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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask for your DFL (down from London) stories

246 replies

holidayspotlocal · 28/08/2021 18:05

Living in the West Country and we are currently inundated with tourists. Great to have the money in the local economy and I hope they have a lovely time on the beach. However, some are obviously from cities and have no idea what life is like here.
We call them DFL - down from London. (they may be from other places tho)
Most worrying is the lack of knowledge about tides, rips, crumbly cliffs etc, and the sheer rudeness to hospitality staff. Plus they drive shiny 4x4 Landrovers that can't squeeze into a passing place without the parking sensors going off and they can't back up on the lanes.
Last week I heard one say 'Where has all the beach gone? I'm sure there was a lot more sand this morning'

OP posts:
Lalliella · 28/08/2021 23:01

People who visit tourist spots don’t do it to do the locals a favour! They do it because they like going to nice places. A little respect and understanding on both sides wouldn’t go amiss.

WaterIsBest · 28/08/2021 23:10

Stuck up much?!?!

Wow!!!

EishetChayil · 28/08/2021 23:12

You'd soon be complaining if the tourist money dried up, love.

Malin52 · 28/08/2021 23:13

Most worrying is the lack of knowledge about tides, rips, crumbly cliffs etc, and the sheer rudeness to hospitality staff. Plus they drive shiny 4x4 Landrovers that can't squeeze into a passing place without the parking sensors going off and they can't back up on the lanes

This is fucking ridiculous. On what basis do you believe these people are Londoners? They just sound like twats.

Very few Londoners have cars never mind Landrovers.
If they do then a country lane isn't going to faze them given the tight parking spots we have to reverse park into
Londoners have experience of tides and cliffs ffs and of restaurants. Believe it or not we have a few in our city.

And as for finding someone getting excited about seeing a seal 'hilarious'. Jesus. Yes what utter wankers

Unfortunately I've found a number of friends who have moved from London to the type of place you are in OP who have become precious, judgy and sneery about anyone visiting their area and are just a little bit too smug about being a 'local'

WaterIsBest · 28/08/2021 23:13

You ‘presume’ all Londoners are rude to hospitality staff !!!

Give your head a wobble OP Biscuit

Dreamstate · 28/08/2021 23:20

You say its cos your concerned about their safety. Well let's turn that around...country bumpkin who never stepped outside their area know nothing about cities and using public transport, how self centered they are for standing on the wrong side of the escalator and blocking it, how they stop right in front of the gates digging around for their tickets blocking people grttinf through, how utterly unaware they are when they suddenly stop in the middle of the street or exit without no thought that they are blocking the way.

Crikeyalmighty · 28/08/2021 23:28

My son is one of those people who would be ‘DFL’ he’s busy visiting his mates in the south west at the moment where he lived for 5 years . OP , you can’t have it all ways , it’s the DFLs that keep some of these places reasonably vibrant and create jobs in the local economy. We lived in Canterbury for many years and the comments in whitstable about DFLs used to really piss me off. If it wasn’t for DFLs, it would be a shabby coastal town

WorraLiberty · 28/08/2021 23:31

I think you should spend a bit of time in London OP.

It's a very diverse place and might broaden that tiny, narrow mind of yours.

Motherdare · 28/08/2021 23:34

Maybe you lot should use some of the heaps of money we spend down there on trimming back your ridiculous bushes

My favourite line from this thread.

Glugglejug · 28/08/2021 23:39

Absolutely screaming at the thought of some country bumpkin bemoaning Londoners for pricing them out. Like we wouldn’t know anything about that in the most expensive city in the universe.....!

LemonSwan · 28/08/2021 23:46

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

It was months of frustration - frantic phone searching and being like ahh, wheres the call! Grin

I honestly thought I was going insane or my phone was broken.

I dont think I ever would have figured it out - it was my partner who clocked one day and realised I was hearing the cows haha. He was in hysterics for weeks.

m0therofdragons · 28/08/2021 23:46

A significant proportion of people living in the West Country have 4x4s - we don’t and are in the minority here. I’d rather have tourists than the group of locals who complain the town is a shit hole but have never actually left the town to see any comparison. They can be identified by the start of each sentence being “I’m not being funny but” or “I’m not racist but…” give me a dfl over that any day.

Whattodoaboutnothing · 28/08/2021 23:49

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Theimpossiblegirl · 28/08/2021 23:53

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

I went into a tourist office in the Lake District once and asked for some family / local walks only to be met by a contemptuous look up and down and a “”Well I hope you are not taking the children in THOSE trainers!” I was on a walk around the town and wasn’t planning to go up a hill that afternoon. I can imagine her blathering on to someone about trainers, our ill preparation and a possible mountain rescue call out.
I walked Snowdon in trainers because my walking boots rubbed. People can be so snooty.
Member589500 · 29/08/2021 00:03

Tiresome attitude OP.
It’s been said already but can some of you who are resentful about your local house prices going up spare a minute to wonder what you would do if you were from London, worked in London and had children you’d like to live near. They don’t give you a free house (and Landrover Hmm) just because you’re born in London and no - salaries are not commensurate with house price differentials. We often live in tiny houses with tiny gardens and sometimes dare to travel and enjoy the outdoors.
So tired of this anti Londoner thing on this site from some people.

AnneElliott · 29/08/2021 00:04

I think the op meant this in a lighthearted way. We have friends from Yorkshire and have a running joke about the differences between there and London.

NOTANUM · 29/08/2021 00:15

Imagine if the thread was about NTL (new to London) and we sneered about those who took the tube from Picadilly Circus to Leicester Square or pronounced Holborn with an L.
Yeah it would be mean so we don't. But we are fair game for a piss take on Mumsnet.
I also agree that the "average" London takes the tube to work (not a 4x4) and lives in a terraced house with a tiny garden - and is very lucky to have that.

peachykeenjellybaby · 29/08/2021 07:58

Lets start a thread about the dopey 'up to London' people who come from the country.

They hold everyone up at the ticket barrier and stand on the left looking like fools

Palavah · 29/08/2021 08:05

[quote holidayspotlocal]@Pinkchocolate it worries me beacuse they get themselves into dangerous situations then other people have to rescue them[/quote]
I must have missd the bit in your thread that said 'I'm really worried about the safety of people who visit our area from inland. They don't understand how dangerous cliff edges and tides can be. I'd like to improve education and information. Does anyone have any ideas or experience of the same'?

fizbosshoes · 29/08/2021 08:06

Has MN had a sense of humour bypass tonight? I’m frequently a DFL (don’t own a big 4x4 though) but I was still looking forward to a thread full of amusing tales do thank you for starting it@holidayspotlocal, just a shame others spoilt it. Instead you’re nearly all taking it so seriously. I don’t see many people complaining when someone starts a thread about daft things their children/friends/colleagues/MIL have said so why the horror about this one?

At this time of year there are a lot of threads that often make massive (unfavourable) assumptions about tourists.
MN has taught me a lot more about the problems faced in seaside towns, and as a visitor to touristy places I dont want to be a "problem tourist" but in fact, I probably am, simply by going there and staying in a holiday let or air bnb.
I accept that (although I'd be upset if it meant I had to be confined to suburbia for the rest of my life because that's where I live) but it does get a bit wearing when there are multiple threads implying that "tourists are rude/cant park/are a bit stupid/are noisy, inconsiderate and anti social/leave litter etc" as if all visitors are the same.
And no one who lives in the tourist town (and complains about visitors) ever seems to disclose whether they stay there 365 days a year, or whether ,in fact ,sometimes they are the visitors.

millenialblush · 29/08/2021 08:10

Ah a sneery anti tourist post by a Cornish person. Haven't seen one of these before Hmm

Meraas · 29/08/2021 08:24

Well this thread backfired spectacularly on the OP.

A much nicer thread would have been to ask for experiences of how people have helped you as a tourist. I’ve been helped so much and try to help in return.

Cooper88 · 29/08/2021 08:29

Got to love the DFL. I live in the west country but right on the edge of dartmoor, the amount of people I have seen that decide to just walk off the tracks despite the fog rolling in recently 😳. They also seem to love having brand new shiny 4x4s but get really upset when they have to tuck in (yes that means you have to get very close to the hedges) or get mud on the 4x4s 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Ostryga · 29/08/2021 08:48

@peachykeenjellybaby

Lets start a thread about the dopey 'up to London' people who come from the country.

They hold everyone up at the ticket barrier and stand on the left looking like fools

Yeah to be fair although I live in a city I am utterly useless on the tube, and have had many people growling at me, or laughing when I ask a very obvious question (usually about the circle line Blush )
OhSmellyCatSmellyCat · 29/08/2021 08:51

Don't have a problem with DFL's, most of Kent residents come from London. It's day trippers who don't respect the sea and take inflatables out that worries me