Snapshots: roadworks

For four days and for four nights I have been able to bask in a brief Easter vacation, away from Sheffield in the meteorologically diverse county of Norfolk. The earliest Easter that we’ve had for many years has also been the coldest in a long time, with sub-zero temperatures at night and indecisive bursts of hail, sleet, snow and rain throughout the long weekend.

On Monday morning I was woken by a deep rumble that shook the house. Half expecting it to be another earthquake that I would foolishly dismiss as “just the wind” I stumbled out of bed to explore.

It was, however, not an earthquake, but the vibrations caused by a road roller smoothing new layers of asphalt on the road outside the Brown family bungalow. A new school is being constructed in the village, and presumably to meet the planning and safety regulations our street has been widened to include a pavement for pedestrians. Pavements in the village always seem like a novel idea, considering how little traffic there is on these back lanes, but it must be a sign of the times.

We have our fingers crossed that the asphalt will be dry and set by two o’clock this afternoon, when I am due to leave for the railway station. If not, we shall be barricaded in, and I will be forced to spend another night here. Another night of home cooking. Another night in my own bed. How appalling that would be…