Pull Up A Chair Gravesham - Anne Langford

It’s 30 July 2020 and I’m sitting in the shade of a closed Mecca Bingo Hall just off the A40 trying to get Zoom working on my phone. We are on our way to Bristol to see family. Like lots of people they’ve had a tough and lonely lockdown, I can’t wait to see them. We’ve hired a car which now seems to have a flat tyre and its crunch time – am I coming to Gravesham in October? I’m really nervous, I was so excited to be offered this opportunity – to have the chance to think about community and art and meet people (I love meeting people) I don’t want to lose it. It just doesn’t feel right, the timing of travelling to a new place and meeting new people while ‘All This’ is going on. If I come in October what are the risks?   I’m most concerned about spreading the virus but I also don’t want to catch it. It feels like I’d miss out on meeting lots of people who will still need to be avoiding contact, I don’t want to isolate and exclude people even more. From the side of the road in West London,

We’re still here – in our flats, houses, boats. Waiting. There’s a little more ease, we can go more places. I’m still very cautious as I have family who are very high risk if they contract Covid-19 and I want to have contact with them. So I’m choosing to stay at home, and avoiding places where people gather indoors. I’m very appreciative of our local parks and I’m growing some lettuce in a window box. When will I get to Gravesham? Maybe the Autumn? Will it be useful and kind to visit then? That’s what feels most important to me right now, to be useful and kind.   In the meantime I’ve been chatting to Päivi at LV21 about how to start, in a small way, meeting Gravesham and the people who live there. I also want to contribute, in anyway that I can – to ease the experience of this time, help people feel joy and process all the things that are happening.   We’ve been talking a lot about communicating over distance – and what that means. I’m interested in exploring non-digital ways of connec

It is   Monday 16 March 2020. In the UK there are 1543 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and  53 people have lost their lives.  The government advice is to wash your hands regularly and stay at home if you have any symptoms. I’m travelling to Gravesend for a meeting. I’ve never been there before. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to get on a train and meet people I’ve not met before – it feels risky. I haven’t been anywhere for a few days, all my work as a participatory and community artist is being postponed or cancelled.  London is quieter than usual. The tube is quieter than usual. St Pancras is quieter than usual.  A man two seats away from me on the train coughs repeatedly throughout the journey without covering his face. I am anxious and have occasional oesophageal spasms, my Achalasia making its presence felt. I shouldn’t be making this journey until May, when I’m meant to arrive for the first time and stay for a month to explore Gravesham. Instead I’m going to pull up a chair and d