Any of your neighbours made a dash for it?

[jillypill]

As a Londoner I enjoy the peace that Christmas brings to my local area (SW), the ability to park outside your house, etc!
I thought it would be different this year but clearly not, hardly any cars parked & at least 6 of my neighbours have gone (no privacy in terraces with extensions etc).
Just my area?

The streets are quieter but who knows if that's just less builder/plumber/electrician vans and trucks. both neighbours either side still around and I don't know anyone with small kids travelling. The queue for the butchers suggests a lot of people needing to stock up.

That said, I don know a fair few younger people (under 30s say) who made a break for it to their parents. i hope that they are not out in the pubs and shops...

Not sure what you're getting het up about tbh. Given that my 'source' works for VTS and is one of the few people in charge of cross Solent traffic planning, and the other drives a ferry, we're quite aware of the reduced capacity.

Besides, no pitchforks here. I have no real issue with people coming over, and certainly didn't in the summer either. But facts are facts...the ferries were fuller than anticipated this weekend, make of that what you will.

@ftm202020

We are in Kent! My single friend got on Tinder and found a man in tier 2 to bubble up with and off she went.

Was she planning on spending 2021 in a freezer?

Our London road is normally 90% full of parked cars, currently about 60%. Nobody has owned up to doing a runner on neighbourhood Facebook group though.

Inner north London here. Busier than normal and a real shortage of small chickens. I'm sure a lot of singles, like me, have stayed here rather than head out of London to family. I got half a leg of lamb instead, by the way

I'm also SW London - it does seem a fair bit quieter right now, but in my building (6 flats) it seems most are still around. Two of the flats would be here anyway, there's one flat of young lads that I thought might have made a run for it but there's at least one of them still there. We're still here, I know one other flat was here at the start of the week, young-ish couple with family just outside London, and the other flat I hardly ever see so can't tell if they're still there or not, but also I think have family not far away. Normally I'd be away visiting my family as I'm not from London, but we'd already decided to stay put even before the announcement. Where I am has been very popular for takeaway drinking, but that seems to have completely died down and the bar that I can see from my window (I haven't actually been out since Monday!) isn't selling any more. Don't know if it's because they decided not to themselves, or the police told them not to (there have been complaints about the crowds).

I live in Devon. Two houses in my street are second homes. They’ve been empty MST of the summer but have been occupied since the morning after Boris’s announcement. Behaving normally, shopping, chatting, going to restaurants and out and about as if everything is normal. Selfish bas*ards. They could have shown restraint for a few days at least to see if anyone develops symptoms.

Lots of people made a dash over the channel, to make sure they're resident before 31/12

My colleague left on the 19th to go to his family in the north of England (from Glasgow). I’m glad he got out when he did tbh. The poor guy has been working from home alone in his flat all year. He hired a car so he could do a long drive and some hillwalking (not staying over) for his 40th in November but Nicola put the kibosh on that by putting us in tier 4 mid November.

I have many neighbours here in Essex who have definitely gone away.

I don't get it tho... People were told they could go from 23rd - 27th initially... That 5 day window was what the government allowed. Yet all these people have gone earlier and knowing they would be breaking rules... Personally I think they deserve a big fine, its selfish of them and its folk like that which have landed us all in tier 4.

Well my neighbour has gone the other way. We’re in T3 and today they have travelled into T4 to stay with relatives for Christmas and New Year. These are relatives they haven’t seen since summertime.

They must be mad, never mind that it’s against the rules.

Only my nextdoor neighbours and they went a couple of weeks ago, which means I can follow my Xmas tradition of using their bin over the festive period.
They've got a holiday home somewhere and they've gone there.

Other way around here too. We're T4 and our neighbours opposite have their daughter, daughter in law and granddaughter staying with them from Wales. They arrived yesterday and are here for the whole of Christmas and boxing day I believe. I love them to bits, they're lovely neighbours and we get on really well. But it does stick in the throat somewhat when we cancelled plans with my family as soon as we got moved to T4 and others are just carrying on regardless.

I'm SW London. Literally everyone is here, which is unheard of. We're all spending Christmas at home.

No-one I know would dream of breaking the rules to the extent of going away.

SW London here too. Our street is usually a bit 28 days Later at Christmas. But, the majority are here this year.

It was the obvious ones that made the Saturday dash. The ones that have been holding weekly parties all the way through. Even through November lockdown. Big party Friday and then off with the wheely suitcases on Saturday to infect vulnerable relatives. What delightful individuals.

Whatever time people left London on Saturday they were breaking the rules. It was very clear that you could see relatives from 23rd. Saturday was 19th. Until the 23rd under the old rules you were taking tier 3 rules with you wherever you went. Therefore no indoor mixing. So unless you are sleeping in a tent in the garden, even if you left 6am Saturday it was against the rules.

Nope all the cars are still here in my area of East London. Everyone I know is having Christmas at home but then I don’t know anyone with a second home. Those with family in other parts of the country have stayed here as they are all in their 30s/40s with kids and call London home so aren’t transient or 20 somethings living in student accommodation and a flat share desperate to be with their parents.

My eighty-year-old mother lives in Merthyr Tydfil (Tier 4) - I live in Dorset (Tier 2) - she will spend Christmas by herself and no..... neither of us want to spread COVID, so I will be here and she will be there - we will telephone and be alright and safe in the knowledge that we are not spreading this vile thing around. BTW I have no partner or children, I have a fabulous bubble family in Dorset but it's still hard to know that my mother will be alone on Christmas day.

We currently have tier 4 family sitting in our lounge who are staying through the weekend. You can see how thrilled I am about that. While it’s lovely to see people, I’d rather Dh have agreed with me that we need to say no and tell them to stay home. There will be other Christmases but so many of us would struggle financially and in terms of mental health with another lockdown and it all seems very silly.

Seriously @mindutopia? Why on earth haven’t you told them to go home?

@mindutopia. Why have you let them into your house? There's an element of personal responsibility expected from people in lower tiers too. While some of the "escapees" are going to second homes, many are staying with parents and family. The parents/family need to sort themselves out and do the right thing if their relatives are willing to break the rules and travel. And that means making it clear they're not welcome.

I didn't expect anyone to come to Tier 4, drats! might not be so smug about parking now. We are end terrace & my "attached" neighbour left yesterday which is bliss as I don't need to worry about the kids waking anyone.

@CakeRequired

We've had lots turn up up here (highlands). Going to be fun watching them try to get back home now. Shouldn't have bloody come here in the first place so no sympathy.

Do you think they will be stopped by the police? My BIL has fucked off on a two week jolly to Scotland just before the Christmas rules were changed. Yes, he was already operating far out of the rules and lives in tier 3.

No. We’re Tier 2, but I wish the bastard neighbours would fuck right off.

There's a lot in Cornwall. It's safer apparently. It was before they all hot legged it down here. Selfish twats.

I'm in tier 1 but thanks to people from 4 coming here and people who have holiday homes we are going into tier 3 on Sunday