A snowy Sunday during the London lockdown

A snow day in London really lifted our lockdown moods.

After weeks of ‘will it, won’t it’ and the daily white skies filling us with hope, we finally had it. The fluffy white stuff graced the streets, parks and roads of London and for a short moment in time we escaped the word Covid and enjoyed a fun-filled Sunday marvelling at the magic of snow.

We had work to complete on Sunday so found ourselves up early and slugging coffee in preparation for the day ahead. But after a text from Matt’s friend who resides in West London notifying him of snowfall we immediately glued ourselves to the window, praying we’d see snow on the other side of town in East London.

We dashed in the shower before hurrying back to the window to check on the snowflake progress. Nothing. But then a quick check-in on Instagram updated us to snow in North London. It was coming. We have to be in luck, surely?

Another slurp of coffee and a quick change from towel to trackies (does anyone wear anything else these days?) we yet again ran to the nearest window for another snow check. Low and behold, there it was. Slowly but surely, the air filled with blurs of soft white circles. Quick. Grab the camera bag, get the keys, pull on the most snow-appropriate footwear we have, and get in the car.

Where shall we go? We thought of all the elaborate London locations to witness this quickly-falling (and settling!) snow before deciding on our old trusty, Epping Forest, the home of many a lockdown roam. The vast woodland is around a 10 minute drive from our flat and once there, you feel a world away from London, people and the word pandemic.

But what a difference it was on this particular Sunday. It was like a whole new white world that was full of smiles, new possibilities and dare we say it, hope. The same old pathways looked entirely different, it honestly felt like we had travelled to a far away land.

Armed with both our cameras we couldn’t stop taking photos. The air was cold but it was fresh and exciting. The satisfying crunch underneath our not-so-snow-ready boots was such a new sound but one that felt like we had transported into a whole other place. Yet we hadn’t. We were 10 minutes up the road.

Another reason to thank nature during this pandemic. It bought us a new sense of joy and a whole new landscape to enjoy through our lens. Our social media feeds lit up with happiness and a new-found appreciation. Oh how powerful nature is; it can rule our emotions, it can lift us up and it can bring us down (think: rain AND wind).

But for now, that one snowy Sunday did wonders for the population of London. A bubble of folk who are used to enjoying a city of freedom, could - for a short while - forget about the crumbling capital and enjoy a little slice of fun, all thanks to wonderful mother nature.