To think it's ridiculous that people are still flocking to 'beauty spots'

[AiryFairyMum]

Last weekend parking tickets were issued because of all the selfish parking at Dovestones reservoir near Manchester. Lots of pavement parking etc.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/drivers-slapped-fines-people-flock-19596560

This weekend the same thing happened again. AIBU to think people should just walk near where they live, and not drive to walk, then park badly because the car parks are full with others doing the same. Yes, I understand the need for exercise, but no-one NEEDS to go on days out.

Travelling a reasonable distance for a walk and parking like an idiot are 2 completely different issues.

Nobody is following the rules at all. I don't have a shop in my village so I have to drive to the supermarket in the nearest town as I can't get an online slot. It's on the way to the hospital I work at anyway so I go in the morning before work.
I only go once a month and buy long life milk.
I'd have to walk three miles to get to an interesting wood or beauty spot so I just walk round the village a couple of times.

It's really difficult - I agree it's not really fair to put all the blame on the town dwellers driving to beauty spots when the guidelines are so unclear. Either people should mind their own business or the government should give super clear guidelines on how far is too far as illustrated by @billybagpuss. Other countries have done this.

The parking is a strawman - of course people shouldn't be breaking the law and parking on double yellows, but that's a separate issue to 'should they be driving to go to beauty spots and how far is OK?'

I do think we are becoming a country of hugely judgmental hypocrites - everyone has examples of things they've done that are probably questionable unless they haven't left the house since March 2020. For example, how often is too often to go to the supermarket...? I think we should be looking to the government to clarify and in the meantime ignore what others are doing.

@Sockwomble

Locally to me there were people having a go at dog walkers for driving a couple of miles to walk their dog early in the morning on the beach they always walked their dog. The moaners rarely went on the beach themselves but got really irate about it.

Ahh yes that will be because it is "their beach" and no one else is allowed to use it. It is nothing about safety, it is just wanting to keep people away.

AIBU to think people should just walk near where they live, and not drive to walk, then park badly because the car parks are full with others doing the same. Yes, I understand the need for exercise, but no-one NEEDS to go on days out

I mostly disagree with you. There's a 5 mile radius limit, for some families like mine who live in cities, that means having to drive somewhere to get the children some fresh air and decent exercise. They do NEED some time outside, my eldest has gone from a school that focuses on outdoor activities in early years to being stuck in a small space most days.

There's a line though, hundreds descending on one area is unacceptable, as is travelling miles upon miles outside your own area. If I saw that our local 'walk' was full, I'd be disappointed but I'd not stop.

why is it ridiculous?

what's ridiculous is to take everything nice away from people, leave them only with walks and then be surprised when they choose to walk somewhere nicer than the estate on which they live.

Nobody is following the rules at all.

No rules at all against driving somewhere for a walk. Parking on double yellows is a separate issue.

@HarryLimeFoxtrot

I’ll stop travelling out of town to the surrounding villages when the people who live in the surrounding villages stop travelling into town to the supermarket. It isn’t essential - they can use the village shop. It might not have quite the same ranges as the supermarket, but they won’t starve. They should just shop where they live. Or are the rules different for essential shopping vs essential exercise? And if so, why? Especially as visiting the supermarket is likely to carry a higher risk of Covid transmission than a walk in the countryside.

Mmm! Try living rurally with a village shop, or even a Coop!

It's not so much a lack of different ranges as much as they can be emptied very quickly and don't get restocked as quickly/well as more central shops do. So, having had facebook discussions about it, including shopping for others, most of us with cars choose to shop in town to allow those who can't get out to shop locally.

I'll also park legally and wear mask, keep my distance, wash my hands etc. Something many who drive out for excercise just don't do.. as most recent pictures show!

What if you have young children and have nothing but busy roads near you.
What if you walk round your local village you do nothing but bump into people you know, your kids end up mixing with other kids they see.
Is it not better to travel a bit further a field as you can keep more to yourselves easily.
What if you just need a bit of variety for the sake of your own mental health. Or does that not matter anymore?

@contrmary
It's unlikely village shops would be able to sustain the entire village if every resident decided to do all their shopping there. Plus lots of villages don't even have one shop nowadays.

And yet you think that a built up area can sustain the entire urban population taking exercise? We have 3 moderately sized parks in town - and a population of 110,000. Those pictures on the news of people “flocking to parks” - that’s because it is the closest green space for tens of thousands of people.

I mostly disagree with you. There's a 5 mile radius limit

In England there most certainly isn’t.

And yet you think that a built up area can sustain the entire urban population taking exercise? Have you actually looked at those pictures. Roads full of illegally parked cars - that's overfull, not sustainable!

Anyone with a modicum of common sense would drive away. But no, the right to exercise means they can somehow park how they like and carry on regardless! That's the issue! Not driving a few miles for exercise!

It’s the huge increase in litter I can’t bear.
Coffee cups, snack wrappers, nappies and a whole range of hideous rubbish dumped by the lazy and thoughtless.
Sooner the gyms, leisure centres, shopping centres and children’s sports reopen, the sooner the countryside will recover from arses who trash the areas they visit.

@Elai1978

I mostly disagree with you. There's a 5 mile radius limit

In England there most certainly isn’t.

I thought it was implemented everywhere. If not then that seems to be common sense regardless, unless you're deep in the sticks and the supermarket/workplace is several miles away.

It's as if people think they have been ordered to go out and exercise for an hour every day.

To be fair there's not much else to do. Many people are stuck working from home and want to get out. They can't visit friends, and sometimes not family either. They can't go to the gym, the hairdressers, out for lunch. No retail therapy. So if they want to leave the house at all it's for food shopping or some kind of outdoor exercise. The parking, overcrowding etc. are annoying but it's understandable that people want to do something other than sit in the house day after day.

😂 people of Saddleworth seem to want to keep Dovestone's all to themselves. I also live here and can understand why a family from Oldham, cooped up with kids may want to come here. The rules are too vague.

You’re absolutely right, people who live in godforsaken gangland ridden hell holes with no gardens and blades, syringes and dog shit everywhere you look should just bloody well stay put and leave the naice countryside beauty spots to the naice people who live there.

The amount of people going to our local woods is insane. It is a couple of miles from me and we usually take the dog a few times a week as he can go off lead and has a great time. Due to lockdown we now only take him once a week at most as trying to avoid driving too much, to be in the spirit of the regulations. Yesterday it was packed. Cars parked on verges. There is a pretty big car park too which was full. Never seen it so bad as the last couple of weeks.

@Calmandmeasured1

We live near a beauty spot and the number of people visiting now is far more than in previous years. At this time of year there aren't usually many visitors, even at weekends. It's as if people think they have been ordered to go out and exercise for an hour every day.

Or just that because people can't do the usual things that they'd do on a Saturday, they do the only thing that that they can....exercise.

What's wrong with that?

@CuriousaboutSamphire - the OP specifically asked if the were being unreasonable to think people should just walk near where they live. I’m disagreeing. I don’t condone bad parking at all. The fact that a handful of people park like idiots is not enough justification for confining people to built up areas for months on end.

[quote HarryLimeFoxtrot]**@CuriousaboutSamphire* - the OP specifically asked if the were being unreasonable to think people should just walk near where they live*. I’m disagreeing. I don’t condone bad parking at all. The fact that a handful of people park like idiots is not enough justification for confining people to built up areas for months on end.[/quote]
Apologies! I forgot a thread can't move on!

And nowhere did I say anything about confining people to built up areas.... as I said in the second half of that post!

I live in a village that is frequented with visitors, and since March I've had 2 people complain to me that I shouldn't be "travelling here to walk dogs", one was less than 200m from my house.
I just said it was worth the 50 mile drive and carried on.
Wannabe covid marshalls must have exciting lives.....

What concerns me is transmission, are people driving to reasonably local beauty spots, going to cause a surge in cases?
Mostly I think not... People moving, walking, resting on benches...

We have local beauty spot by river with literally so much space stretching for miles, some locals kept posting pics of busy, normally parked car park screaming on sm '' I wan ' shut, nah' '. 0 that car park was closed, que people parking along a busy high street and surrounded roads and yet no worry about transmission because of large area!! Maddness.

Often these people then say they traveled 10 miles to a cost Co and shopped as a family

Low hanging fruit that makes people feel important.

Arf whammy!

I wouldn't mind the people who drive to exercise near me if they... Well, several things, but we hit a new low this morning when one of the dogs found human shit in a hedge and strewed the baby wipes that went with it around the field.

If you can carry baby wipes out of town with you, you can carry a bloody plastic bag.

And no, I don't have proof that it was a non-local crapping in a hedge, but in almost 20 years of walking that loop, that's a first.

It would also be great for the local farmers if the current influx would stop cutting holes in fences.

If you behave in a civilised fashion, and thank people who call their dogs in and clear the path for you and your toddlers, rather than completely ignoring them, you'll be welcome.

It's not hard.