So Blackpool was absolutely packed with joyful people today!

[imaginethemdragons]

The sea front full of happy families enjoying the blue skies and sunshine.
Every restaurant and pub jam packed outside with people.
The horse & trolleys were ferrying folk up & down the prom, tram stops with big queues.
The sea looked blue & calm. Great sea brows across to the Lake District.
The funfairs open and huge Ferris wheels were turning with people on.
Good to see some normality and happiness at last.
Not a mask in sight.
Not a single bit of SD
I hope this doesn’t mean another catastrophic wave.

Why the F would anyone want to be on the beach today? It's been COLD as fuck! 6 to 7 degrees Celsius tops! Anyone who went to spend the day at the beach today 'just because I can' is bloody bonkers. Sitting there like the mad feckers in the pub gardens, with their winter woolies on, freezing their tits and balls off, just to say they did it.

Also, I am baffled at the sight of the 1000s of people queuing outside all the shops today. Some of them were queueing from 11pm last night. Primark and Sports Direct and TK Maxx will still be there next week people, and the week after, and the week after, and so on and so on..........

Batshit.

And yeah, people are allowed to be more 'free' now, and are allowed to do more things, but people crowding together, with no mask, and standing just a couple of feet apart, (like some people DID,) are foolish, ignorant pillocks.

@dementedma

DS(19) is going into town with a friend on Thursday. I couldn't be more excited if he had announced that he had won a Nobel prize. He hasnt met up with friends in person since last September...

No offence, but I think you need to get out more........

Blue sea? In Blackpool?

I assume you're rescuing that poor soul freezing to death?

😂

Open water swimming in the bay has been a lifeline for lots of people during COVID. Each to their own but it’s an absolute buzz for us that try it.

I hope Blackpool A&E are ready for the alcohol fuelled fighter/trippers/slippers and fallers tonight,
It’s going to be bedlam.
Apparently, according to the local paper, they are being swamped by people post Covid vaccine going there with “minor headaches” .

Just when the opportunity for some breathing space presents itself to those poor buggers working their arses off for 12 months, they will be hammered with this.
I wish them good luck.

I went to Blackpool a couple of years back as I’d never been. Was warned by pretty much everyone what a shithole of a town it was.

That beach is bloody fantastic. If it was down South it would cost you £6.00 to park near it ( near being a good 5 minute walk away) and close to a million to live mar it. Opposite our apartment for the night was a beautiful pub with its original features ; stained glass, signage, wooden woods and windows half derelict. Unbelievable. I’m glad Blackpool had a good day today.

Well it's not like that in my neck of the woods. Today I've been for a morning swim, for a haircut, for a pub lunch, and then shopping.

99.9% of people were wearing masks where appropriate and gave each other space. Best day of 2021 so far.

Given that there weren't any massive spikes over the summer when there were pictures of crowds on the beaches and in the parks etc, it shouldn't cause one this time. Especially as so many people have been vaccinated now.

@ButForTheGrace

Recently published in the Irish Times:

Of the 232,164 cases of Covid-19 recorded in the State up to March 24th this year, 262 were as a result of outdoor transmission, representing 0.1 per cent of the total

I'm making the assumption that rates in the UK will be similar to that of Ireland - outdoors is really low risk. Don't panic Mr Mainwaring!

Nice to see people out enjoying themselves and a bit of normality, but the above quote from The Irish Times reminds me of the saying about 'lies, damned lies and statistics' The figures are a bit misleading unless analysed carefully and considered in context. First question - do we spend an equal amount of time indoors and outdoors? If we happened to spend only 0.001 % of out time outdoors, say, then the percentages quoted above would be quite alarming. Other factors that may be important are whether we tend to spend more or less time in the company of others when indoors and outdoors. Or whether our social distancing habits change depending on location etc.

Overall, it's agreed that, all other factors being equal, outdoors is safer, and that's been reflected in the advice and guidelines from the beginning. Off the top of my head, I think you're about 20 times less likely to get Covid outdoors than indoors...but your actual chance of catching it varies a lot depending on the particular circumstances. The simple fact of being outdoors nakes it safer, but not as safe as a cursory glace at the newspaper figures quoted above might lead you to believe.

Great to hear Morecambe bay been cleaned up! Used to be really grim when I lived nearby.