Bob Dylan captured the political mood of the day in 1964 with the title track of his third album - The Times They Are a-Changin'.

And the reasons why that notion should fill you with optimism are at the end of this feature.

Now, almost 60 years later, a new broom is sweeping across the streets of Birmingham faster than a city council refuse team on the German Market.

Everything is changing quickly from new practices for buses, trains, trams and taxis to street markings and organised supermarket queues.

Not forgetting new dental care centres opening for emergencies only and Perspex screens with serving hatches appearing in chippies.

All of these new measures have been introduced in just eight weeks - even less time than the government had from January 1 to March 23 to prepare for lockdown in the first place.

Debenhams at the deserted end of the Bullring before the start of normal trading hours on March 17, 2020 - six days before Boris Johnson announced the coronavirus lockdown on March 23.
Debenhams at the deserted end of the Bullring before the start of normal trading hours on March 17, 2020 - six days before Boris Johnson announced the coronavirus lockdown on March 23. The Entertainer store (bottom right) was behind a barrier for a £1 million rebuild including a new floor.

With all of these changes now in place, it's clear that 'normal life' won't be returning any time soon.

Even Gary Grant, the ever-optimistic founding father of The Entertainer toy empire - which has spent £1 million on its Bullring store this year without having been able to trade since January 11 - told us this week: "Nothing now is normal.

"Normal now means change - and it now it feels like we're on Mars."

But, whatever happens in the year ahead, life in Birmingham will never be the same again as the following examples illustrate...

A bus on Colmore Row next to Birmingham Cathedral advertising new film The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss. With no taxis on the taxi rank on the morning of March 3, 2020, it's an eerie foretaste of the lockdown to come.
The Invisible Man on a bus: A National Express West Midlands Platinum bus on Colmore Row advertising the new Elisabeth Moss film. With no taxis on the taxi rank on the morning of March 3, 2020, it was an eerie foretaste of the lockdown to come

Buses

National Express West Midlands says it is increasing the number of buses on each route to allow more passenger space on each vehicle.

Timetables will be adjusted further in line with passenger numbers to try to keep everyone two metres apart, though clearly that would be impossible in a normal rush hour or school run.

Advice about washing hands frequently, what to look out for and what to do if you develop symptoms, is being regularly shared with all staff.

The official line adds: "Customers should also follow government guidance on staying safe outside their home, including wearing a face covering and avoiding peak travel times where possible."

Friday, December 20: passengers boarding a West Midlands Railway train on a night of cancellations to Kidderminster
Gone for good? The sight of passengers trying to board a packed West Midlands Railway train on a night of cancellations to Kidderminster - though one woman on December 20, 2019 was already ahead of the curve by wearing a mask

Trains

What a year it's been on the railways, with companies like Virgin Trains disappearing on December 7 and others like West Midlands Railway being threatened with having their licences removed

That was the cry from West Midlands elected mayor Andy Street in December after a shocking collapse in reliability from the May 2019 summer timetable change was compounded by a pre-Christmas strike

All of that went out of the window when Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent the country into lockdown on March 23

New social distancing signage is being installed by West Midlands Railway
Passengers looking to use West Midlands Railway services have been told to "only use public transport if you absolutely have to." New signage is being installed at city stations including Snow Hill to reinforce the message and to help to keep passengers apart.

Last week, West Midlands Railway began to increase services in line with the move to try to get essential people working again.

There are now new signs at stations like Snow Hill, where the tip is not to be get without four steps of the person in front while climbing the stairs.

It sums up the crazy way of the new world order that West Midlands Trains is trying to run a service while at the same time telling people not to travel unless it's absolutely necessary.

And don't expect a guard to be checking your ticket any time soon.

Taxis

Birmingham City Council's current advice to prospective taxi passengers is that if you have a new persistent cough or high temperature then stay at home. Call NHS 111 for more advice.

Taxi drivers should, where possible, ask all passengers to sit at the back of their vehicle.

Hard surfaces such as card payment devices, steering wheels, handbrake, and door handles should be cleaned regularly with normal products - at the beginning, middle and end of a shift as a bare minimum.

They should have boxes of tissues to catch coughs and sneezes and dispose of them properly as soon as possible.

Drivers should also carry water and soap to wash hands for 20 seconds as well as hand sanitiser made from a minimum alcohol content of 60 per cent.

Supermarket-style pedestrian 'traffic flow' information is set to be applied to one of Birmingham's busiest pavements
Supermarket-style pedestrian 'traffic flow' information is set to be applied to Broad Street in a pilot scheme

Footpaths

Birmingham's golden mile entertainment zone on Broad isn't going to reopen for nightlife anytime soon.

But that hasn't stopped its Westside BID team (Business Improvement District) from being proactive.

It has joined forces with Tyseley-based signage company Hollywood Monster to introduce 100m of footpath marking to help to remind people that 2m social distancing is going to be an essential part of being 'normal' for this summer at least.

Birmingham City Council has also implemented emergency measures at different locations across the city.

Social distancing measures have been introduced in Kings Heath High Street
Social distancing measures on the pavements of Kings Heath High Street

They include Pershore Road, Stirchley; Soho Road, Handsworth; Harborne High Street; Coventry Road, Small Heath; the B4126 Bordesley Green in Bordesley Green; Lozells Road, Alum Rock Road, Stratford Road in Sprarkhill and Sparkbrook; Ladypool Road and Ergington High Street.

Similar pleasures are in place in Kings Heath Street, where local BID manager Martin Mullaney says: "We don't want the barriers here for ever otherwise it will start to look like a prison camp.

"If the weather is going to be nice, we should be able to close somewhere like York Road at relatively short notice to let restaurants spill out on to the pavement.

"We are saying to the council and national government: 'Trust us as traders and let us turn our spaces into outdoor cafes like Vilnius has done in Lithuania'."

Social distance queuing at Waitrose on March 27, 2020 - after lockdown was introduced on March 23, 2020
A Waitrose supermarket queue

Supermarkets

Members of the public are now used to queueing outside in order to go shopping while door supervisors are also wiping down the handles of trolleys and baskets.

The new practices have helped to take the panic out of buying up essential like toilet rolls that were in short supply by mid-March.

The policy has restored the supply of most goods to normal levels, though it's still not easy trying to find places with the kind of 60 per cent alcohol hand sanitiser that is said to be effective.

Once inside stores, lines on the floor keep shoppers apart, stickers remind you of the 2m rule and a combination of Perspex screens, hand sanitiser, visors and gloves are being used to try to keep staff safe.

Major shopping centres like Bullring have yet to reopen.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that, when they do, similar measures will have to be in place to keep overall numbers down - and people apart.

Apple closed the doors on all of its stores on Saturday, March 14, 2020 - more than a week before Boris Johnson introduced lockdown on March 23
Apple closed the doors on all of its non-China stores like Touchwood Solihull on Saturday, March 14, 2020 - more than a week before Boris Johnson introduced lockdown on March 23

It will also be interesting to see when Apple will decide to reopen.

The computer giant has kept its workers on full pay working remotely.

The company was one of the first to close, announcing on Saturday, March 14 thats its stores were going to be closed... until March 27.

So nobody has been able to see a 'Genius' inside an Apple store now for more than nine weeks.

Good Friday on April 10, 2020 - people social distancing as they queue towards Dads Lane Fish Bar (right) in Stirchley while the Highbury Inn (centre) remains closed this Easter during the coronavirus pandemic
Good Friday on April 10, 2020 - people social distancing as they queue towards Dads Lane Fish Bar (right) in Stirchley. The Highbury Inn (centre) remains closed along with all other pubs.

Fish and chips

Having struggled with their consciences about whether or not to be open during the lockdown, most family-run chippies decided to keep calm and carry on frying.

Many rushed forward online and card-only plans as well as trying to create new order-first business models.

At the same time they began investing in Perspex screens that could well help staff to feel safer.

Here, too, long queues have formed on the busiest days like Good Friday - but the two-metre distancing has made them look longer than they really are.

Social distance queueing in the car park of B&Q Shirley
Social distance queueing in the car park of B&Q Shirley

DIY Stores / Garden centres

The two-metre rule is also key to the way that garden centres and stores like B&Q and now Wickes have been able to reopen.

They have also taken a lead from the way supermarkets carried on trading while reinventing themselves at pace.

As with supermarkets, it will be interesting to see if customers have the same patience for queueing on a cold, wet and windy winter's night as they have during the best spring of our lifetimes - or if the likes of Ocado and all of the other supermarket delivery systems will continue to grow.

A line of food delivery bikes, including Deliveroo
January, 2019: A line of food delivery bikes opposite Grand Central, including Deliveroo and a poster for a missing person

Deliveries from independents

If this pandemic had happened 20 years ago, how would people have been able to work from home without broadband, laptops, tablets and mobile phones?

The technology has had another spin-off, too, with companies like Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat all setting up networks to supply customers with what they want and when they want it.

The further trickle effect has been to see independents work out how they can carry on trading locally through deliveries they organised themselves.

We detailed many of beer and food outlets doing just that in this feature here

The Birmingham Brewing Company's Gold Brummie.
The Birmingham Brewing Company's Gold Brummie.

Meanwhile, Kings Heath BID has helped some of its members to become so organised they have already garnered £10,000 worth of extra sales they would have missed out on otherwise.

Based on the Stirchley Trading Estate, The Birmingham Brewing Co online store is accepting orders for free delivery to all 'B' postcodes for orders worth £20 or more... and it's constantly updating lines, too.

Cans of a drink called Self Isolating Brummie are becoming available from 8pm on May 25, followed by Stout Brummie cans from June 1, Gold Brummie cans from June 4 and Witty Brummie cans from June 11.

Other lines include Stirchley Lager, Bitter Brummie and Confused Brummie.

To date the company has also raised more than £500 for local causes, too, and all brewing waste goes to Park Farm, Frankley, where it's used as livestock feed.

Meanwhile, high street coffee chains like Costa and Starbucks have begun serving again from drive-thrus with other giants like McDonald's and KFC also beginning to inch their way up from ground zero.

What a dentist will now look like while while wearing full PPE and a FFP3 respiratory face mask at one of the 44 Urgent Care Centres that have opened across the West Midlands
What a dentist will now look like while while wearing full PPE and a FFP3 respiratory face mask at one of the 44 Urgent Care Centres that have opened across the West Midlands

Dentists

Nobody ever looks forward to going to see their dentist - and the above picture showing what your practitioner now looks like might put some people off altogether unless they are in total agony.

But there's no doubt that excellent care and advice can prolong the look and appearance of healthy teeth and gums.

Routine hygienist appointments have gone out of the window and even dentists cannot treat their own patients any more.

Any patient needing urgent help should either call their own dentist or dial 911 to try to book an appointment at an Urgent Care Centre

But these are not only limited in number but in how many patients they can treat since each surgery room has to be thoroughly cleaned before the next patient can be seen.

MoT £39 - Moseley Auto Centre, Woodbridge Road, Moseley
All quiet: MoT £39 - Moseley Auto Centre, Woodbridge Road, Moseley

MoTs

Each car needing an MoT has been given an extension of up to six months

But with main dealers remaining closed it has not been easy to keep a car safely on the road in the past three months if it has developed any problems - so more could be in store.

Once dealers reopen, there will be huge pent-up demand as per dentists... but you still might not be able to be seen.

Albert Tatlock, a cat on lockdown at the Cats Protection Birmingham Adoption Centre in Hollywood, next to Albert Tatlock the Coronation Street character, played from the first ITV episode in 1960 through to 1984 by actor Jack Howarth, pictured here in 1981.
Albert Tatlock, a cat on lockdown at the Cats Protection Birmingham Adoption Centre in Hollywood, next to Albert Tatlock the Coronation Street character, played from the first ITV episode in 1960 through to 1984 by actor Jack Howarth, pictured here in 1981.

Vets

It is also hard for pet owners to have their pets treated by vets.

The advice is not to let your cat outside if not fully vaccinated.

And don’t suddenly change your pets’ diet or try new treats to avoid digestive upsets.

If you are desperate, call your regular vet, or Cats Protection

Will people still want to cycle when the weather turns cold again?
Will people still want to cycle when the weather turns cold again?

Cycling

Covid-19 has arguably done far more for the environment than Extinction Rebellion might have hoped to achieve in a decade.

Cyclists have never had it so good, with less traffic to worry about and Birmingham City Council introducing Emergency Traffic Measures to restrict car access and to try to encourage them even more.

As with supermarket queues, though, you do wonder how will all but the most determined will react once the weather turns cold, wet and nasty once again.

Reasons to be cheerful

After all the above, back to the music - and time for Bob Dylan to have the final word.

If your business is currently still in hibernation, take heart from the words of the second and last verses of his famous song.

From "...the loser now / Will be later to win," to "...the first one now / Will later be last."

So, just go with the flow and remember... The Times They Are a-Changin'."