Down the canal the notices have been going up. Along the Hanwell Flight, that historic stretch of the Grand Union, full of listed houses, walls and locks, blue and white posters are asking us to limit ourselves. The cyclists, walkers, runners, those going to work, those going to exercise, are being asked to do it less. Those wishing to go to The Fox, to visit friends, to picnic in Warren Farm, have long been told to not do it at all.
A statute of limitations to keep us safe during the current contingency.
Questions occur. Not the medium-sized question of whether the strategy is correct. No that’s too hard. But littler questions like: How will it be observed? How will different categories of canal user behave? How will social intercourse adapt and change?
Underlying all this, of course, is the Big Question: How does humankind balance individual and social interests in times of dislocation. This could be a dry run for the future dislocations of climate change.
