Walking "close to home" - what does this mean?

We really shouldn’t be having this conversation. If the rules were laid down in a clear and concise way there wouldn’t be room for interpretation. Other countries manage and people know exactly where they stand. We have to many caveats to the rules that confuse people and allow them to make it up as they go along. Please don’t think I pointing a finger at anyone here. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve checked the government website to see exactly what is allowed - I’m still no clearer though?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the police were as vigilant in investigating crimes such as burglaries as they are in harassing innocent walkers.

I thought we had seen the end of all this nonsense.

If they are not careful they will get a reputation for going after the easy target ie a couple of women out for a walk committing no crime whatsoever.

Who is it who says “give someone a bit of extra power and they will always always always abuse it” ?

NotSpaghetti

My son just sent me this link!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55560814

I saw that this morning. All very interesting isn’t it? What on earth we’re all those police officers doing in a reservoir car park...

Well I googlemapped the journey to the beach and it is 12 miles so couldn't cope with the thought of police turning up. So walked along the marine highway and had to keep moving aside. Not one other person did. So exasperating. People stopped to chat in groups of four barely keeping one metre apart. The beach would be so much better.

Two women were find £200 each for driving 4 miles for a walk. Because they had coffee with them the police said it was a picnic. This is only guidance not the law as far as I know. It was ok for Dominic Cummings but not for ordinary people. Police being heavy handed I think.

63,000 plus new Covid-19 cases today

1,325 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test recorded today.

Why would anyone want to put themselves or their loved ones in danger by being out of the home more than absolutely necessary?

It was peppermint tea actually.

Who the hell goes to Starbucks to buy tea, then drives five miles for essential exercise and has somebody to take photos? I'm afraid there's a very fishy smell about this story.

You are so right Jennifer!

GrannyGravy13

63,000 plus new Covid-19 cases today

1,325 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test recorded today.

Why would anyone want to put themselves or their loved ones in danger by being out of the home more than absolutely necessary?

I agree GrannyGravy. We Essex Girls aren't so daft after all.

On a slightly positive note, the incidence rates for Essex have mostly come down for the second day running.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1APtcBmI4JeTR0Ysufjavgg2gy4MBiHz0Hf9eKIp5BSo/preview#gid=1865138965

growstuff I do hope they start to fall in my borough as they have been scarily high the last few weeks.

A precedent has been set. In future, anybody driving five miles for a walk, especially when there are plenty of other nearer spots for walks, has no grounds to complain if they're fined.

We jumped 233% in five days, but it does seem to be levelling off. My guess would be because pupils haven't been back at school.

growstuff

We jumped 233% in five days, but it does seem to be levelling off. My guess would be because pupils haven't been back at school.

Off Piste, but I have been homeschooling GC today (yr1) and am so impressed with the standard or online learning supplied. They had a zoom meeting with teachers for over an hour including phonics, maths and some exercise. Slightly surprised that out of a class of 30 only 16 pupils took part.

That story about the two women with the peppermint tea.

They must have gone back to have a photograph taken or they must have gone with a photographer.

It’s just a set up isn’t it? The media actually creating a story.

Shame on them.

And yes. Look at todays figures. Stay at home. A week of avoiding others would make a difference to infection. It’s not much to ask.

Essex was one of the first places to be hit by the new variant. All the Essex boroughs, except Colchester, Harlow and Tendring, plus Thurrock and Southend are now coming down. Fingers crossed that it reached a peak.

Should have said that the zoom session was additional to online individual learning.

GrannyGravy13

growstuff

We jumped 233% in five days, but it does seem to be levelling off. My guess would be because pupils haven't been back at school.

Off Piste, but I have been homeschooling GC today (yr1) and am so impressed with the standard or online learning supplied. They had a zoom meeting with teachers for over an hour including phonics, maths and some exercise. Slightly surprised that out of a class of 30 only 16 pupils took part.

That's good news. I think schools are much better organised now.

Unfortunately, some schools have been overwhelmed by the number of pupils who have turned up because the criteria for claiming a place in the classroom has been extended.

Someone asked why on earth were police waiting at a reservoir car park ?Well a few of my preferred walks with our dogs are up at the resevoirs near where I live.They are usually very popular places to visit in normal timws..The nearest is a couple of miles away so I can walk from home.The others are 5 /6 miles drive.I went there just before this latest lockdown and was stunned to see the car park over flowing,cars everywhere parked badly on nearby roads.Groups clutching take out drinks standing chatting, blocking paths and many not socially distanced.One couple asked me if it was usually so busy.They had driven from a city 20 miles away' just for a change.And yes I had driven there because its something I've done for 40 + years but shan't be doing again for some time sadly.
But we need to get on top of this thing.5 miles becomes 10 becomes even more for some.I'm not defending the police in this case but we really need to stay as local as possible.It's walking from home only again for me whilst things are so truly awful.

Yet more media fuss about nothing. A few police officers over-reacted, the fines’ll be overturned. As for the police, well they’re damned if they do (make examples of the rule-breakers we personally disagree with, and leave the ones we approve of alone) and damned if they don’t. Always the handy whipping boys (and girls).

Anyway, my DD and family had tickets to their nearest National Trust property for tomorrow, and have just had an email voiding them, so it looks as though at least some NT properties have decided against letting “non-locals” onto their grounds.

Probably for the best, as selling tickets to people living even a short drive away was perhaps sending out mixed messages.

Grannynannywanny

This is the current advice on the Scottish government website. Maybe I’m even thicker than I thought but I can’t really understand the part about the 5 mile boundary. Anyone able to simplify it?

^You can travel for local outdoor sport or exercise such as meeting another person, walking, cycling, golf or running that starts and finishes at the same place (which can be up to 5 miles from the boundary of your local authority area), as long as you abide by the rules on meeting other households.^

My daughter lives in Glasgow and she talks about having to stay within the area of her health board, so presumably she can travel outside it for 5 miles though the rule is a bit vague. She is very frustrated by the limitations as normally all her leisure time is spent on the mountains. There are few mountains to climb in Glasgow! She can meet with slightly more people if she organises a 'Ramblers' walk which she has done a couple of times but she doesn't advertise it for long to keep the numbers down as she is very strict about the distancing requirements. Mostly she just goes with one person though, or with her bubble or alone. When you love the outdoors so much, being in lockdown in a city is really bad for your mental health.

Personally I'm happy to stay at home, especially in this cold weather, but in the Spring I hope we'll be able to travel a bit again. If we can all stick to the rules that may be a reality, but not if people continue to mix in each others' homes.

Washerwoman

Someone asked why on earth were police waiting at a reservoir car park ?Well a few of my preferred walks with our dogs are up at the resevoirs near where I live.They are usually very popular places to visit in normal timws..The nearest is a couple of miles away so I can walk from home.The others are 5 /6 miles drive.I went there just before this latest lockdown and was stunned to see the car park over flowing,cars everywhere parked badly on nearby roads.Groups clutching take out drinks standing chatting, blocking paths and many not socially distanced.One couple asked me if it was usually so busy.They had driven from a city 20 miles away' just for a change.And yes I had driven there because its something I've done for 40 + years but shan't be doing again for some time sadly.
But we need to get on top of this thing.5 miles becomes 10 becomes even more for some.I'm not defending the police in this case but we really need to stay as local as possible.It's walking from home only again for me whilst things are so truly awful.

I think that might have been me - I just wondered about the number of police officers. If you look at the link on the BBC it seems rather a lot just to be monitoring walkers! Maybe they were having a pic-nic ?

growstuff and mamacaz - the BBC "reservoir" photo attributes the image to one of the women in the photo so I assume there was a timer set.

I think it would have been particularly foolish to take another person back there in order to pose for a photograph!

NotSpaghetti - the caption accompanying the photo shown above (Today 17:05 ) says "Jessica Allen (left) and Eliza Moore are now sticking to walks nearer their homes".

I could be wrong, but to me that suggests that the said photo was also taken on one of those 'closer to home' walks, not at the place where they were fined.

It's a scream really. We jump up and down when the police try to get people to stay near home or indoors and we moan like heck that other people are out and about. Having clearly defined, stringent rules is classed as bureaucratic nonsense so when the Government try to make allowances for the world and his wife, they are criticised as being too unclear. We all want this to be over but a large majority don't want to do what needs to be done for that to happen. We spend hours on here discussing how foolhardy people are but when someone on here dares to suggest that somebody might, in their opinion, being selfish, they are soundly chastised but the reality is, walking in the middle of nowhere across country does put you at risk of something going wrong (like a badly twisted ankle, etc) which might need you to call on an ambulance service is in crisis. Snow on the ground just makes it more likely! People are waiting for up to 12 hours for an ambulance at the moment and getting extremely cold if they are outside because of the low temperatures so it isn't a big jump to think it might be frowned upon by some people. It's a bit like a Monty Python sketch.

I thought that last time around (from March) we could drive a short distance for outdoor exercise, but this time it appears not.No driving only walks from the door will be very hard for many people.Have looked online and could only see advice to stay as local as possible.