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.

I don’t know really OP. I live on a beach that is popular with people from inland towns and the nearest city which is 45 mins away.

I fully expect lots of them will want to come here this weekend. But locals in the village here would far rather they didn’t, if we are honest. If it gets busy here it basically means we can’t go out. All day. Until the day trippers go home.

We’re not exactly going to do the journey in reverse and go and sit in their urban parks, after all.

From our MP, Robert Goodwill. Whitby and Scarborough not accepting vistors

We have no real hospital in Whitby. Public toilets and almost all businesses are closed. We have one small supermarket in town - the Co-op. It cannot support visitors as well as locals.

What do you think is the right thing to do?

As Goodwill says, it is impossible to social distance effectively on the narrow streets of the East Cliff.

OP, just make sure you don’t stand right in front of the doors of terrified locals.

I wouldn't as yet, just for your own safety. Whitby is a tiny place, the beach isn't very big and the streets are narrow. I don't know how it would be possible to stay two metres from people if it's busy. And it will be busy - I saw photos of it from the weekend before lockdown and it was very crowded so it will be the same the day lockdown is lifted. I agree that it's a lovely place but I don't know how you'd carry out your activity safely. There are lots of nice walks in the surrounding moors although they might be busy too. Tbh I'm going to be steering clear of anywhere that generally gets a lot of visitors for a good while. It's not as though you'll even be able to get a cup of tea or an ice-cream or whatever anyway!

There's a very popular tourist area about an hour's drive from me and I've also seen that the residents are very unhappy about the risks of hordes of tourists now turning up.

I'm not planning on going but I can see why you're unsure

Where will you pee?

We are expecting swarms to descend again like the first weekend of lockdown. Full of litter and abusive people (when asked not to park in private spaces)

I’m afraid next time it’s hot we’re all going to park on the road to prevent the same occurrence. The farmer (who allows people to use his field, NO public right of way) has locked up.

www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/coronavirus-tourists-selfish-flock-coast-17960483

And it's worth remembering that everything will be closed. I'm next to the beach and there's no cafes, no public toilets, no ice-cream vans - nothing. Most of the car parks are closed too.

So even if you DO go, you may not find anywhere to park!

I wonder if the people of Whitby* are going to stay in Whitby or will they travel to other touristy places?

*other places are available. e.g. Lakes, NY Moors, Devon

Mind you, there were already about 40 cars in our beach car park today. Through lockdown it’s only been about 5... so people are already on the move.

Where will you pee?

I foresee hoards of tourists wading into the the North Sea up to their waists and making a sharp return.

A local tourist area near here was on local news . I am working tomorrow anyway however our walks for exercise where we live is litterally round the streets so would happily drive to exercise however I would not go to a popular tourist resort currently.

There will be nowhere to go to the loo

Otherwise it would be fine

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should and doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It's incredibly selfish. I'm sure you'll do it anyway though.

OP I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. Just use your common sense. If the beach starts to get really busy I would back off.

I feel like tomorrow could be mass exodus day - the roads are going to be busy.

If you go for a whole day out, where do you go to the loo? Are public toilets open?

Selfish - just wait

It's not imperative you visit that beach tomorrow - is it?

Use your common sense OP and do what you need to do. Keep alert and keep safe and enjoy the beach

I have put YABU. Whitby is crowded at the best of times and it's layout makes SD all but impossible in places. No toilets, no car parks, no cafes and surely you have seen the forecast, not much sun either.

I can understand the desire to go, I am desperate to see the sea, Whitby is not the place to go at the moment though.

We may go to the coast at the weekend, but it will literally be drive there, park up, smell the air and turn back. However we are more like 20 minutes away (and it's not Whitby)

An hour there and an hour back; nowhere to eat and nowhere to pee; how long a walk/sit can you enjoy before you need to go home?

I am sympathetic - I live walking distance from a very long and large beach and have been glad to have been able to go there, but parking is limited and we can enjoy an hour's walk and be home.

I may be totally in the wrong but tourism surely is the reason the numbers in Cumbria are so high? In which case I can totally sympathise with locals not wanting visitors and am still baffled by the 'drive to other destinations' bit of the new guidance more than any other. Most other countries gave out strict limits on how far you're allowed to travel and I think it's really risky we haven't

Completely legal for you to go, you are going for the day so will not add any kind of strain to the local hospitals. As long as you abide by the social distancing rules carefully, you will be a danger to absolutely no one.

Go and have a wonderful time, and don't listen to the doomsters on here who would happily lock us all up and throw away the key!

YANBU. Why shouldn't you? The locals don't own the beach.

Can't you go to the outskirts and avoid the town? I don't know Whitby but can you access the coast line without going near the town?