A lot of Penarth residents have been talking about 'a new normal', as we come out of lockdown. After a time of stress, sadness and loss for many, we all hope for something better coming out of it.

But what does 'better' look like?

Gwyrddio Penarth Greening has paired up with Nub News to share stories and ideas about how things may look, from the point of view of local people: individuals and organisations, businesses and schools.

This week we spoke to Huw and Jeanne Pickford from the Pickford's Galley and Bar about their experience during the coronavirus lockdown and how they are planning for the future as we adjust to a new normal.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business?

As you know we are a new business, we were only open for 7 weeks until the pandemic struck and we had to close. We have had to furlough staff and find new ideas to make ends meet, we think we have adapted well and are doing ok again

What have you been up to during the lockdown period?

Whilst we were closed we thought we would try and help our community by cooking and delivering meals to help people, this included the NHS, the local care homes, Marie curie, Ty Gwyn, Morel Court, and a few other places. As well as a few vulnerable and elderly people. With the help of donations, we have managed to cook and deliver 1050 meals to our community, whilst we were closed we were able to get a lot of family time and home repair, which we haven't really ever had due to our work.

What positive things have come out of this unprecedented time? Is there anything you will continue to do post coronavirus?

We have tried to help out a lot in the community during these difficult times, we really think we have made a difference to some people's lives, even if it is just a meal a week for them, it puts a smile on their face, we will try and support our community once we are back in full swing again.

What do you have on offer as a business at this moment at the moment?

We have tried different ideas though out the pandemic, afternoon teas, Sunday lunches, heat and eat meals. But now with the weather on our side, we have found what really works, serving good quality take away meals at a good price, and also our licence enables us to sell drinks as a take away as well, so we have draught lager and cider on tap and real ale coming this week.

We have maintained high standards of cleanliness throughout, ensuring the safety of our staff and our customers. After completing our risk assessment and implementing more safety measures we will be open for seating outside from Wednesday, July 15th. We look forward to welcoming you all to dine with us again on the decking.

How has the community of Penarth supported you through these difficult times?

We have been greatly supported by our community, lots of people coming in to order asking how we are and they want to support our business, we have helped out a lot in our community and we hope we will continue to get support from everyone we have helped.

What are your hopes and plans as we move forward and out of these restrictions?

We can only hope that we will see a bit more normality over the next few weeks, as long as people are careful and keep their distance the r rate will drop and restriction should be loosened, once we know what the government have in mind we will start planning our next steps, we as a business are doing all we can make sure that the staff and customers are safe whilst at Pickford's.

Environmental awareness and progress have been an integral part of discussion revolving around the 'new normal'. What steps will you be taking with your business regarding the environment?

A few weeks ago, I was closing up, I noticed a lot of rubbish along the esplanade, so I got gloves and a bag and went out to collect it, there has been a good report on next-door neighbour about it.

I go up one side of the esplanade to the life boat station and back down to the take away by the pier, then into the Italian gardens and back to Pickford's I normally get a full black bag, it only takes about 20 minutes, we have had offers of people helping, also a litter picker was given to us as some of the things I pick up you don't want to touch. We don't want praise for it, we just want a clean beachfront.

'Shopping Local' is obviously an integral part of the Penarth High Street scene. What are you hopes coming out of the pandemic in this respect?

Penarth is a small town we have lots of people that like to support independent businesses, we hope that will continue as the months go on

Name one thing from the lockdown experience do you think we should all keep hold of?

The best thing that has come from this lockdown is our family time together, being able to play and help and just have family time with our three children, this is by far the best thing that we can take away from the lockdown, we will never get this time back, we will never have this much spare time again.