The word 'normal' has taken on a rather liberal description over the last two years, however it now appears that with the last Covid restrictions being scrapped, we may just be heading in that direction.

As the Government take what some say may be a bold step to banish the remaining Covid restrictions, after almost two years of living in fear we can now be free to reminisce over how lucky we have been to survive what has surely been the most appalling two years of our lives.

We have all suffered in one way or another but at least now the businesses that have come through this will be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel as we charge towards our first restriction free summer since 2019!

And we all remember only too well what a wonderful summer it was...

We walked freely down the high street, darting in and out of shops saying hello to people we knew, the seafront was bustling with visitors, the music from the Folk Festival resounded round the town with festival goers, soaking up the spirit of the event, while some had clearly soaked up a bit too much spirit!

But that was what we took for being normal and this year could be a trip 'back to the future' as we start to enjoy things again.

Retail businesses will no doubt welcome back visitors with open arms and we must be prepared to go the extra mile to ensure those visitors enjoy the Sidmouth experience and venture back our way again in the near future.

After all, we lost them once and we don’t want to lose them again. If the last two years has taught us anything it’s that we cannot be complacent.

It may be a brave new world that we are about to embrace but let's hope that we have all learnt a little something from the last two years that will make us better people and better business people.