WHATEVER your view on the latest pandemic restrictions, this week's news on the spread of coronavirus will have left many with feelings they'd rather not have.

Just as the world seemed to be heading further down the road back to normal, in one way or another it seems as though 2020 hasn't quite done with us all yet.

But life does go on and that was certainly true in Maldon this week…

When Heybridge hero Scott Pettican rescued his neighbour from the first floor window of a burning house, he showed the care and concern for others that I still believe most people share.

And certainly when I turned up very late in the evening to chat to Scott and the homeowner - whose own friends had bowled up long after working hours to help him out – that community spirit was bright against the backdrop of the badly smoke-damaged house.

I got back into my car smelling just a little of smoke and my ever-tolerant husband, Nick, who had driven me to the scene in his pyjamas and dressing gown, smiled at me indulgently.

When we got back down the road to our house, he realised he had left the front door key inside and all I was carrying was a phone, notebook and pen.

It was by now not so long before midnight. As I held his legs while he stood on a wheelie bin to stop him tumbling too fast through the small window left open on our front bay, I was hoping that he hadn't married me for a quiet life.

On a more serious note, though, the incident gave me cause for reflection. Before we realised the window was open, we had stood looking into our lounge, lights and TV still on. There we were, trapped in the dark, chilly street outside and looking in the familiar scene of our home and not quite able to get back to it. It was as I pushed my palm longingly against the glass that we realised the window was open. In the flash of a moment, it brought to mind how right now our 'normal' world is in sight and out of reach – the familiar surroundings of our town and its streets haven't changed, but going about our daily lives in them as we once did isn't quite possible just yet. It's not an easy thing to deal with in so many ways.

The following day, when busy writing I was suddenly halted in my tracks.

It's not often as a journalist that one line in an otherwise everyday press release haunts me, but there it was. I had received news that Maldon's new socially-distanced coffee mornings run by the local volunteer service would still run, despite the new group size rules. This was great as the Wednesday morning events had only just started.

Summing up how that first meet-up had gone, the statement said: "For some it had been a long time since they had that contact and so it really meant something."

It hit me more than ever how hard this pandemic has been for so many – and how much so many have done to try to help in this town and district of ours.

Later, more news came of a new 'happy to talk' bench in Maldon where people can sit and chat to make new friends.

As the week drew to a close and I sat writing up this week's history piece on the Maldon Union Workhouse, I thought on how buildings, places and material things can all serve as fascinating reminders of the past.

I am quite sure that a time will come when people look at old social distancing signs and antique face masks and wonder at what the world went through in the pandemic. Yet it is not in bricks and mortar or tangible things that the real stories of history lie. In the end, it is the way that people treat each other that is the most lasting and telling tale.