there’s a far greater risk of the virus spreading through that activity, than people heading out into the hills close to home.

True but neither is currently legal/allowed

For those in the Peak (and for wider interest), the following popular cycling stops were open last weekend for takeaways with the (now normal) distancing arrangements:

• Parsley Hay refreshment kiosk and toilets.
  Millers Dale Station refreshment kiosk and toilets.
  Hassop Station Cafe
  Fairholmes (Ladybower reservoir) refreshment kiosk and toilets.
  Cafe Adventure in Hope
  Bakehouse in Whaley Bridge

Also, I had no problems propping the bike up outside and popping in to the Co-ops in Baslow and Bradwell and the 24 hour filling station at the Bamford junction off the Hope valley road.
(I was stocked up fully self-sufficient, but couldn't resist the lure of sausage rolls and scotch eggs!).

Lazarus wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 5:26 pm

there’s a far greater risk of the virus spreading through that activity, than people heading out into the hills close to home.

True but neither is currently legal/allowed

Neither is driving to Barnard Castle to test your eye sight or gathering in groups of 6 or more in England, but people still do it.

Also true
The reality is we would almost certainly get away with a lockdown breach if we were careful- bivvying ,quiet party, ridingabout with your mates notsocially distanced etc
We could use all sorts of arguments- others are doing stuff, its actually safe, etc [ there are merits to these points of view] or you can follow the rules ,crapply implemented and delivered by an inept govt, that are fundmentlly designed to keep people safe.

I can see why many are not bothering and the more who ignore it and get away with it the more that will do this. I am not one of them though the more this goes on [ duration and blatant breaches] the less convincing i find my argument.

stevewaters wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 6:25 pm Peak... ...cycling stops...

Good to know, I'm hoping for a day ride out that way soon.

Some words from the today's BBC Wales live feed:

A 26-year-old man has appeared in court after he was caught camping during lockdown.
Llandudno Magistrates heard Connor Richards from Rhyl decided to go camping after he suffered a family tragedy and lost his job.
His solicitor said all he saw on his trip were badgers.
Richards admitted breaching Covid-19 regulations and court chairman Robert Bradley told him: ”This is going to turn out a very costly night’s camping for you.”
He was fined £40 with £117 costs.

We are still 'lockeddown' here in Wales

Meanwhile the cops are still "thinking about" fining that bloke whose name begins with C - a very applicable use of the C-word - for his "possible minor breach of the regulations". Sounds like this poor sod could have done with a break anyway. One rule for the toffs and another for the plebs and tramps.

I read that the CV19 FPN was sixty quid fixed, halved if you cough up within two weeks, so this sounds like a made-up fine as well.

He might have refused to pay the FPN and therefore ended up in court? Tbh it doesn't give me confidence to sneak out for a solstice bivvy in a couple of weeks. I might sleep in the shed instead...

Just on the news now - all "non-essential" shops can open next Monday "if safe" (ie taking distancing precautions etc), but pubs got to wait "until July".

Of course, you'll only be able to get about six people 2m apart in every direction inside a pub or cafe, so they'll have to put some outdoors infrastructure in place pronto. I actually had my "3 minutes of air-time" at a Central Beds Council meeting online this morning. It was a proposal to make our High St pedestrian-only for a trial 18 months; along with making a couple of access roads one-way, thereby giving much more room on pavements and half of the closed roads for
eating/drinking/mingling/circulation. Also making more provision for cycles. In our car-fanatic area this would have been unthinkable a few years ago but everyone now seems to be embracing it wholeheartedly. I cheekily lobbed in a comment at the end that they should go the whole hog and ditch all signs, markings and kerbs etc to make it a fully-fledged "shared space", even more amazingly a couple of councillors agreed with me!

Since the lockdown began, and a bit before actually, I've played it pretty conservatively: followed the rules, not pushed the limits even when others were, and even when restrictions were eased, continued doing so.

But last night, I went out for bivvy. I'd already decided to, but I was thinking about the moral implications (justifying it to myself basically). I rode from home, even though I could have driven anywhere in the country under the rules. I could have done an identical ride in one calendar day within the rules. I was entirely self-sufficient - visited no cafes, shops, or public toilets, even though some are open and I could have done. Apart from the part of the ride where we (myself and one friend, socially distanced) joined a small, traditional, but not organised, solstice sunset gathering (at which there was very little social distancing from anyone else, but that's out of my control), we saw virtually no-one.

But before I'd even thought about all that, I realised that bloody Primark (insert your alternative choice of horde-attracting non-essential retailer here) is open, and that swung it for me. I could have driven 100 miles to a shopping centre, stopping on the way for a coffee and a piss, queued inside with a thousand other people, bought some cheap tat, and driven home, like a good little consumer, and that would have been perfectly fine. But sleeping outside miles from the nearest person isn't? Give over! I'm willing to accept that the restrictions won't always be perfectly logical, but that realisation was a step too far for me.

I'm not looking for validation here, by the way, just sharing my thoughts in case anyone else was thinking similarly.

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:36 pm I could have driven 100 miles to a shopping centre

That's the moment my commitment took a serious hit - when Borearse switched from 'stay at home' to suddenly 'you can go as far as you like in 24 hours'. An intermediate stage should have been 'you can stay out for 24 hours in your local area'. As a result, all the Normals went mental and drove across the country to Southend and Dorset.

These days it almost feels like being a martyr if you still stick to the rules.

RIP wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:59 pmThese days it almost feels like being a martyr if you still stick to the rules

Its this Reg

A few of us went out on Saturday night, in the same way as Northwind says.
A few miles from the house, a few socially distanced beers watching the sun go down generally talking nonsense.

I'm sure some people will want to chase me with a pitchfork and burn me at the stake for going out, but if you stay local, keep within your limits, and dont go around hugging grannies, or french kissing asthmatics, then I cant really see any issues

As I've already said, I fail to see what the added risk is of being out during the dark(er) hours.

2 pence: Been 3 or 4 weeks now and we've not had a hint of the __v__ and each week is quieter than the previous one.

This last shift we had about* 5 floating nurses. Its funny cos none of them actually could float!!

*I say 'about' cos am losing count of how many spare staff there are nowadays. Which is a good sign as it means we've not got everyone dying around us and everyone stressed stressed with 'uncoping'...

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:36 pm I'm not looking for validation here, by the way, just sharing my thoughts in case anyone else was thinking similarly.

Exactly my thoughts as well, hence why I Bivvied out on Wednesday. I’ve followed the regs, not visited my mother who spent 2 /12 weeks in a coma at the beginning of the lockdown and stayed local to home on the bike just doing hill reps. BUT please credit me with a little intelligence, from last Monday you could take a calculated risk to buy crap you don’t need again, mainly to keep the wheels of industry turning but you can’t sleep alone in a field?
Prosecuting the poor chap above was pointless (although admittedly I don’t know when the ‘offense’ took place) I suspect that unlike that self entitled Tory tosser It was more about, to quote maggie “keeping the working man in his place” hence two different applications of the same rules.
This virus is not going to disappear any time soon, Borris might be about to relax the remaining restrictions but I’d still feel safer in my tent than primark.

BigdummySteve wrote: ↑Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:07 am Prosecuting the poor chap above was pointless (although admittedly I don’t know when the ‘offense’ took place) I suspect that unlike that self entitled Tory tosser It was more about, to quote maggie “keeping the working man in his place” hence two different applications of the same rules.

Yah, exactly the point I made earlier. Reinforced even more by my current reading of 'Who Owns England?'

Well, this bloke https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... d-53129414 has just restarted his long distance walk around the UK, after 3 months hiatus living in isolation on an island in Shetland.

I haven't heard any notification that we are now allowed to go on long distance walks, presumably camping along the way.

Having just had two weeks holiday, spent at home, I would have loved to have been able to head off for a few days walking (or cycling) and camping, but we were told it was not allowed ages ago and as far as I know that remains the case.

So how can this bloke start walking around the country unchallenged?

ripio wrote: ↑Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:35 pm So how can this bloke start walking around the country unchallenged?

By restarting a long long long long way away from curtain twitchers

I'm on the ferry (for work) it's packed, they are running every hour again and the majority of the other passengers are pensioners.

They could be on a day trip, but an expensive day out. I would guess most are off on holiday or going home after spending the weekend at the holiday home on the Island. If there are any lock-down rules left in place they're not being followed or enforced. Other than the face masks everything looks like it's back to normal.

"From 4 July pubs and restaurants will be allowed to open both indoors and outdoors if they put in safety guidelines including table service online.

Other businesses allowed to reopen will be:

Hotels, bed and breakfasts, campsites and caravan parks, hair salons and barbers but with visors worn,
Playgrounds, museums, galleries, theme parks, outdoor gyms and arcades, libraries, social clubs and community centres".

Strange feeling. Almost as if it had never happened. Apart from the small matter of 50000 people .

"However nightclubs, spas, indoor soft play areas, bowling alleys, water parks, indoor gyms, nail bars, swimming pools and water parks will not be able to reopen at this stage."

Welsh Wales? Scotland?

So there you go. Just need to find somewhere to get my nails lacquered then.

Interesting but not unexpected. I have been in contact with Cumbria police about when things would be eased and received this (my emphasis):

I was really hoping that we would have got an indication that they would be allowed from 4th July when pubs etc. open. Unfortunately, there has been no decision and unless there is a surprise announcement (as there sometimes is) then it might be towards the middle of July when that comes.

This was when the government were still saying mid to late July. I wasn't sure if it was a slip of the pen/keyboard or a subtle nod my way.

As I was typing the above I received another email from the police (assistant chief constable no less) with:

All, I haven’t seen the text as yet but my understanding is that all restrictions on overnight activity will end on 4th July.

There is always the possibility of further local lockdown measures in response to localised outbreaks but I will keep you informed if that becomes likely.

RIP wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:00 pmWelsh Wales? Scotland?

All of these changes announced relate to England

Indeed. Just wondering when they'll join in. Have to ask my lad on the inside.

"Overnight activities". Gosh, that sounds a bit racey! Far too frisky for us pensioners. I just want to bivvy out. I'm going to have a Mackeson and a lie-down after reading that.

I'm now aiming at July 4th for us in Wales. As I said on another thread when I was out on Saturday I could have easily rolled out the bivvy bag. I don't fancy being the one with his mugshot on the local rag for being out out! But as above said Primark is due to open any day here in Llandudno so why wait....?

I'm reassured, frustrated and alarmed by the slower pace that our (Scottish) devolved government are taking compared to England..
Reassured because essentially nothing has changed and Corona virus is still as dangerous as ever, frustrated because I'll have to wait longer than you lot darn sarf to be able to get out and do the things that I want to do again and alarmed because Scotland is so reliant on tourism and hospitality and delaying reopening things is going to be catastrophic for jobs and the economy.