Dozens attend temporary Overstrand beach Covid memorial

A memorial to those who have died during the Coronavirus pandemic and for whom life has changed forever has been created on a North Norfolk beach.

Dozens of people visited and walked the temporary labyrinth which was drawn in the sand on Overstrand beach on June 24.

The memorial existed for around four hours from midday until it was washed away by the rising tide at 4.30pm.

The event started with the town crier inviting beachgoers to walk the labyrinth and to write messages and the names of loved ones around the edge.

There was also live music from Kate Munro and Chris Dowding, and a reading by local poet Peter Pegnall, who was commissioned to write a piece, especially for the event.

The triple Celtic spiral, which was drawn by Mary Green and Cynthia Byers, was also lined with around 1,800 stones to represent those in North Norfolk who have lost their lives during the pandemic.

The difference between a labyrinth and a maze is that mazes have multiple paths, not all of which will lead to the centre while labyrinths have a single continuous path that will always lead to the centre.

Mazes rely on logical thinking to complete but trust the path of a labyrinth and you will always find the centre. 

Mrs Green said the event had received some good feedback and was attended by around 40 to 50 people over the course of the day.

She said: "The people who came really got something out of it from a reflective point of view.

"The thing about labyrinths is that it's a long walk and people don't really spend that much time reflecting on things, so having that opportunity to reflect and think about things as you walk [is good]."

Mrs Green said the reflective nature of the event had created quite a moving spectacle.

"It was very moving and quite sobering but I do think people got quite a lot out of it, someone had come up from Norwich and for people like that it was quite poignant," she said.