After 2020's year to forget, 2021 was cheered in from the rafters, representing hope and an end to a health crisis which had turned the whole world upside down.

In fact, we celebrated its arrival with a gusto rarely seen. Albeit, all in the confines of our own homes, as we in Kent found ourselves staggering, punch-drunk, into the new year under the strictest Tier 4 restrictions.

Ever wondered what a New Year's Eve with no pubs or clubs spilling out drunken revellers at 3am would be like? Well we started the year by adding that to our ever-growing list of lived, and shared, experiences.

Not wanting to be left out, the rest of the nation followed in the first week of the new year. It was not the most auspicious of starts. And we would be remiss if we did not kick off a review of the last 12 months without reference to a topic which, for the second year in a row, dominated the headlines, locally, nationally and internationally.

But things did, eventually, get better when it came to Covid.

In December 2020, the first Covid vaccines had started to go into the arms of the vulnerable – and that ramped up throughout the year. In fact, such was the lust for protection against this infernal virus, six months after people had their second jabs, they were being offered a booster shot too.

Granted, there were some who thought the vaccine would turn them into microwaves or 5G masts, or, according to pop singer Nikki Minaj, make your testicles swell to the size of that chap in the Viz comics.

That people believe any old guff they read online in this topsy-turvy world will probably come as little surprise to anyone. But the vast majority of us trotted to our GP surgeries or vaccination hubs to get the protection which has seen the nation resume life, pretty much as normal, by the time the summer arrived.

Yet the history books will show that it defined the first two years of what we all hoped would be the rip-roaring Twenties. Will 2022 still be cast in its shadow? Probably, but just think of how far we've come.

Kent has always enjoyed a beer in a pretty pub garden. But when pubs were allowed to open again for the first time this year in April, we couldn't get enough of wrapping up warm and once again enjoying a pint – albeit socially distanced – with friends and family. However, plenty embraced table service rather than the previous scrum to reach the bar.

Likewise, if the pub wasn't your first point of call, then Primark probably was – judging by the queues which snaked around the likes of Westwood Cross, Bluewater and Chatham in order to bag a bargain.

For many, though, the real relief was not a new outfit, but a haircut. Hairdressers, unsurprisingly, did brisk business too. Many Zoom chats in the weeks immediately following focused on the fresh trims sported by many.

Everything finally returned to what we now consider 'normal' in July, when 'Super Saturday' saw us, finally, able to go back inside a pub...just as the weather made it nice to sit outside.

While infection rates remained stubbornly high, there was no real talk of another lockdown. Until, that was, Omicrom emerged. In the weeks leading up to Christmas we were being told to work from home again amid concerns of a "tidal wave" of infections in January. And, by the time you read this, further restrictions may be in force. Sigh.

Of course, what the Covid crisis did do its best to disguise was the main headliner grabber before we all became used to wearing masks, working from home and not hugging our extended family; that old chestnut of Brexit.

Fears of roads to the ports becoming snarled up with traffic, to the surprise of many, did not materialise when the transition period ended and life outside the EU started on January 1. But then a lack of lorries on the road was to be one of the recurring issues of the year. And Brexit was, largely, to blame.

As the referendum delivered on its promise of kicking out lots of EU nationals so the dawning realisation came that, actually, we rather relied on them.

A key area was the supply chain which, for most of us, we just assumed operated like clockwork behind the scenes.

But take away 16,000 EU drivers, compounding an existing shortage in the industry, and suddenly the cracks started to appear.

No sooner had shops and hospitality reopened, it became clear lots of items were coming off menus and shelves. Covid took the blame at first, but it quickly became apparent it was down to manpower.

Some firms in the county thought the impact would be felt well into 2022. So that's something to look forward to.

However, the government responded by allowing thousands of HGV drivers from the EU to return; with hopes that increased wages would tempt them back.

It was also the primary cause of a situation which saw us all play a new game – find the fuel. September saw pumps run dry due to a lack of delivery drivers and, as ever when we're told not to panic buy, we started to panic buy. Cue huge queues at petrol pumps around the country which lasted weeks. Kent was one of the worst hit but, without any fanfare, things returned to normal, eventually, just in time for oil prices to send the cost of filling your tank to record highs. Handy that.

Yet, while we booted loads of people out, thousands of people were absolutely desperate to reach our shores – and by any means necessary.

After record numbers of people attempted the perilous crossing of the English Channel in tiny, often overloaded, inflatable boats – packed in by unscrupulous criminal gangs who cared only for profit not people – in 2020, it was to prove nothing compared to 2021.

More than 25,000 took the risk at the time of writing in pursuit of a better life here – more than triple last year's figures.

All year they kept coming, every time the weather conditions permitted it. Boats were found arriving along the county's coastline – from Thanet all the round round to Dungeness and everywhere inbetween.

And while the gangs kept profiting, the political stand-off between the UK and France intensified as both struggled to come up with any solution to what was rapidly becoming a crisis.

Further focus was placed on the conditions those reaching these shores experienced when a fire was started at Napier Barracks in Folkestone – used to house them while their applications were processed – after a dispute over the conditions.

Amid the repeated calls by those concerned for the plight of those trying to reach Kent about an impending disaster, in November the feared outcome became a gut-wrenching reality.

The bodies of 27 people were found after the inflatable they were in sank in the cold waters off the coast of Calais. It was the worst single loss of life in what remains a desperately challenging situation. Yet crossings were still taking place the following day.

It is an issue which we seem, inevitably, set to still be discussing this time next year too.

Tomorrow: Our review of 2021 continues with a look at some of the recurring themes and the crimes and tragedies that rocked the county