With those desperate to get to the shops likely to join the queues to get inside a closing down Debenham's, there were only marginally more people in Rhuthun/Ruthin to greet the new freedoms we experienced from yesterday. For this was the day when non-essential retail and contact services such as nail treatment centres could reopen.
Shop keepers had made an effort for us and the bright sunshine and open doors lended something of a holiday atmosphere. It was like the first day of the summer holidays but with fewer children (though our schools opened for all pupils today, after a training day yesterday). There appeared to be something of an optimism in town but it was also tinged with concern for what might come.
To date, only 11,162 of Denbighshire's population has had two vaccination shots (on the other hand, 49,952 have had one). Thanks to schools, shops and close contact services all open this week, visitors now permitted along with cross-boundary travel and the timetabled restarting of outdoor hospitality, there's already talk at Public Health Wales of a mid-June third wave marching westwards across North Wales lagging two weeks behind the south. Last year, it was towards the end of June that everything relaxed. Had we not learnt anything? We had to tighten up progressively from October and then lock down from immediately before Christmas.
Still, just for the moment, for this brief snapshot, we can look forward perhaps to a couple of months of freedom. Last week, Denbighshire saw nine cases of covid-19, seven of which were scattered but two were here in town. Denbighshire last week nevertheless had the fourth lowest rate per 100,000 in Wales, at 9.4. At least Wales has been cautious in the way it is tackling the unlocking process.
It's a little disconcerting that one group has applied to the county council to stage an outdoor event in August at Cae Ddol. It's obviously been refused as, even under level one, only 100 may meet outdoors. With the Festival, flower show, carnival and Open Doors all again cancelled, why on earth would anyone be so irresponsible to stage an event in the summer?
And there have been other concerns. A local holiday park last week was caught accepting English people a week before they were allowed to. They'd failed to check properly. Also last week, the police caught six people from Merseyside visiting the Pool Park site. This was not for essential travel.
And some barbers have raised concerns that a competitor in Rhuthun has been admitting walk-ins, not keeping adequate track & trace particulars and undertaking beard trims. A few weeks back, one of our butchers was issued an improvement notice because its staff were not reciprocating the wearing of masks by not according their face covering-wearing patrons the same courtesy.
'Life is too boring to wear short clothes'
Close contact services opened yesterday
So, even though expectations are rising and hope is abounding, what this says to me is that we still need to be cautious and never take anything for granted.