"Go for your walk, the sun is shining," a friend remonstrated down the phone: "You've been inside for three days."

And so I took a walk into Grantham town centre, a 75 minute round trip, with a few minor detours.

Earlier that day, I'd commented on the weirdness of it all. I hadn't seen that white husky dog with the black eye being walked; the cats weren't enjoying the sun in the car park, even if there weren't any moving cars to run them over.

It was almost like that Will Smith movie 'I am Legend' where New York is deathly quiet in the daytime and the zombies come out at night.

So I set off at 5pm, when Springfield Road should be choked with rush-hour traffic.

A few cars passed by, but bar having to stop at the lights, the cars moved freely.

I passed a couple of people. Instead of the normal friendly 'hello' or something, we kept our distance, moving as far as way from each other as we could as we passed through a little tunnel.

'How rude!', you might otherwise think. But these days, it might be a matter of survival. Well, as I read somewhere online, you stay six feet apart or you could end up six feet under!

At the junction with London Road stands McDonald's, which often creates congestion thanks to its many customers as it did on it's last day of trading earlier in the week. The junction was as empty as the restaurant.

I headed north into town and passed Halfords where a few bored-looking mechanics could be seen standing around, but maybe it was time for home.

In their car park, was that a man with a hi-vis jacket looking for customers to advise of the social distancing guidelines?

The car park by Marks & Spencer was quite empty, as was the Sainsbury's car park and at 103.9p a litre, I can't remember when petrol was ever so cheap, apart from when a kid in the 1970s and it was half the price.

Farmfoods looked open but the car park in front of it also looked relatively empty.

Closer to town, I passed the Reindeer Inn. It too was closed and a child's picture of a rainbow in a window aimed to spread some joy.

A couple of pizza take-aways were open, including Papa John's, but Pizza Lovers warned it was only taking online orders.

Now, Grantham loves its Wetherspoons and it's cheap beer and food, but it too was closed and made for a sad sight.

I looked across to the Isaac Newton Shopping Centre where Morrisons can be found, but thinking there maybe people there, I thought better of it.

At St Peter's Hill, in front of the Guildhall, South Kesteven District Council had erected warning signs, telling people to stay two metres apart.

I passed a couple of pharmacies, still open, and noted the ever popular and busy Cinco Lounge was closed.

Other bars, pubs and hotels were closed too, the Bank, The Black Dog, the Isaac Newton, Beerheadz, the Nobody Inn, the Angel & Royal Hotel, to name a few.

The charity shops were also closed.

Many closed businesses had signs to say cash and valuables had been removed. One even showed an empty cash register near the front of their premises to prove the point. Well, I know that business had gone totally cashless on Monday, prior to closing soon after.

Lidl looked pretty quiet but Asda was busy, with people queuing to get in. They were spaced well apart too and it all looked regimented and orderly.

Back into town, I passed Market Place where its pizza and other take-aways seemed busy, but the barbers and hairdressers were closed, as were various cafes and restaurants.

It looked like Grantham's iconic Watkins the butcher had been open earlier. There was nothing to say it had closed due to the virus.

Around the corner, at the Augustin Retail Park, Next was closed, as was Sports Direct, finally, but Iceland and Home Bargains were open.

Off Dysart Road, Curry's and Matalan made for a vast empty car park. Travis Perkins builders merchants had also closed due to the virus.

Heading back down Harlaxton Road, I passed a few more homes with rainbow drawings in their windows. I also avoided some walkers too.

Work had stopped on demolishing the old courthouse to build a care home, but there again, it was approaching 6pm.

On the corner of Springfield Road, KFC, Burger King and Costa Coffee were closed, with signs advertising the fact.

Further along Springfield Road, as I approached home, the Co-op had advertised its opening was postponed. Pity really, as I am looking forward to this.

There were a few dogwalkers out and if they talked to each other, the owners kept their distance, even if their dogs didn't. They still like a good sniff.

Finally, I passed the ever-popular and award-winning Wellies Fish and Chip Shop, which has become a Friday night ritual for me, but sadly it won't be tonight, as it too said it had closed.

No doubt my dinner tonight lies in a supermarket somewhere. I'm not saying which, as I want it to remain peaceful, quiet and hopefully safe.