Blue skies, bright sun, just a breath of wind: perfect conditions for Kirkwall BID’s annual Spring Fling, scheduled for today. Sunday 5th April was meant to be a day of Easter Egg hunts, special deals and treats in shops and cafés, and a mass walk around some of the hidden byways of Kirkwall – introducing you to parts of the town you’ve never seen.

All that must wait for another year. The idea of mass anything is well and truly ruled out, and rather than seeing new sights in the town centre, most of us are gazing at the same four walls day after day.

The empty streets prompt a thought. What makes a town special? Why is Kirkwall such a great place to live, work, visit, socialise, do business? How did we win the Most Beautiful High Street in Scotland award last year?

If you’d asked me at the time, I would probably have mentioned the network of streets and closes, the fine 18th and 19th century townhouses and shops, the piers reaching out into the blue north, the hidden green spaces like Tankerness Gardens and Brandyquoy Park, the community council’s window boxes, and of course St Magnus Cathedral, the jewel set in the centre of the town.

Turns out I would have been wrong. On a day like today, all those historic, characterful streets are as attractive as ever. But without folk coming out their doors, stopping for a yarn, meeting friends for a coffee, doing a bit of shopping, having a drink at the end of the day – without all that, Kirkwall is just an arrangement of stone. It’s the people who make it beautiful.

When the crisis is past, bright spring days like this one will be long gone. Will we step out into warm summer sun? Or will already be feeling the first chilly autumn winds? Whenever we emerge, the streets and lanes will be waiting for us, unchanged. The shops and offices and townhouses will remain, the cathedral will still glow red and yellow. But that won’t mean everything is back to normal. That will only happen when people are able to fill the town with their talk, their laughter, their greetings to friends, neighbours, bar staff and shopkeepers. Then the town will start to come back to life.

For the moment, the pulse of Kirkwall still beats, thanks to the vital network of NHS and care staff. And thanks to the council workers providing essential services in very challenging circumstances. And the businesses delivering food and more across the county. Finally, thanks to all to the people of the town who are depriving themselves of a little liberty for the greater good.

Kirkwall is still beautiful. We just can’t see it. The beauty lies behind all those closed doors.

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 5th April, and others will appear weekly as long as the crisis goes on. I intend to post the diaries in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance.

Diary of a Shopkeeper, 5th April 2020