We’ve been sweating our way through the heatwave, but things should cool down when the furnace gets turned off later this week.
Johnny has been away teaching sailing and Will’s been getting out and about to clear a little headspace.
Shapwick Heath and Longstock Water Garden are two of his recently visited attractions, providing a much-needed change of scenery from the hot-shop.
With a bit of tranquillity and immersion in nature, Will’s feeling a little more inspired.
He tells me that he loves looking at the deep black pools of Shapwick Heath, with their reflective nature, and of course he’s always loved trees!
When you sit out on the decking at Shakspeare HQ, there’s a heady scent of roses and honeysuckle – in fact, it’s currently trying to grow in through my windows while it takes over the building! Against the red brick of the offices they create great colour references for Will to take stock of, while various bird species chirrup in the reeds and the willows.
Now restrictions have been lifted across the country we’ve been talking amongst ourselves about the pros and cons, and off the back of it made some important decisions.
With our eclectic set up here at Shakspeare Headquarters, we’re steering on the side of caution, for everyone’s benefit.
You may or may not be aware that we are home to a bunch of creative talents which makes up the Langport Creative Collective. That’s a bookbinder, a sieves and riddles maker, a ceramics restorer, a journalist, PR consultant, artists, and cake makers. And of course there’s Mr S and co.
With so many different things going on in the building, we’re taking the decision to continue with mandatory face-mask-wearing in all the public areas, and hand sanitising will remain a requirement on entry to the building.
We’d rather know that everybody felt safe at Shakspeare Headquarters, despite the Government guidance to lift restrictions – we hope that by keeping masks and sanitisers as a must-have rule, you’ll all feel more comfortable coming to see us.
It’s hard to know what to do at a time like this, but we all agree that the safety of our visitors is paramount, and so we’ll keep doing what we’re doing until things start to look a bit less overwhelming.
Come and sit for a while on the decking while the sun shines and see for yourself the patterns on the workshop walls, listen to the birds and admire Will’s new hanging baskets, hung from repurposed blowing irons!
And know that it’s safe here. And totally welcoming!