Dronfield Eye Issue 175 May 2020
AS Spring turns to Summer, Dronfield Eye is usually overflowing with suggestions of things to see, places to go, shows to enjoy and community events to support. We list dates of galas, fetes, garden parties and more - but not this year. Instead, we’re suggesting you should all stay home. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action. The coronavirus pandemic has changed all of our lives, threatened the health and welfare of everyone, battered businesses and charities both large and small and taken our children out of organised education for the forseeable future. Needless to say, the Dronfield Eye community has rallied to help the needy and the vulnerable. From people running errands and checking on the welfare of neighbours, through to stirring doorstep rounds of applause for our health and welfare workers and children posting support through amazing rainbow displays. We’ve published your community magazine every month for the past 15 years and feel we should continue to serve you throughout these dark days. We can’t send our distributors to your letter-box right now, but we’ve made this edition available through the help of local supermarkets, post offices and petrol stations and also published a ‘virtual’ copy for people to read online. Businesses have happily teamed up with Dronfield Eye down the years and this is an opportunity for us to support them in their hour of need. That’s one of the reasons why we have been so keen to continue publishing our title. In addition to heaping praise on our health and care professionals and volunteers, we also salute other local workers whose jobs have suddenly become ‘essential’ - supermarket staff, postal workers, delivery drivers and others. We are looking forward to launching an ‘Eye on Local Business’ campaign once we beat this virus. For now, it is vital that we take on board all the instructions and advice being given to us. Stay at home and stay safe. Mike Firth, Editor
AS Spring turns to Summer, Dronfield Eye is usually overflowing with suggestions of things to see, places to go, shows to enjoy and community events to support. We list dates of galas, fetes, garden parties and more - but not this year.
Instead, we’re suggesting you should all stay home. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action. The coronavirus pandemic has changed all of our lives, threatened the health and welfare of everyone, battered businesses and charities both large and small and taken our children out of organised education for the forseeable future.
Needless to say, the Dronfield Eye community has rallied to help the needy and the vulnerable. From people running errands and checking on the welfare of neighbours, through to stirring doorstep rounds of applause for our health and welfare workers and children posting support through amazing rainbow displays.
We’ve published your community magazine every month for the past 15 years and feel we should continue to serve you throughout these dark days. We can’t send our distributors to your letter-box right now, but we’ve made this edition available through the help of local supermarkets, post offices and petrol stations and also published a ‘virtual’ copy for people to read online.
Businesses have happily teamed up with Dronfield Eye down the years and this is an opportunity for us to support them in their hour of need. That’s one of the reasons why we have been so keen to
continue publishing our title.
In addition to heaping praise on our health and care professionals and volunteers, we also salute other local workers whose jobs have suddenly become ‘essential’ - supermarket staff, postal workers,
delivery drivers and others.
We are looking forward to launching an ‘Eye on Local Business’ campaign once we beat this virus.
For now, it is vital that we take on board all the instructions and advice being given to us. Stay at home and stay safe.
Mike Firth, Editor
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dronfield EYE<br />
Ant and Dec host<br />
their Saturday<br />
Night Takeaway<br />
show from their<br />
living rooms<br />
The value of TV entertainment<br />
It’s easy to be a life-saver these days. All<br />
you have to do is stay at home and watch TV.<br />
Fortunately, says <strong>Dronfield</strong> student Evan Poole,<br />
broadcasting companies have risen to the<br />
challenge of keeping us entertained<br />
W<br />
HEN the Prime Minister delivered a speech to the nation four<br />
weeks ago, it’s unlikely he expected it to be the most viewed<br />
TV item this millennium.<br />
An amazing 27 million households switched on for the lockdown<br />
announcement, reaching numbers not seen since Princess Diana’s<br />
funeral in 1997, despite the decline in contemporary TV viewership.<br />
The past month’s TV audiences have grown by 29%, one of the many<br />
consequences of coronavirus quarantine measures. Being stuck at<br />
home has led to a dramatic surge in viewing, as audiences crave news<br />
from TV and relief through entertainment.<br />
As our routines change drastically, TV and film is coming to the<br />
forefront of our lives; instead of getting ready for school and spending<br />
six hours in classrooms, I now wake up, have breakfast and sit down<br />
in front of the telly - like everyone else, currently.<br />
Instead of our ‘normal’ lives, we find ourselves following the<br />
timetable of TV. Platforms such as Disney+ and Netflix are booming,<br />
providing entertainment and comfort for the masses. They fill our<br />
homes with classic films, family favourites and new exciting shows,<br />
such as Netflix’s surprise hit ‘Tiger King’. This show epitomises the<br />
surge in TV popularity, with its absurd characters sky rocketing to<br />
celebrity status in a matter of days, fuelled by the audience’s extra<br />
time.<br />
Although escapist TV is popular, many shows have adapted to the<br />
circumstances. At first, the entertainment world seemed in jeopardy<br />
due to the pandemic, but many have acclimatised.<br />
For example, the BBC announced they will schedule more shows<br />
related to education, fitness, cooking and even virtual church services.<br />
On top of that, uplifting fan favourites such as ‘Ant & Dec’s Saturday<br />
Night Takeaway’, which was at fear of being cancelled, is now instead<br />
being hosted from their living rooms.<br />
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been tailoring recipes specifically for<br />
these unique times with ‘Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On’ providing<br />
ideas for the many meals we are now having at home. These<br />
programmes are filled with positivity and hope; they are instrumental<br />
to boost moral when feelings of fear and uncertainty are peaking in our<br />
country.<br />
The importance of TV has been highlighted most with the daily<br />
Government briefing, establishing a link between us and authorities<br />
dealing with the pandemic, so we can receive vital information<br />
efficiently.<br />
In addition to this, the Queen delivered a one-off speech to the UK,<br />
uniting our country under one key phrase; ‘coronavirus will not<br />
overcome us’.<br />
With broadcasters doing their best during these unprecedented<br />
times, I hope that we don’t forget the important role TV plays in our<br />
lives. Whether its escapism, providing us with a sense of community,<br />
uplifting us, or very importantly keeping us informed, TV is doing its<br />
part in helping us through these difficult times.<br />
24<br />
M<br />
Y name is Evan Poole. I’m almost 16 and currently<br />
at home unable to sit my GCSE exams (which<br />
consist of Triple Science, Performing Arts, History,<br />
Spanish and many others) and I am trying to find the<br />
most productive ways to fill my time, as well as<br />
watching TV, of course.<br />
Later this year, I will be continuing my education at<br />
Henry Fanshawe’s Sixth Form and studying English<br />
Literature, History and Psychology, which I am happily<br />
anticipating.<br />
So this <strong>Dronfield</strong> <strong>Eye</strong> article has given me an opportunity<br />
to improve my writing skills, as all my subjects are<br />
predominantly essay-based.<br />
Outside of school, or rather during lockdown, I enjoy<br />
reading classic novels, attempting and then failing at<br />
painting pictures of my dog and playing the double bass.<br />
Recently, I completed my Silver Duke of Edinburgh<br />
Award, which consisted of a four-day expedition, improving<br />
my vegetarian cooking skills and volunteering at the Civic<br />
Centre’s Barnardo’s shops.
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