The beach down south/bbc news tonight

[Milssofadoesntreallyfit]

I'm mean, yes I want things back to normal BUT I am still concerned in case we get a spike again. I agree we all need to be careful BUT clearly all these people just thought F* it.
All we've put up with so far with lock down and it seems every one on the beach in question decided to piss it into the wind.

If I were the government I would think I couldn't trust people to use sense at all and put lockdown back in place until either a vaccination or until people realised that if they want lockdown relaxed then they need to prove they can be trusted to show a bit of caution.

Rant over.

We need beach marshals, open facilities, extra toilets shipped in, police directing traffic as they have had to do in Spain and other places.

It sounds like what's needed - though unfortunately not possible to implement in most beach areas - is prebooked parking and you get turned away if you don't have a slot

Big fines for illegally parked cars might help.

Don't drive somewhere unless you're either sure you can park properly or accept you may need to turn around and go home if you can't. Which automatically implies it's a bad idea to travel a long distance for a day out to somewhere that's likely to be popular. It's not hard to work that out, is it?

I get that people have been cooped up, but as another resident of a sea side village it has been hell here. So much so they've closed the public car parks this morning.
The amount of litter left behind is disgraceful, and don't even get me started on the traffic. Trying to cross the road yesterday with a buggy took forever because firstly I couldn't see around the dumped cars on verges and secondly at the zebra crossing no one was stopping!
Then there's the ridiculous amount of rescues our beach patrols are carrying out due to intoxicated people in the water.
We are use to this behavior in August, but for it to start so bloody early is absolutely horrid for us locals.
For those saying that people need to come to sea side resorts because they live in built up areas, many of you choose to live in such areas so I don't think we should just accept that as reasoning for appalling behavior.
We pay alot too, to live in a normally beautiful area, it's unfair that a percentage of people ruin that for everyone.

I wouldnt want to be on a beach like that regardless of virus. Trouble with British they dont behave like the scandi countries, so many are selfish, could not care less about other people, the environment, in any shape or form. What about the disgusting rubbish they left. I live near a beach, yup people want to visit, fine, but dont leave your litter,broken glass, dog mess, hot BBQ s for others to clear up. Its not a virus of elderly people I know someone young fit, no underlying health issues, in IU since March.Herd immunity not proven, vaccine maybe, the coronviruses that cause the common cold have never had a succesful vaccine. Every year seasonal flu mutates.

@SvenandSven speaking of the Purbecks..

AFAIK Weston Supermare is the nearest beach from Birmingham. But there's nothing anywhere near. It is basically equidistant from Bournemouth to the south, Blackpool to the north and the Suffolk coast to the East.

Re the comment upstream re the Liverpool supporters having ‘worked out their chance of dying’ - how the hell does that work?? Also I thought the R rate in the NW was still higher and potentially around 1. We’ll see I guess. I desperately hope it’s ok.

Re the people crowding on to beaches, it is foolish, but I guess those who have travelled would have taken the decision ‘we’re here now, let’s find a spot. Multiple that by a thousand or so and there you have it. There is zero excuse for all the litter left behind though. No excuse at all.

I do understand that people want to go out and enjoy the beach, but honestly the scenes at Bournemouth looked like hell on earth.
The way some people behave is shocking. It is embarrassing and most of it is due to alcohol intoxication.
It is so irresponsible - I hope there aren't a lot of children with sunburn and heatstroke today. Not to mention the risks attached to the large numbers defecating on the beach and in the sea.

Before lockdown the reason for not introducing it sooner was that there is, form a behavioural science perspective, a limit to how much of it people will take. Everyone said this was ridiculous - of course we can manage lockdown for as long as it takes, given the gravity of the situation. The behaviour scientists have been proven right. Hospitals have the situation under control so anyone who catches it will receive the attention they need. There is obviously a risk that it will be fatal for them, but as long as they stay away from vulnerable people then it is their risk. They might even be doing us all a favour by increasing herd immunity without us having to catch it.

*The only thing you Should ever leave are your footprints
*
Love this

@SquirtleSquad brilliant! People forget their brains!

It usually is a 10 minute drive from my house to my parents via sandbanks. Not expecting the carnage I went that route and it took me hours!

None of us have been affected and my older kids are back at school (in bubbles of 6/7 kids - this is Y6) but I am going to continue to isolate as much as possible. I don’t believe the danger has passed and it will impact no one but my family to do this.

I’m waiting on the thread calling all the Liverpool supporters idiots for last night because there should be one

Don’t worry I’m sure the BBC and other media will do a fine job of pillorying scousers, much more than those in the south. They always do. (Don’t disagree - fireworks and horn honking woke me up last night)

this is entirely, 100%, the fault of the conservative government

I'm about as far left as you can get and even I don't blame the conservative Government for the absolute stupidity shown by the general public.

I do however blame them for not thinking about the fact some of the general public need things literally spelt out for them and to have their hands held at all times. There should've been much clearer 'rules' put in place. People need to be explicitly told not to do stupid things because clearly common sense is a foreign concept to some.

One thing that has been confirmed to me during the Coronavirus is that there really are a lot of seriously dense people. There is a pandemic on and people have/ are dying but that doesn't stop the street parties and beach trips.

Also, I am astonished at the level of selfishness of people too. My local supermarket is at the top of a small hill and the queue always has a number of very elderly, people on mobility scooters and with those walkers with the seat. The other day there was someone in a wheelchair struggling to keep it from rolling back. Despite a number of times asking, the shop still refuses to let them go to the front because other people in the queue complain.

Seriously, you would begrudge a 90 year old with a mobility scooter, someone with a disability in a wheelchair or someone who can't walk going in front of you? Honestly, I have given up on humanity.

Unfortunately, this country is run by clowns and full of dicks. The scenes from yesterday are ridiculous, I'm more incensed by the littering and brawling than the social distancing - but it all points to a sense of selfishness and entitlement that just summarises our society now. It's frankly quite embarrassing to be British.

In terms of covid specifically. It does seem the govt is on a herd immunity strategy. It's one that we know works, but with an illness that we know very little about it is a risky one. My son has to rely on herd immunity for medical reasons (can't have the mmr, for instance), so I am all for it in theory. But equally, I would not be allowing him to have a vaccine that has been so rushed through. Its an almost impossible balance to find, and only time will tell if we're getting it right, but my strong suspicion is that our country is not. Because its run by clowns and full of dicks.

@SquirtleSquad I live Studland side and follow purbeck police. Made me laugh this morning

Interested to hear from any beach day trippers on here. I won’t go far from home until toilets aren’t open. The idea of having to poo in public is for me the last bastion of civilisation.

Me too, I’ll be going nowhere without toilets.

@Pigeon I'm 26 weeks pregnant, working from home with 3 children and yesterday it was 31 degrees so yes maybe I am 😬 I'm following the 2m rule as are my husband and children so I don't know where your getting that nobody is from? 🤷‍♀️Also just because "everyone" else isn't doesn't mean you shouldn't! Would you leave litter all over the place because others do? Fed up of the "but they're doing it" mentality. I'm genuinely not too worried about covid-19 BUT I don't want to spread it to anyone unknowingly and possibly cause a death! I also wasn't keen on you trying to correct me to make yourself look better and try to belittle me.

What I am more confused about is why you would want to go to one of those beaches. English beaches are grim. The sand is minging, people end up right next to you, there is loads of litter and the sea is horrible.

You would be better off buying yourself a paddling pool and sitting on a deckchair in your back garden.

You wouldn’t normally see beaches as busy as that on a Wednesday during term time. The government have kept the majority of children off school, many of their parents are still furloughed or sick to death of homeschooling and desperate to get away for a break. If there were more leisure places to go to then people will be more spread out. It’s the lack of things to do that is the problem. That said, I would never attempt to go near Bournemouth beach during lockdown.

I just dont understand why people want to all sit so close to each other like that, absolute nightmare. I always search out quieter places.

Don't call them idiots. They're just people like you and me trying to make the best decision for themselves and their families.

And making a pretty poor one.

I suspect you may feel differently if you actually lived in one of these towns, having to put up with dirty little piggies defecating in the street or worse, on your property.

Public toilets are closed. Pubs and restaurants are closed. If you make an 8 hour round trip without even thinking about something so basic as needing to use the toilet, you're hardly a candidate for MENSA.

It's understandable that people want to get out on the hottest day of the year after being cooped up for months but the scenes from Bournemouth and the number of mass gatherings there have been recently have just left me thinking what's the point of the rest of us continuing to do the right thing; crowded beaches & parks, illegal street parties turning into riots, football fans gathering and, yes, BLM protests too mean lockdown is effectively over because it's pointless now. Social distancing was never going to happen in any of these cases. Regardless of that, the moronic anti social behaviour displayed at some of these events has been a shameful disgrace and there is no excuse for any of it . Right now other countries must be looking at us and thinking we're a nation of knobheads. Embarrassing.

I am a big fan of herd immunity, clearly I am not alone

Here's the thing on "herd immunity": a close friend's daughter is a nurse and she contracted C19 from one of her patients. She and her husband and 2 kids were ill, but not hospitalised with it.

She had an antibody test about a month ago and it was positive. They gave her another this week - it was negative.

It doesn't look like getting C19 gives you much, if any "immunity". A vaccine probably will, at least for a period of time, but we don't have that yet.

So - "herd immunity" is not a thing.

@Ladybyrd hit the nail on the head! 😬

Squirtle do you think it was much worse than normal?

Bournemouth often gets busy, but usually the Christchurch/New Forest stretch isn't too bad because it isn't well known. Yesterday it seemed that everywhere was busy.

I understand why people want to go to the beach (I love the beach!) but there are limited facilities and beaches are dangerous, particularly for people who don't know the local area (e.g. risk of landslip/rock fall near cliffs, dangerous tides).