Christmas cruise liner, Ventura: no balcony but bay windows looking out into the world, my Christmas tree lights twinkling.

Service? Even better and more personal with carers looking after us 24 hours a day. 

Meals? Excellent, three a day, served in a spacious dining room with wine or beer on the menu.

No swimming pool but a spa bath on order. 

Definitely no dancing. Too many wheelchairs and sticks and no lavish west end style shows, but plenty of ‘on board’ entertainment, quizzes, art and flower arrangement classes and bingo, visiting entertainers. 

No shore excursions but made up for by our coach trips to the seaside, country and castles.  We don’t miss the health and beauty salons as we have our salon and visiting hairdresser, nail artist and pedicurist.

Above all, cruising aboard the Sunrise is made so much more enjoyable and rewarding by the warmth and  kindliness of everyone on board, from Sara,  the captain-general-manager, first officer Virgil and all the team.

Above all, on the Ventura, no one popped their head into your cabin door to say, ‘Goodnight, Bob’.

Christmas  cruising may be exciting and interesting, but I am happy to be on the good ship, Sunrise and am looking forward to next week.

Friday 18 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Friday 18 December


After a cheerless Christmas break, Britain is facing a bleak midwinter. On December 28, millions of people throughout the nation will return to some form of lockdown. It is all four governments’ panic tainted response to a vast increase in cases, the highest for months.

The recent patchwork of restrictions has not worked and despite the successful launch of the vaccination programme there seems no alternative.

Apart from the Christmas shopping normal life has been stopped in its tracks, 

Matt Hancock has added more areas of England to the highest risk level, despite protests from areas where the infection rate has fallen. Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall, the Scilly Isles and Herefordshire are in the lowest tier.

My hopes of a visit from Robert this weekend were dashed when Buckinghamshire was added to tier three.  He has already booked to come on December 27, delighted to hear that Sunrise has completed the work on a new screened visiting room and revised its rules, allowing children to visit for the first time.

It is an exciting prospect, to see my grandson and my great grandchildren but I would not bank on it happening as cross border travel might yet be stopped.

I am joining the many sceptics, including most of the health experts and advisers, who think Christmas should have been called off, or deferred, perhaps until Easter - others faiths have forgone their festivals.

Discussions this week between the government leaders on a united approach again got nowhere and the prime minister has insisted on the Christmas break while advising everyone not to travel and to have even smaller family gatherings despite his own rules.

Another recipe for muddle.

It is cruel to have raised expectations of a happy Christmas only to dash people’s hopes.

Now we face a few days respite which will almost certainly cost lives.

Thursday 17 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Thursday 17 December


Another interesting day in Sunrise. A team arrived in the morning to produce a film on life here. 

The film crew from London set up a studio in the recently refurbished ground floor suite with lights and microphone, all very professional.

They interviewed a member of the staff, a carer and a resident, me. I had been asked to take part the day before.

We were given a list of question, mine quite lengthy, ranging from my life before I came to Sunrise, why I came and what life was like here. 

I was happier this time as, unlike my other interviews (for ITV’s Good Morning Britain), it was face to face, a relief as I have difficulty hearing the questions in remote, 'down the line' interviews.

It was an interesting morning, and I hope I covered all the points. The interviewer was excellent, clearly asking the questions and giving me time to answer.

The result was obviously too long and I am looking forward to see how it was edited.

After the interview there was a still photos session in the lounge when Virgil, Sunrise deputy general manager, two women residents and I were photographed dozens of times.

I am looking forward to seeing the result of a very enjoyable morning.

It made this blog today, the 293rd since I started in March. 

I had no idea then that it would last this long but there have been and still are so many twists and turns every week and the the end is not in sight. 

I am carrying on until March to complete a whole year when we all hope there will be a happy ending.

Robert and I have started editing to produce a book which we hope will be of interest and present a picture of this historic time, especially to young people like my great grand daughters, Rosa and Claudia, to whom it will be dedicated.

We have no title so far - one possibility is Corona the Nightmare Year.... A Care Home Diary - but are open to suggestions.




Wednesday 16 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 16 December


For months the government has been criticised for wasting millions of pounds on faulty PPE equipment and the way they handed out contracts to some companies with no experience. Now they are facing a legal challenge over one contract.

A not for profit organisation, Good Law Project, together with three MPs, is taking them on over a £120 million order for 10.2 million gowns, granted to a USA jewellery company with no experience of supplying PPE or ever having had dealings with a government department. The cost was said to be £7.50 per gown when the average price was £4.60. A middleman consultant was paid £40 million, it is claimed.

The government is accused by the director of the project, Jolyon Maugham QC, of failing to disclose details of the deal and of persistent and unlawful failure to disclose details of huge sums of money spent on PPE contracts. Staggering sums were flowing from public coffers to private pockets, he added.

The government had earlier been criticised for granting huge contracts to companies with no experience and millions of pounds to consultants and middleman. Most of the products came from China.

Yesterday the cabinet office said it was overhauling the procurement system. This follows information that £123,500 was paid to a company owned by a political activist involved in Boris Johnson’s election win, ‘for research into government communication for COVID-19 updates’.

Details were also given of a former  Conservative director of information, Paul Stephenson, said to have been paid £819,000 this year for focus groups and polling.

The cabinet office said there would be consultation about how contracts should be done faster in future. More details needed to be published about any links between MPs, senior officials and contract winners to avoid allegations of corruption. 

The scale of the operation to obtain PPE and cost has been enormous.

The National Audit Office last month reported that the government had spent £12.5 billion, including hundreds of millions on unsuitable items that could not be used.


Hundreds of containers, it is claimed, were left clogging the Port of Felixstowe where the government stores equipment for distribution and where 40,000 are left. 

In June they announced the ‘milestone’ of the delivery of two billion PPE items.

Big business indeed.

Tuesday 15 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 15 December


The no singing, no dancing Christmas may be even more subdued with a new strain of coronavirus sweeping Britain.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary for England, announced the virus news after more areas of England were moved to tier three, the highest risk category. 

He said the new strain that was causing an upsurge in many areas was no more dangerous than the original one. 

If the number of cases keeps rising, the Christmas break may be more Spartan, with a risk even of cancellation, although the government says it will not review its plan. In any case, it will be followed by more lockdown.

The hospitality business will lose their most lucrative pre Christmas weeks, entertainment will be hard hit including the the West End, which was coming alive again with shows and lavish pantomimes..

The Society of London Theatre said it was devastating news that would cause catastrophic financial difficulties for venues, producers and thousands of workers. After tonight the theatre scene in London will end for who knows how long.

There is similar anxiety in Wales, where the infection rate is now the highest of the UK nations.

Monday 14 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Monday 14 December

As two Welsh health trusts struggle to cope with the latest influx of coronavirus patients, Mark Drakeford, the first minister, said the NHS in Wales was becoming the National Covid  service, crowding out other patients.

Health minister Vaughan Gething describes the situation as “incredibly serious’.

The Aneurin Bevan health board reports that their hospital is ‘struggling to cope, stuffed full with coronavirus patients”, resulting in all outpatients and most other services being halted. Ambulances were queuing outside.

The scene in Wales is repeated, on a much larger scale in England.

The NHS says that even last year there were 4.6 million waiting to start treatment for other illnesses.

The Royal College Of Surgeons reports that in the NHS more than 36,000 are waiting longer than six months, 30 percent up on last year.

There was a brief improvement in reducing hospital backlogs this summer but the second wave slowed down the progress.

Cancer Research UK reports  that between two and four million are waiting for scanning or treatment

This confirms the fear that, in addition to over 64,000 deaths in the UK so far, the pandemic has cost the lives of many thousands who could not have treatment or operations.

Sunday 13 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 13 December

It's crisis weekend for Britain with a worsening coronavirus situation and the seemingly imminent announcement of a no deal Brexit. A war on two fronts with the prime minister said to be taking over as supremo of post Brexit planning and operations in the Brexit aftermath planning from Michael Gove. 

Considering the difficulty he has had in coping with the pandemic, is General Johnson up to the task? Many doubt it. 

New problems are cropping up already. Fears over Brexit have led to a bottleneck in imports of food and goods for Christmas, leading to miles-long lorry queues on both sides of the Channel and stockpiling of food in a new round of panic buying. It seems as if the government have already decided it is war with Europe: they aim to pass a new law to allow Navy gunboats to board and arrest foreign fishing boats invading our territorial waters 

The most belligerent tabloid papers have today singled out Angela Merkel and Germany as the enemy who scuttled our Brexit plan. 

The prospect of a happy Christmas is in doubt with warnings from health chiefs that it is a mistake which we will pay for with more deaths. The PM's decision to pave the way in England for the five-day break by moving many of the three tier areas to to two tier to give more freedom has been attacked as dangerous, leading to an immediate post holiday lockdown. He is being accused of ignoring the strong advice of his health advisers. 

The prospect of a relief from the pandemic is being dimmed by the new, unknown restrictions likely in Britain's go-it-alone future. inevitably, the PM, who persuaded Britain that he would 'get Brexit done' so we could be free again is telling us not to worry, that all will be well. Better than that, 'It will be wonderful, wonderful', he enthused - after returning unabashed from his make or break dinner with Mrs von der Leyen, the EU Commission chief.

Saturday 12 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 12 December


Despite the recent lightening of the mood with the start of vaccinations and the welcome Christmas break, there is not much to be cheerful about at present, almost the whole country struggling with a worsening situation. 

Having, unusually, come together it agree the break, all four leaders must now be worried as to whether it was a wise move.

There are warnings that we may have to pay for our Christmas pleasure with severe restrictions early in the new year.

Mark Drakeford

Mark Drakeford, Wales' first minister, puts it bluntly; the situation was very serious, he warned, despite the recently ended 17 day firebreak lockdown and after Christmas, Wales could go into another lockdown if the infection rate, now fast rising, did not fall. It is a similar picture in the other countries.

Meanwhile, the Christmas rush is on with people determined to make the best of the brief interlude. November was a better month for trade, good news for shops, desperate to make up for lost time and earnings. 

The prospect of a no-deal Brexit with shortages and price rises has cast another shadow over the economy, making the Christmas break a rare chance for enjoyment and indulgence. A time to forget the continuing problems and to find the determination to carry on to carry on until the promised. transformation some time next year.

Friday 11 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Friday 11 December


After almost. a year of turmoil, the world is welcoming with relief the arrival of life saving, coronavirus-defeating vaccines. And it is the UK that is celebrating being the first nation in the world to start mass vaccination.

The first 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine was delivered from Belgium early this week and within days the NHS is already well into the first stage of  its nationwide vaccination programme, the largest ever.

There was no queuing; top priority groups including health workers were called to hospitals and centres to receive their first jabs, with booster injections after three weeks. Eight hundred thousand doses in the first batch with another million more being rushed from Belgium next week. Rushed, literally, as the vaccine needs to be kept at -70C until the last stage. 

Wales’ chief medical officer said that developing the vaccine had been a fantastic achievement.

With the imminent approval of other newly developed vaccines, including that of Oxford University, the trickle of supplies will become a massive flood.

Hundreds of millions of doses around the world, signalling the long hoped for defeat of coronavirus being achieved in a miraculously short time. 

The UK’s achievement in being the front runner is a rare triumph for the government and for our NHS.

Thursday 10 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Thursday 10 December



It is not going to be an eleventh hour drama, more like a last minute scramble, if the agonisingly long drawn out Brexit negotiations are to end in a deal. 

After a dramatic dash to Brussels and a tete a tete a tete, far from romantic dinner, with the EU chief, Ursula von der Leyen our prime minister Johnson had nothing to say.

But Mrs von der Leyen did: ‘very large gaps remain’.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s verdict: ‘we are still very far apart’, adding that it was very unlikely that the negotiations would go beyond Sunday’.

After years of wrangling, the prospect of a deal seems to be dangling by a thread.

A walkaway, with each side blaming the other, is more than ever likely, leaving Britain to face the still dangerous pandemic and an even worse economic plight.

How did it come to this?  Both sides have known from the outset what the main issues were - the EU’s determination not to allow the loss of one member to weaken the while structure and Britain to pursue its dream of being independent, “Great’,again.

Two of the essential areas to resolve were free movement of trade and, what might be called the red herring, fishing rights. And they are still unresolved.

So, with days to go before a probable final break, Boris Johnson may find another of his promises, an “oven ready deal", burnt to a cinder.

He will, of course, blame those impossible Europeans he used to write so scathingly, and deliberately falsely, about when he was a newspaper man. He was sacked from that job. 

So, will Britain have to find the path to ‘Greatness’ again or will our hapless prime minister produce a Houdini like last minute miracle?

Wednesday 9 December 2020

Coronavirdiary, Wednesday 9 December

Christmas is coming and at last there is reason for good cheer.

Last Christmas we never imagined how our lives, and the whole world, would be turned upside down, and that we would have to cope with uncertainty, fear, even death from a mysterious new disease.

Now, thanks to the miracle of a vaccine developed at break neck speed we can look forward to a few days at least to be cheerful and grateful.

I am so glad to be back in Sunrise for my second Christmas.
They certainly know how to make it merry and bright for the whole family here.



It started today with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in the foyer, with mulled wine and minced pies, followed by a concert.

There will be a Christmas Eve party and on THE DAY a get-together with music, a Christmas puzzle and to receive our Sunrise gift. 

Over 10 days we will enjoy a programme of entertainment and special events, ending with our New Year's Eve party.

The most welcome event for some of us, we hope, will be to see our families, perhaps even in our own rooms, the first time for nine months. 

Who knows, if we are lucky enough to have our vaccinations early, our marvellous carers may even be unmasked. If not then that is another reason to welcome the New Year. I can't wait.

Tuesday 8 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 8 December



Swansea: alarm bells

Alarm bells are ringing in Wales with the coronavirus cases rising, unlike the falling numbers recorded in the other UK nations.

Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gethin said the situation was very serious with the NHS under ‘considerable and unsustainable pressure’.

In the past week the infection rate in Wales almost doubled that of England and the number of areas with the highest rate also doubled.

Swansea is one of the worst hit areas where the situation could soon reach catastrophic levels unless people followed social distancing, according to the Swansea Bay health board director, Dr Keith Ford.

The local health system could be overwhelmed if cases continued to rise as they were doing. Seven hundred  hospital staff were off sick while there were 800 new cases last week. 

Dr Ford said a perfect storm was being driven by people illegally mixing.

With Wales now the only part of the UK without falling rates, Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford may have to order a further clamp down before the announced Christmas break which, in response to the latest grim news, he says he has not ruled out.

Last week he introduced a ban on alcohol with all pubs, restaurants and cafes having go close  at 6pm.

Monday 7 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Monday 7 December


The good news on the coronavirus vaccine - the first supplies were delivered to hospitals in Britain today - has been overshadowed by a new crisis over Brexit.

Four years of debate and negotiations could end in failure. Only days are left for the 27 EU nations and Britain to reach agreement. 

‘Bullish Boris ready to walk away,’ says one headline. Intense discussions over the weekend in London are being continued in Brussels with Michael Gove joining the team. The PM is speaking today with the EU Commission president.

The main sticking points are trade and fishing rights with neither side wanting to give way, but with the politicians' habit of brinkmanship there could be a last minute settlement.

If not, Britain’s economy faces an even more difficult time. 

Johnson is like a battered boxer, staggering to his corner where his chancellor Rishi Sunak will try to patch him up and send him back in the ring to carry on fighting. 

Meanwhile, the second wave of coronavirus has taken a firmer grip on many countries, waiting anxiously for a vaccine.

The USA is one of the hardest hit with president elect Biden facing his first challenge. Many states are reporting a big rise in cases and deaths with California declaring a state of emergency. 

My friends in Des Moines, Iowa, gave Thanksgiving a miss for the first time and in Massachusetts and also in Germany they tell of a return to stricter conditions and isolation from their families.

All so disappointing after the expectations of relief with the new vaccines but it could all change as with Brexit.

All disappointing, causing doubt over their Christmas.

Sunday 6 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 6 December


Care home residents have been tragic victims of coronavirus, scarcely ever out of the news, the carers and staff bravely trying to keep us safe.

But the scene and the mood in the homes is changing. With visiting resumed, we are at last welcoming family and friends, if only briefly. 

I experienced this yesterday when my son drove to Cardiff days after the lockdown in England ended.

Waiting impatiently for a precious hour-long chat, I was worried when  Robert, always meticulous on timing, did not join me in the meeting room, the library.

I did not realise that Sunrise had started fast testing for visitors and he was waiting for the all clear.

He came in smiling, in full PPE gear. It was over three months since he was last here, at the end of his family holiday in West Wales, which itself came 6 weeks after our first pandemic meeting was broadcast on television.

That was a false start. After months of keeping a clean sheet Sunrise, following  other care homes throughout  Britain, was struck by coronavirus. Two of our oldest residents died and eight were tested positive, including me. I was called out of our art class to hear the news. 

I recovered after three weeks in hospital, returning to Sunrise where I am improving steadily.

Robert’s visit was a marvellous fillip and it might be even better soon with care homes first in line in the massive vaccination programme.  If so, and with the fast testing, by Christmas care home residents may be welcoming family and friends in our rooms and, maybe, having a hug, the first for almost nine months.



That really is something to look forward to. I have bought a Christmas tree and from my window its twinkling lights are sending out the message of Christmas. 

It is difficult not to be excited with the prospect of good tidings for the new year and a return to normal life and the every day pleasures that we had taken for granted. 

I can’t wait to get on my scooter and drive out into the real world.

Saturday 5 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 5 December


Britain’s biggest ever vaccination programme starts next week. The first batch of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been delivered with the bulk of the 400 million ordered due over the following weeks.

The government has provided £60 million towards the development of the Oxford University vaccine and has ordered 100 million doses. They have also ordered 160 million doses of other vaccines being developed.

Perhaps the government will, at last, get some welcome credit for being well prepared. 

Care homes staff and residents are first in line in the vaccination programme being organised by the NHS followed by front line nursing staff, the elderly and seriously ill.

Lower down the list, less at risk children who will have to wait in a programme that will continue well into next year.

St John Ambulance are recruiting thousands of volunteers to  help in the programme and GPs will also take part. 

Vaccination is not compulsory which presents a problem as a high level of coverage is essential. 

A recent poll showed that one in five would not take the vaccine. Also worrying is the anti campaign pouring out via social media.

To counter this the government is launching a campaign including television advertising with famous  personalities.

It is possible they might include the prime minister and Matt Hancock, the health secretary for England.

The arrival of the first vaccine with others due soon has changed the mood in the country but the government and health chiefs have warned that the danger is not over. 

Restrictions must be be observed over the winter if we are to get our normal lives back by the summer.


Friday 4 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Friday 4 December


Just days before the make or break Brexit deadline, Britain has managed to offend Europe and other countries around the world.

Health Secretary for England Matt Hancock said Britain had become the first country in the world to approve and start vaccinations because of Brexit. 

It had been been able do so because the UK regulators did not have to go at the 'bit slower speed of the Europeans'.

The prime minister also hailed the achievement and said the scientists had used 'biological ju-jitsu' to defeat the virus.

The Brexit claim was refuted by Europe's regulators who said Britain was still subject to EU laws.

USA health chiefs also criticised Britain stressing that the development of a vaccine was not a race but an international effort - the Pfizer vaccine was the work of a German and a US company.

Announcing that vaccinations would begin next week, the prime minister said the nation was no longer resting on the mere hope  of a return to normal life next spring  but had certain knowledge'.

Thursday 3 December 2020

Coronadiary, Thursday 3 December


At last, a government press briefing with good news. The cavalry has arrived. We are moving out of the tunnel.

That was the theme of the message from a relieved prime minister hailing Britain being the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine. 

It was an historic scientific achievement, 10 years work reduced to 10 months - like  conjuror producing a rabbit from his hat. 

In the Commons an unusually elegantly speaking Matt Hancock described it as a triumph of science, ingenuity and humanity.

But the historic news was not met with national celebrations. No church bells ringing. That was stifled by warnings of the dangers ahead.

'We must not get carried away', said Boris Johnson. 'We must stay with our winter plan'.

There were more cautionary words from Professor Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, with a whole string of  ifs and buts about the vaccine and vaccination programme. 'We are not back to normal', he said.

It it is still far from normal, with people confused by the varying programmes of the four countries and upheaval in parliament over the prime minister's three tier winter plan for England. 

It was approved but only with Labour abstaining, and a mass of  Conservatives opposing it.

There are other less weighty distractions arising from the news; the collapse of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia retail empire and then Debenhams led to a stampede for sell off bargains at Debenhams while the rule that English pubs have to provide 'main meals' has sparked a debate on whether scotch eggs qualify.

Michael Gove came a cropper over that, first announcing they did not and then backtracking - with egg on his face.

Thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.

The coronavirus story continue as uncertain and bewildering as ever, but  thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.

They surely deserve a clapping day.

Wednesday 2 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 2 December


The plight of care home residents since the start of the pandemic has been a constant worry for their families and, for the government, the source of blame for contributing to the appalling death rate.

There have been heartrending stories of elderly, ill residents not seeing their families for eight months. and of last farewells for dying loved ones, a peep through a window. 

It was denounced as inhuman, a scandal that began when hospitals, trying to cope with a flood of coronavirus patients, offloaded hundreds of infected ones to care homes, sparking mass deaths.

At last there is some relief, with homes about to open up to visitors. New testing methods will enable, residents to meet face-to-face, to have that longed for hug.

I have had my first visitor for months, my grand daughter Ria. We met for an hour in the ground floor home library.

Ria was kitted out in PPE. It was a lovely hour although my poor hearing did not help the conversation.

My son Robert is due this weekend after the lifting of the lockdown in England - his home is in tier 2 - but with the sudden worsening of the situation in Wales he is worried that the border may be closed.

The good news is that at Christmas I may be able to welcome family and friends into my own 'home' for the first time for nine months.

Sunrise has been chosen as one of 15 homes in Wales to fast test visitors which will do away with visiting pods and the rigmarole of PPE.

Now that is something to look forward to.

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 1 December



When is a pub not a pub? 

When it can't sell beer or any alcoholic drink.

That is the astonishing plight of Wales' 2,190 pubs after first minister Mark Drakeford imposed drastic restrictions two weeks after giving the country a taste of freedom. Worse, the pubs  must close at 6pm.

Licensed - but soft drinks only

Wales will be as dry as the Atacama desert. And the rule applies also to restaurants and cafes.

He has taken the historic step to counter a rise in infections in parts of the country, 

The already shell shocked hospitality industry is bewildered.

Pubs with no beer! They warn that it will devastate the whole industry and guarantee closures and job losses.

It is seen as just as idiotic as prime minister Boris Johnson's edict that restricts English pubs to serving customers only if they have 'a substantial meal'. No dawdling over the starter or desert. Drink up!

But will it work? It harks back to the long gone days when Wales' pubs were shut on Sundays. 

To escape the ban. drinkers in border towns and villages slipped over into England for their pint, sometimes only yards away.

The same will happen again. 

It's not just pubs that have been hit; indoor and outdoor entertainment - cinemas, bingo halls, museums, art galleries and tourist attractions - must also shut from Friday.

Mr Drakeford insists that without the changes there could be 1,000 to 1,700 more deaths this winter. 

'We continue to face a virus that is moving incredibly quickly across Wales,' he said. 'Infection rates have increased from 187 per 100,000 to 211'.

To soften the blow he has given £340 million in support of the hospitality industry, the most generous in the UK, he claims.

But there is despair. It could be last orders for many Welsh pubs.

Monday 30 November 2020

Coronavirus diary, Monday 30 November


It's going to be an anxious four weeks to Christmas, a critical phase in the struggle to contain coronavirus.

After signs that the tide might be turning, the second wave dashed hope that the end might be in sight, boosted by the vaccine news.

Today, the pendulum has swung again to optimism after a study suggests that the infection rate in England has dropped by a third and the infection rate is slowing.

Researchers at Imperial College London say the infection rate is the lowest since the summer and the R rate is below 1.

It may come as some relief for the 99% of England will be in tier 2 and 3 of the three tier system which the government hopes will pave the way for the five day Christmas break.

As usual there is scepticism over the statistics, and opposition to the tier by many areas who say they are unfair.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are still going their own way.

Wales is enjoying the most freedom after its lockdown.  Northern Ireland is into a two week lockdown break while most of Scotland is under its own strict six tier system.

This divergence again emphasises the need for a unified approach which, apart from the agreement over the Christmas break, looks unlikely. 

So we enter December with hope but still lingering doubts  about how long the misery will last.

Sunday 29 November 2020

Coronavirus diary, Sunday 29 November


The five days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas the PM said to me

No fun or laughter -

It's our safety we're after

                                 ********

On the second day of Christmas the PM said to me

No fun or laughter -

It's our safety we're after 

No mistletoe kissing

                                  **********

On the third day of Christmas the PM said to me  

No fun and laughter -

It's our safety we're after

No mistletoe kissing

No hugging Granny  

                                  *********

On the fourth day of Christmas the PM said to me

No fun and laughter - 

It's our safety we're after 

No mistletoe kissing

No hugging Granny

No board games with kiddies  


 *********

On the fifth day of Christmas the PM said to me

No fun and laughter - 

It's safety we're after

No mistletoe kissing

No hugging Granny

No board games with kiddies

No carol singing 

                                   **********

                        Have a happy Christmas

Saturday 28 November 2020

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 28 November



Happy birthday, Bob! Zooming with the family

As in most care homes, I am sure, life goes on at a leisurely, comfortable pace. The days slip by. The surroundings and the careers and company are familiar. All very comforting. 

Birthdays are special, memorable days, but sad now, without families.

Here, Sunrise carers and staff do their best to make up for this, and yesterday, my second birthday here, showed how successful they are.

It was a memorable day..

Carers helped me unpack bulky presents which I could not manage on my own and there were 'Happy birthday, Bob' greetings all day long.



In the afternoon, a get-together with balloons, gifts from Sunrise, and a one candle cake.

Later, in the activity room, an entertainer performed for me and three other residents with birthdays this week. 

I put my birthday cards, including one signed by over 50 carers and staff, on display in my room.

A lovely, heart warming day which I appreciated all the  more as, a few weeks ago in hospital, I did not think I would be able to continue to look after myself here. 

Of course I missed my family and birthdays past, the 26 years  in  Winnipeg Drive, just around the corner from here and the last 20 years in Penarth. 

I miss sitting on the balcony, looking out over the Bristol Channel, across to Somerset and the Flat Holm and Steep Holm islands.

An ever changing scene, with the comforting sound of waves washing the pebbles.



Thanks to a birthday present from Robert, Karen and Owen - a picture taken from one of our photographs - I can now enjoy that scene from my armchair.

A lovely reminder of a happy Sunrise birthday.