Guardian photographer Tom Jenkins returns to an eerily quiet Cheltenham, a year after it was dubbed a Covid ‘super-spreader’ event
The sound that normally signals the start of spring to me, the murmur followed by the roar before the first race of the Cheltenham Festival, is gone. That sound of excitement and anticipation that the next four days will bring is one that signifies the end of winter. That was totally absent for obvious reasons. The same words were issued by the Cheltenham racecourse commentator but it was followed by silence, a very loud silence.
I haven’t been back here since Gold Cup day last year, traditionally the final day of the Festival. When everyone here knew by then what was happening [with Covid] and knew what was going to happen. I remember driving away from here and I’ve never seen so many drunken people in all my life, like a final party before war.
