"Plague or Sweating Sickness"

Many thanks to everyone for your lovely comments on yesterday's blip and your good wishes regarding the interment of my Mum-in-Law's ashes. The sun shone and the (socially distanced) church service and the subsequent ceremony in the adjacent Garden of Remembrance went very well. Inevitably there were only a few close family and friends present but it was good to see them after so many months of lockdowns even thought it would have been nice to meet under different circumstances.

We're now safely home in Newcastle, but after the service my Editor and I decided to have a walk in the sunshine before setting off for the drive back. We chose to walk a little of the Bollin Valley Way from Macclesfield to Prestbury. Prestbury is an affluent village a couple of miles from Macclesfield (home to several Manchester United footballers) and has a number of lovely old buildings. The one in the photo is the Old Priest's House, dating from circa 1580. I've included a photo of the explanatory plaque which is a little hard to read (easier in large) because it's all painted black, but the sentence which drew our attention, at the end of the middle paragraph, reads: "The balcony was also used as a pulpit during the times of plague or sweating sickness in order avoid contagion" Rather topical - a historical example of social distancing!