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Easing of Scottish lockdown
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inthebordersFree Member
Only saw three walkers and no other bikes at all in Yair today.
Missed the 6 of us then.
We saw a couple more groups of two bikers and a few walkers – maybe the chill kept them inside?
LDFree MemberSchool visits and trips guidance – we are moving back…
Looks great until you read this bit and think about any outdoor centre you know!
“Individuals sleeping in either single rooms indoors or single person tents outdoors.”
a11yFull MemberGolfie was utterly glorious this weekend. Not any busier than a normal sunny day really. Dry as bone! God it’s good to be back riding proper trails again!
Agree. I rode Golfie yesterday and I’ve seen it much busier than that in the past. Saw a couple of big groups from a distance across the moor but never once passed or was passed by anyone on the trails. And yes, conditions were dry – not much water in Waterworld!
stanfreeFree Membernot much water in Waterworld!
Thunderstruck at GT was the same and I was sure I’d never see that. Only the bottom 3 corners were wet. If anything the trails could do with a night of rain as Careless Whisper was proper sketchy .
matt_outandaboutFull Member“Individuals sleeping in either single rooms indoors or single person tents outdoors.”
Agreed.
It is aimed at opening up DofE and similar this summer.
I know the Ed.Recovery group is meeting again in first week of June with this supposed to be on the agenda again. I *think* they will consider full reopening for the autumn – which is in line I think with English and Welsh advice.scotroutesFull MemberGuidelines for hospitality (pubs, cafes etc)
Everyone visiting a hospitality setting must remain at least 1 metre apart from the next person, unless from the same household or a carer.
militantmandyFree MemberAgree. I rode Golfie yesterday and I’ve seen it much busier than that in the past. Saw a couple of big groups from a distance across the moor but never once passed or was passed by anyone on the trails. And yes, conditions were dry – not much water in Waterworld!
Some trails had perhaps gone from “prime” to “ohmygodthisisloose!” Big Baw and Hangover were absolutely incredible though. Cannot wait to move there!
ElShalimoFull MemberSummary of today’s update from NS:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-56807826
scotroutesFull MemberAye – pretty much as forecast. The only new things I could spot were; hospitality venues to take the details of everyone in each party, not just the “lead” and a request to take LFT 3 days before travel to the islands. (oh – and LFTs now available to everyone on demand).
ElShalimoFull MemberBBC not covering themselves in glory:
Non-essential travel with England, Wales and Northern Island will also be allowed for the first time this year.
ElShalimoFull MemberFrom: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-56817828
The moves are part of a wider easing of Scotland’s lockdown restrictions, which will also see the reopening of hospitality, tourist accommodation, visitor attractions and non-essential shops.
Most travel restrictions within Scotland were lifted last Friday.
There had been fears that some restrictions could remain in place for travel from the mainland to Scottish islands, many of which have very low rates of Covid.
Lateral flow tests will be available to anyone in Scotland from Monday, and anyone travelling to the islands is being urged to take two tests before their journey.
One should be taken three days before departure, and one on the day. If a positive result is returned from the initial test, people are encouraged to take a more sensitive PCR test before making a final decision on whether to cancel their visit.
“This is potentially an important way we can minimise the risk of bringing Covid into island communities, while nevertheless allowing our island communities the benefit of opening up again to visitors,” said Ms Sturgeon.
matt_outandaboutFull MemberI have just finished staff meeting – where four of eight colleagues in (southern) England were speaking of coming to Scotland for holidays this year. Two of them in camper vans and asking about ‘wild camping in Scotland’ in May, a third in another camper who has bookings for September…
Meanwhile a text from a friend also looking to head up in camper next week with canoe to do the Spey.
The A9 is going to be a parking lot, isn’t it?
Great for the businesses that need tourist income however.
swavisFull MemberGreat for the businesses that need tourist income however.
And maybe not so good for those of us that live here. I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised though 😊
My mate actually owns a rather nice campsite. He received a phone call from the neighbours that there was a family setting up despite the site being closed. By the time he got there they had the awning out, chairs out and making themselves right at home. He asked what on earth they were doing and could they not see that it was closed and nobody else was there? Their excuse? They just thought they were the first ones there 🤣
Bloke asked that if he didn’t mind turning a blind eye, neither did they… Chancers 🤣 Owner would’ve been shopped in sharpish, most likely by those same neighbours.NZColFull MemberThe roads around Edinburgh were carnage on Sat meanwhile the Pentlands were very quiet ! We’re joining the camper queue a week on Fri to get away for the weekend – it will be frankly v busy for a while in lots of places and much like tolerating the busy parts locally while everyone was stuck here it will be the same in the hotspots. I just really hope people are responsible and respectful, a big ask.
longdogFree MemberJust been in training for work on mediation and some people from mainland authorities were saying they’re going to be needing some conflict management/negotiation skills training for new and seasonal staff this year with the expected issues and attitudes.
matt_outandaboutFull Memberthere was a family setting up despite the site being closed.
I wonder how many folk without booking will turn up this summer to find sites full…
We’ve just been booking in colleagues for accomodation in Stirling in September. The prices for some places are nuts – places we’ve used for a few years with staff have just doubled thier room rates.
yourguitarheroFree MemberMy experiences:
Last Friday (lifting of travel restrictions), went camping at Megget reservoir nr St Mary’s Loch. Drove past Golfie and Inners – surprisingly quiet!
Quite a few folk out camping in their vans at the reservoir. I was in my tent due to MOT fail.
Everyone on good form and no manky rubbish or poops.
Nice in the sun, cold in the wind/shade! Lucky I had my decent gear with me, was sub-zero over night.Definitely more vans than I expected, wonder if it is a sign of the new normal for this summer or just because it was the first day we were let out? Though camping wasn’t actually allowed at that point.
Down in Peebles today canoeing down the river to Innerleithen. Gorgeous day. Busy around Peebles though again Inners car park looked dead. Did see lots of folk heading south with bikes on the roof after work.
Might jump the X62 down to the Tweed Valley at the weekend and go out towards Three Brethern or something if it’s nice.
iaincFull Member^^^ so is camping/campervan overnighting now allowed ?
I’m losing track of it all..
I had my first MTB ride of the year outside South Lanarkshire yesterday after work, with a superb spin around Mugdock. So nice to get back to my regular trails and not very busy, though it was 4 o’clock on a weekday 😁
matt_outandaboutFull Member^^^ so is camping/campervan overnighting now allowed ?
As of Monday iirc
scotroutesFull Member^^^ so is camping/campervan overnighting now allowed ?
It was allowed as of last week as long as you stayed within your LA. From 26th it’s allowed anywhere.
iaincFull Member^^^ thanks, seeing so many posts about activities and trying to keep track.
polyFree MemberJust been in training for work on mediation and some people from mainland authorities were saying they’re going to be needing some conflict management/negotiation skills training for new and seasonal staff this year with the expected issues and attitudes.
Trying to work out if the anticipated problems are:
– caused by the public
– caused by the staff’s view of the public
– caused by the staff’s view of management
– caused by management
– all of the above!swavisFull Member– caused by the public
I’d put money on this being the main one.
The forecast is looking a bit grim up here next week so we’ll see how dedicated the “wild” campers are 🤣
polyFree Membercaused by the public
I’d put money on this being the main one.
I’ve had the fun of working with some Local Authority staff over the last 3-4 weeks – and I’m not sure that all the blame for any attitude problem rests with the public! I’ve spent far too much time with some LA employees who seem to resent that the public wants to use the services they provide and have enjoyed having “covid” as an excuse to not do things that were a hassle before. I actually put the blame for that on the management because they’ve not provided the leadership to make those employees see the positives in being busier than ever (frankly they’d have been prime for redundancies if Covid hadn’t come along!) and for not fixing the underlying problems in doing their pre-covid job… I’ve seen other people in both private and public sector being really rather creative in finding ways to keep some service running, whilst the starting point in this LA seems to be how can we avoid doing anything.
I’m quite sure that a chunk of the public make it worse but there’s definitely a type of LA employee who seem to thrive on conflict.
13thfloormonkFull MemberNow that our Pyrenean trip is officially cancelled (I’m relieved to say) I’m considering my alternatives. Unfortunately all of them depend somewhat on wild camping! I really wanted to do a road cycling road trip maybe picking off the 5 best sportive routes of the north west, but my plan involved car camping and I very quickly realised how stupid an idea that was, I suspect convenient laybys with pub and forest adjacent will be in high demand!
I also then realised 2 of the 5 days planned involved the NC500 🙄
I think day trips from home might be the order of the day, could involve a shameful amount of miles in the car right enough…
swavisFull MemberI’m quite sure that a chunk of the public make it worse but there’s definitely a type of LA employee who seem to thrive on conflict.
You’re probably correct, I’m fortunate that I don’t really have to deal with either the public or our LA employees too regularly.
I just hope visitors to the area respect that people have to live here too. My main bugbear is the littering, just absolutely no need for it and such a simple thing to avoid.God I sound like a miserable sod 😆 I do actually miss the tourists, especially the Scandi’s and North Americans that come over for the whisky, it’s great chewing the fat with them over a few drams in the Mash Tun or Highlander. Hopefully we’ll be doing it again soon 😎
SpinFree MemberI suspect convenient laybys with pub and forest adjacent will be in high demand!
I also then realised 2 of the 5 days planned involved the NC500
If you ditch the pub nearby criteria you should be fine. I had 5 days in the NC500 area last summer and although it was heaving around settlements it was much quieter once you got away from them. I had 4 nights in parking spots in my van and never shared any of them.
longdogFree MemberTo be clear my comment was in relation to access to the countryside, and the staff referred to included national parks in areas such as loch Lomond and the Trossachs, places like Skye, and similar, but mainland Scotland as a whole.
The concern was with the mass of people coming with lots of expectations, lack of knowledge/awareness and no ‘plan Bs’ there might be lots of conflict, with staff, locals, service providers etc and how best to manage it.
Not sure where the bashing LA employees needs to come from? They’re also members of the public, and also trying to do the right thing for the areas the live and work in and provide most of the services people need in a pretty crappy time.
13thfloormonkFull MemberIf you ditch the pub nearby criteria you should be fine. I had 5 days in the NC500 area last summer and although it was heaving around settlements it was much quieter once you got away from them. I had 4 nights in parking spots in my van and never shared any of them.
OK, a bit of flexibility might be all that’s required. I guess spending the evening in the car driving around trying to find a spot is better than spending an evening huddling in the tent listening to the midgies batter against the flysheet 😁
onehundredthidiotFull MemberOh the Mash Tun quite a nice pub if I remember. Happy to say the common ridings are cancelled. Don’t mind the whole idea but the place stinks of horse shit for weeks and the actual weekend is just folk getting hammered as opposed to having fun.
polyFree MemberThe concern was with the mass of people coming with lots of expectations, lack of knowledge/awareness and no ‘plan Bs’ there might be lots of conflict, with staff, locals, service providers etc and how best to manage it.
That was kind of my point – the LA’s (or NP’s) are perfectly aware there will be heightened demand for their services, but from what I can see rather than embrace this and look for smarter ways of working many (not all) are preparing to batten down the hatches. An example I’ve been dealing with this month: Bad parking because the car park is full; we suggest opening an overflow car park (not making an overflow car park – just taking the lock off the gate on the existing one), they refuse because “that would encourage more people to come”. I’ve had quite long discussions on various topics and its quite clear to me that all these people wanting to do things in their own local authority area are actually a bloody inconvenience. Someone in their leadership should have said, “this is an amazing opportunity to show the facilities we have, the help the LA can provide and how we use your taxes wisely so you have this stuff” but from the top down the messaging is “too busy, stay away”.
Not sure where the bashing LA employees needs to come from? They’re also members of the public, and also trying to do the right thing for the areas the live and work in and provide most of the services people need in a pretty crappy time.
I don’t think there was bashing LA employees any more than your post was bashing the public for lacking a plan B. If anything I was criticising the LA leadership for not being more innovative. I guess I was wondering whether this was an example of LA’s looking to avoid the conflict by proactive planning or as it sounded just assuming there would be conflict and bracing for impact. I’ve never understood why places like railway stations, council offices etc go to the effort and expense of putting up signs telling people they won’t tolerate abuse – of course they won’t, and they shouldn’t, but nobody ever got polite from a sign saying be decent. Certainly, the public shouldn’t be acting that way, but if the leadership invested the time and effort from zero value “politeness publicity” into fixing some of the really basic issues (often communication, information, clarity) that cause people to get frustrated in the first place they’d at least have some impact.
Swavis’ point about littering is a good example. Of course people should take their crap home with them. Its quite clear that some people are too stupid/lazy to do that – so perhaps the LA would stick some extra bins in to at least make it easier for people to comply. Round here… …we stopped emptying the public litter bins that were there (covid staffing excuse) so they all overflow and stuff blows around. Public toilets are similar – they do present a covid risk but perhaps cleaning them more frequently and making sure there’s soap etc in them would be better risk mitigation than closing them – its not like everyone is going to not need the toilet, they are just going to do it somewhere less hygienic.
I’m in a semi-rural area that is popular with tourists, so I do have some sympathy for the “tourists forget people live here too” side of the argument – but let’s remember we expect access to all the facilities of the cities (hospitals, supermarkets, train stations etc) when we want them – so let’s not try to imply rural areas should be less open to those travelling there unless there is a real and immediate covid risk – this is actually an opportunity for Scotland to show the people of the UK how good a location for leisure it can be, not just in covid times but every year – perhaps we will stop putting so much CO2 in the atmosphere and money in EasyJet/RyanAir’s pockets and look to embrace our own country (selfishly I’d rather they all **** off back to Spain, France and Greece for their 2 weeks in the sun). Those of us outside cities have actually been relatively lucky with where we were stuck (some more than others) and should be encouraging as many people as possible to embrace the outdoors because I think that is good for all outdoor activity in the long term rather than it being a niche or worse, perceived as the luxury of the countryside dweller. LA’s are often the face of those areas and they can choose to tackle this in a positive way or be hostile.
tomdFree Member@Poly great post. I heard the head of the lake district NP on the radio couple of weeks ago, and despite the presenters line of questioning “What will you do with hordes? Will it all be overrun? How will you deal with ASB? etc” He just repeated what a great place the lakes is and gave advice on how people can enjoy it as best they can and all the measures they’re putting place. Very refreshing attitude vs some of the pish from our NPs and cooncils.
SpinFree MemberI heard the head of the lake district NP on the radio couple of weeks ago, and despite the presenters line of questioning “What will you do with hordes? Will it all be overrun? How will you deal with ASB? etc” He just repeated what a great place the lakes is and gave advice on how people can enjoy it as best they can and all the measures they’re putting place. Very refreshing attitude vs some of the pish from our NPs and cooncils.
That’s really good. I’m already getting pissed off with all the doom mongers wallowing in misery about how bad things will be when stuff opens up. An FB friend made a post about the ‘impending desecration of the Highlands’! Of course there will be antisocial behaviour but that would happen most years, if not on the same scale and if you go looking for it you will find it. There will always be a minority who behave irresponsibly, it’s the flip side of having access laws that allow people such freedom. That doesn’t make it acceptable or mean we should let people away with it but the only way to stop it would be by having stricter restrictions for all. More education and policing would help but it will only get us so far.
ElShalimoFull MemberI’ve been going to Highlands since I was a little boy and somewhere I always see a bunch of lads (usually blamed on Dundee folk) sat by a tent in a random bit of field with slabs of beer 12-15 high. They sit there all week come rain or shine getting pished. Most take their crap home, some don’t. None of this is that new
ElShalimoFull MemberWhen is the next ScotGov announcement?
I think the restrictions are due to change on May 17th but doesn’t NS have to announce and approve them beforehand?
oldtennisshoesFull Member@Poly great post. I heard the head of the lake district NP on the radio couple of weeks ago, and despite the presenters line of questioning “What will you do with hordes? Will it all be overrun? How will you deal with ASB? etc” He just repeated what a great place the lakes is and gave advice on how people can enjoy it as best they can and all the measures they’re putting place. Very refreshing attitude vs some of the pish from our NPs and cooncils.
+1
scotroutesFull Member5 of us at the pub tonight, sitting outside in 4C temps with hailstorms passing through.
It was glorious 🙂
onehundredthidiotFull MemberTempest brewery tap session on Sunday. I cannot wait.
Well obviously I can and it’s not the most important thing in the world but Mrs 100th offered to drive me there and back, obviously there’s a huge to-do list incoming but…..
duckmanFull MemberDraught Jarl for me tomorrow, I will only have 2, maybe 3 pints of it…but in a proper Fyne ales pint glass with condensation on the sides of it <smacks chops>
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