AFTER months of closed doors, furloughed staff and lockdown uncertainty, ‘a taste of normality’ is finally returning to the hospitality and leisure industry across the region today. Dawn Raine, manager of the Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington said that today is ‘the day we’ve all been waiting for’ as the venue joins thousands of others in throwing open its doors to customers - albeit with Covid restrictions. And as if dealing with a global pandemic wasn’t enough, the landlord of the Black Horse pub in County Durham had to contend with his outdoor plans being affected by another international incident as some of his beer garden equipment was delayed by the marooned container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March.