to tell people that you can go for walks in the countryside which is lovely

[chomalungma]

But the pubs will be shut so you can't get a lovely lunch whilst out

So it's going to be pack lunches again.

At least this time there won't be people complaining about people exercising in the Peak District like last time!

Waiting for you to get flamed by all the Devon and Cornwall mner's.....

There is no travel allowed except for certain circumstances. If you live in an urban area and dont drive then accesssg thi countryside is almost impossible

I’m guessing toilets will all be shut again though. Which means the phantom poo’er will be back on our local river path

I can, about ten minutes walk away, and agree it is (and has been) lovely. Not all have the opportunity though.

The weather up in Yorkshire atm certainly isn't allowing for nice countryside walks.

@EmmaGrundyForPM

There is no travel allowed except for certain circumstances. If you live in an urban area and dont drive then accesssg thi countryside is almost impossible

Literally says an exemption is "to exercise outdoors or visit an outdoor public place."

So stop worrying people. You can go for walks and you can drive to go for walks.

I don't know about anyone else but Lovely Walks in the Countryside have been our main household entertainment since March and the novelty is certainly wearing off now we have to contend with wellies and waterproofs and mud, mud, mud. At points in the year a walk through the fields was very heaven - now it's a bit like undertaking your Mandatory Exercise. Even worse when there's not even the sniff of a pub or tea room on the horizon.

Yeah can’t wait for the return of the couple that shat on the roadside (multiple times!) and the used nappies blowing around the fields

@EmmaGrundyForPM

There is no travel allowed except for certain circumstances. If you live in an urban area and dont drive then accesssg thi countryside is almost impossible

That's not true

You should avoid all non-essential travel by private or public transport.

Essential travel includes, but is not limited to

essential shopping
travelling to work where your workplace is open or you cannot work from home
travelling to education and for caring responsibilities
hospital GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health.

It says you SHOULD not travel except for essential purposes.
It does not say you MUST not travel.

It's not against the law to travel to an outdoor public place. It's just the guidelines.

The loos at the only organised car park and picnic site near here always close from the end of October half term through until Easter anyway, so no change there. And there never was a tea room or pub.

The problem is ...

For nice users of the countryside, everyone needs variety and we all miss holidays abroad

For the bad users, well we got just loads of first time countryside walkers and sadly too many of them littered, also dumped bags of trash, shat where they liked, camped and picnicked where they liked and left bbqs and tents (and more trash....), called mountain rescue because they didn’t know the walks.... it was a horrible experience during a pandemic, for some reason all the normal walkers stayed away and all these grim people decided they wanted to go on walks and trash the place

oh nuts, I forgot about all the closed public toilets. They were expressly allowed to stay open in the legislation, but local authorities closed them anyway. Same with tips. (sigh)

In Wales we’re specifically told not to take a packed lunch and that a picnic isn’t allowed under the guidelines

And that exercise has to start and end at our home address.

So it's going to be pack lunches again.

I hope we're not going to have endless threads again debating the rights and wrongs of pausing to eat a sausage roll during your outdoor excursion.

It says you SHOULD not travel except for essential purposes.
It does not say you MUST not travel.

Excellent loophole finding to still do whatever YOU want to do!

There has to be some benefit to living in the desolate wastes of The North, we've no free museums at all locally, no decent restaurants, cinemas or entertainment venues for miles, & what there is, is often only accessible by car...

Us poor rural folk often have packed lunch as standard, BTW. We're not all on massive wages

Think the general advice is not to travel for the next 4 weeks so if you live in the city, this isn’t possible. Also worth noting that the weather is bloody abysmal atm so nothing like the spring lockdown where a countryside walk felt appealing.

@slashlover

It says you SHOULD not travel except for essential purposes. It does not say you MUST not travel.

Excellent loophole finding to still do whatever YOU want to do!

It's not a loophole.

It's knowing the difference between the law and guidelines.

So it's going to be pack lunches again.

sorry i have to say it-it's packED lunches

walks in the countryside have never been less attractive tbh
the novelty had worn off my about may/june

i will be going to work as normal everyday and it will be dark by the time i get home which will be lovely-NOT

I don't see the point if there's no food there

I won't be doing it

@slashlover

It says you SHOULD not travel except for essential purposes. It does not say you MUST not travel.

Excellent loophole finding to still do whatever YOU want to do!

Literally says going to exercise is an exemption.

But you sit there nice and indoors, curtain twitching at those of us who will enjoy walks and hikes, while you scowl at us for 'breaking the rules'. Let me know if you ever note a case of someone contracting Covid from an isolated mountainside.

@LaurieFairyCake

I don't see the point if there's no food there

I won't be doing it

That's true.

A lovely walk and a pub lunch as part of it.
Not quite like a sandwich and a thermos

Can't wait to get back out on the trails, to be honest, going to be lovely without all the fair-weather moaners :)

"Oh no, icky mud! Nasty rain!" Jesus.

@12frogsincoats

The weather up in Yorkshire atm certainly isn't allowing for nice countryside walks.

Raincoat. Very useful. Unless you're a sugar mouse, presumably.