To go to Whitby beach tomorrow

[BubblyBarbara]

I’ve gone to Whitby every year for the past decade or so and I’m missing it dearly. I’ve read Boris’s PDF and it says you are allowed to drive any distance to “open space” from tomorrow so my plan is to go to Whitby and spend the day on the beach - social distancing of course.

But I did a search on Facebook about car parks etc (it’s ok the parking inspectors are furloughed so I can park anywhere I like) and found lots of angry posts on local groups about how the people of Whitby don’t want people coming into their town yet

It’s legal for me to go tomorrow but the locals don’t want us to go.. who is BU here? I say the law is more important than what the locals say.

@Mittens030869 I think Scarborough ICU capacity was reduced when they became part of York and they started sending vascular patients through to us. Might be wrong.... I always felt the coastal patients got a raw deal in that merger. Wouldn’t fancy have a leaking triple aaa in Filey these days.

We are going to go to the localish beach tomorrow in our campervan taking all our own provisions and being completely self sufficient. Won't need to come into contact with anyone. Sons are desperate to get some sea air and do some fishing.

Just a note to add to those saying the locals don’t own the beach/beauty spot whatever. Those locals living in rural locations generally put up with average and undersized medical facilities. If you flood an area with corona virus and then bugger off to a city that is better resourced - then yes - you are selfish.

starfro my reason for not going would be the pressure on resources (parking spaces, queues for petrol, queues for toilets, large amounts of rubbish), not the risk of catching covid. Like I wouldn't go on august bank holiday either. If nobody else was likely to go it would be fine, but everyone will be out.

Can I also add batshit crazy??? I would not be going to a crowded area in the middle of this!!!

Please dont go. You are making things harder for people who live there and will not be welcomed.

I really genuinely hope you have found some basic human decency and decided to postpone your visit. If not you're utterly vile.

As someone who lives in a moderately popular Scottish seaside suburb (not a Whitby by any stretch) I would say YABU.

People choose their home location for multiple reasons and some are true choices whereas others more forced by work (location, commute etc.)

That being said, leaving aside London (which might be differnt due to population density) do people really need to travel to do their socially distanced exercise right now? And if they do, can't they be more imaginative than the tourist routes that are like the M25 of a summer day anyway and they wouldn't normally do because they can't be arsed when it's all fine

I love hillwalking, but I'm getting by with beach walks / runs and cycling because of where I live. I'm avoiding cycle paths and narrow routes. People rocking up here of a weekend because they want the beach impact my ability to get out and do what I need to and am permitted to do safely. Not sure why this is hard to understand. I want to go about my essential business and do my usual training safely. Randomers wandering about my area for so-called 'exercise' because it looks prettier than their street don't help with that at all.

On reflection I’ve decided not to go. My farmers are acting up anyway and I’ll go next week instead if the reported crowds don’t materialise. Thank you all

You might find that some irate locals, have planted some hidden mines on the beach..or trained all the seagulls to be even more vicious . People are doing all sorts of odd things to keep visitors away now !

I'd go if it wasn't going to be busy.

I don't see the problem, especially if people are driving out of densely populated areas to quieter more open areas to exercise, surely that is sensible? As long as these places don't then become very busy. It isn't set to be brilliant weather do I don't imagine it will be.

I could understand if people were staying overnight as potential burden on local NHS but all hotels etc are closed.

There does seem to be a sense of 'we don't want the plebs'.

Weather forecast isn’t good.

There does seem to be a sense of 'we don't want the plebs'.

Honestly not the case. It's more for the reasons listed above. My town has been barely touched by Covid-19 so far, luckily, as we have a high elderly population and one small cottage hospital, similar to many coastal towns. And because the cafes, bars, restaurants and pubs are closed to the public only the supermarket is open. This means that for everyone driving down to the beach, if they need anything at all they will all be headed to one location, the same location everyone in town is using to shop. It's alarming. It has nothing to do with not wanting to share our sand.

It's less about the locals and more about their health services. You can turn up there, have a lovely time, spread the virus unknowingly, go home but sooner or later all those visitors arriving and leaving and spreading more virus ( as you leave it on gates and railings etc) will impact upon those locals who will then get ill and overwhelm local services which have much less ICU capacity than urban areas. So stay away.

Sadly I think Whitby will be heaving.

Ignore the locals. The world is full of nimbys and people who move from cities to rural areas then complain about ‘tourists’ - just look at Cornwall ( they HATE the tourists that their economy relies on) and the Lake District.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

rubbish @sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea

there shall be no pointing finger at the couple from london. so wrong, that will be just gossip

@Frustratedsenmummy and @jungfraujoch - we must be neighbours! I assume we are talking about the Council whose middle letter is 'C'?? It is absolute madness to allow beach hut use as well as the other facilities. It seems to me that it is grossly unfair to allow visitors here when a) we in the SW have mainly adhered strictly to the rules and b)consequently we are lucky that the incidence of cases is low here. It's as if we are being punished for keeping the rules!

@MilkTrayLimeBarrel. That's the one and my thoughts entirely. We now can't enjoy our beaches for walks because they will inundated.

That's the one and my thoughts entirely. We now can't enjoy our beaches for walks because they will inundated.

Again @Frustratedsenmummy, They are not your private beaches

But @CrowdedHouseinQuarantine - we LIVE here and use the beach every day for dog walks! We will now have to restrict our use of the beach to avoid the bloody grockles!

Crowded house I don't think you probably appreciate that it isn't a few people it is literally thousands that descend on our beaches from hours away on a nice day. The beach on a nice day is impossible for social distancing

From the Scarborough Facebook page.
They don't want you there.

The semantics over “our beach” are a little foolish.

Surely most people understand that when people say “our beach” it’s understood shorthand for “the beach closest to where I live and that we use regularly”.

I’ve spoken on her about “our little Main Street” no-one would assume I thought I owned it, just using a conversational convention to set scene.