Page 6 | I know IABU.... Scottish Highlands tourism

Firefightress1 · 2023-04-08T19:31:47+00:00

I know IABU as we were tourists before we moved to Skye but I'm absolutely gobsmacked by how busy it has been over the weekend. I know its not even the busiest time yet but I'm already struggling to get diesel to get to work and the coop is stripped bare. Had a campervan nearly drive into us earlier on the wrong side of the road at a junction and people parking in passing places on single track roads which means traffic is at a standstill. We always followed the rules and pulled in/let people overtake but there seems to be a new selfish version of a tourist. I know we need to get used to it but people just blatantly disregarding signage and peeing/sh*tting all over the place is just awful! I honestly don't remember it as bad as this when we were tourists but i guess we didnt live here then There are so many facebook groups trying to make improvements but the tour buses and guides still insist on stopping at closed sights and encouraging groups to force open gates and move cones to gain access. Its causing so many issues to wildlife and repair operations that are badly needed.

BitOutOfPractice · 09/04/2023 00:53

So you don’t recognise @Firefightress1 that it’s people like you coming in that are part of the problem of making homes unaffordable for locals, whether or not you “make a life there”? Just because it’s not a holiday let, doesn’t mean you haven’t taken that house out of the pool of properties for local people.

and no, I’m not condoning loutish tourists before you imply I am. But you are most definitely part of the problem, not the solution.

mellicauli · 09/04/2023 00:59

800,000 Scots live in England - and only 460,000 English live in Scotland. Maybe think of it more of an exchange program @BitOutOfPractice

JMSA · 09/04/2023 01:01

PerpetualStudent · 08/04/2023 20:51

YANBU - I’m Highlands too, there’s a place near me where people often wild camp and the same spots get used as a wild toilet over and over until it’s an open sewer, complete with loo roll and wet wipes festooning surrounding trees 🤢 This all runs downhill into a Loch the grubbers then happily swim in?!

I always thinks who travels to be surrounding by all this natural beauty, just to literally shit on it…

Bastards Litter louts are literally the scum of the earth.

BitOutOfPractice · 09/04/2023 01:15

These “wild camping” camper van owners really do sound a menace across Britain. Another thing people took up in lockdown with no real idea what it entails. It sounds hellish for those living in these lovely spots. They really do sound scummy (the caper van people, not the locals!)

Window2muchlight · 09/04/2023 01:19

Some places that I've visited abroad charge tourist fees to enter nature parks on land & sea

Perhaps the UK should introduce this too ?

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 01:21

mellicauli · 09/04/2023 00:59

800,000 Scots live in England - and only 460,000 English live in Scotland. Maybe think of it more of an exchange program @BitOutOfPractice

Yeah, we (Scots) send young, fit people who can't find homes/work in their local area because the homes are occupied by elderly retirees (English) who do not contribute to growing the Scottish birth rate and economy which is what Scotland actually requires.

Also, 460k is approx 10% of the population, whilst 800k is approx 1.6% of the population.

Original poster

Firefightress1 · 09/04/2023 01:26

BitOutOfPractice · 09/04/2023 00:53

So you don’t recognise @Firefightress1 that it’s people like you coming in that are part of the problem of making homes unaffordable for locals, whether or not you “make a life there”? Just because it’s not a holiday let, doesn’t mean you haven’t taken that house out of the pool of properties for local people.

and no, I’m not condoning loutish tourists before you imply I am. But you are most definitely part of the problem, not the solution.

No because my job is needed here and we have made it our home.

OP posts:

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 01:27

Window2muchlight · 09/04/2023 01:19

Some places that I've visited abroad charge tourist fees to enter nature parks on land & sea

Perhaps the UK should introduce this too ?

I think the answer regarding the campervan menace is they should only be permitted to travel to designated camp sites. On the road, they should be subjected to random checks (to ensure they have legitimate bookings) - failure to prove legitimate bookings should see the on-the-spot confiscation of their vehicle.

These clowns in these vans not only don't know how to drive them far less drive them on the single-track roads are not 'wild camping' as they claim. They are cheap and feral (in terms of their waste products/damage) camping to the detriment of others.

IceMagic · 09/04/2023 02:02

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 01:21

Yeah, we (Scots) send young, fit people who can't find homes/work in their local area because the homes are occupied by elderly retirees (English) who do not contribute to growing the Scottish birth rate and economy which is what Scotland actually requires.

Also, 460k is approx 10% of the population, whilst 800k is approx 1.6% of the population.

Show quote history

Well stop selling your homes to English people then. Or perhaps campaign to make it illegal for English people to move to a different area after a certain age. I live near London with loads of people who've moved from different countries. You'd probably faint with horror.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:07

duvetcovereddissident · 08/04/2023 20:48

It sounds awful. I had no idea it was like that. I have always wanted to visit the Scottish islands, Orkneys in particular, I suppose I am one of the people who would be making it a horrible place😥

Orkney is much nicer than Skye and Orcadians don't resent tourists.

And before anyone takes umbrage at that I live in central Edinburgh.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:12

Paloma66 · 08/04/2023 21:13

I'm in London. I've never seen so many people as I did in central London yesterday. It's crazy. We couldn't walk across Westminster Bridge, it was dangerous.

Your comments about house prices etc apply in many places all over the country.

Skye's housing problem could partly be solved by not decrofting croft houses and selling them off to the highest bidder.

I live in central Edinburgh. Edinburgh is always busy with tourists and will be heaving in August.

mellicauli · 09/04/2023 02:13

@Trez1510 I guess the big advantage to being old and English in Scotland is that you can always turn your hearing aid down when all those bigoted comments based solely on your nationality come your way...

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:15

FairlySane · 08/04/2023 23:31

My family have lived in a village in Scotland now dubbed the poshest in Scotland. Over run with English retirees and English 2nd absentee home owners. More recently international art dealers have fucked the soul out of the place. What’s left for us ? 5 generations, and still being colonised. Fuck

Maybe the locals could pass on selling to the highest bidder then?

There are some cringe- making posts on here.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:16

mellicauli · 09/04/2023 02:13

@Trez1510 I guess the big advantage to being old and English in Scotland is that you can always turn your hearing aid down when all those bigoted comments based solely on your nationality come your way...

I'm embarrassed by this thread.

Puffalicious · 09/04/2023 02:20

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 01:21

Yeah, we (Scots) send young, fit people who can't find homes/work in their local area because the homes are occupied by elderly retirees (English) who do not contribute to growing the Scottish birth rate and economy which is what Scotland actually requires.

Also, 460k is approx 10% of the population, whilst 800k is approx 1.6% of the population.

Show quote history

Absolutely!

OP, you keep saying you're 'local', but you're not. As PP have said, Southern money pushes house prices through the roof, outpricing young locals/ families - and there you have the skill/brain drain, which leads to situations where more outsiders are needed to plug the employment gaps, and the cycle continues.

It's happening in the cities in Scotland too. I'm sick of hearing folk exclaim 'Look at what you can get here for the cost of a 2 bed down South!' Prices are pushed up and up, which wages here can't sustain.

And some of the words used on here to describe camper van owners 'scum' , 'feral' etc is totally unfair to those of us who search out less well-travelled areas, stay on sites, spend significant money in communities, are prepared, knowledgeable and leave no trace. I adore my country and educate today's youth through Duke of Edinburgh to make sure that legacy is maintained.

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 02:21

IceMagic · 09/04/2023 02:02

Well stop selling your homes to English people then. Or perhaps campaign to make it illegal for English people to move to a different area after a certain age. I live near London with loads of people who've moved from different countries. You'd probably faint with horror.

Show quote history

I live in the vibrant, welcoming, multicultural tourist trap city of Glasgow.

So, no fainting here.

The issue under discussion here is the impact on rural Scotland (and Cornwall) of settlers forcing young, local people out of their own communities.

In Scotland, this is a particular issue given elderly people are not increasing the birth rate which is desperately needed if Scotland is to have the future workforce to, in amongst other things, wipe the arses of the retired English as well as elderly Scots.

But, yes I would prevent elderly people settling in Scotland from wherever they hail. It just so happens the incomers are predominately from England whilst elderly people from countries like, say, Italy, Peru or Libor tend not to view the country of Scotland attractive as a source of cheaper housing, free personal care etc. etc. etc.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:28

The issue under discussion here is the impact on rural Scotland (and Cornwall) of settlers forcing young, local people out of their own communities.

Sorry, run that past me again - "settlers forcing people out"

I must have missed the reports of invasion by English geriatrics armed with swords, pillaging and evicting the locals.

Or perhaps it's the locals taking advantage of the Scottish sealed bids, offers over system for selling their houses?

This thread is deeply embarrassing.

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 02:29

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Puffalicious · 09/04/2023 02:29

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 02:21

I live in the vibrant, welcoming, multicultural tourist trap city of Glasgow.

So, no fainting here.

The issue under discussion here is the impact on rural Scotland (and Cornwall) of settlers forcing young, local people out of their own communities.

In Scotland, this is a particular issue given elderly people are not increasing the birth rate which is desperately needed if Scotland is to have the future workforce to, in amongst other things, wipe the arses of the retired English as well as elderly Scots.

But, yes I would prevent elderly people settling in Scotland from wherever they hail. It just so happens the incomers are predominately from England whilst elderly people from countries like, say, Italy, Peru or Libor tend not to view the country of Scotland attractive as a source of cheaper housing, free personal care etc. etc. etc.

Show quote history

BANG on the money.

I have family in Cornwall, and DS's GF in Northumberland- both places which I absolutely love and spend lots of time i. I hate what has happened to communities there, and it's just history repeating itself now in Scotland. It's so sad.

Marchitectmummy · 09/04/2023 02:33

Skye has always been busy with tourists from April onwards. The things being described have always gone on.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:41

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I'll say it again - this thread is embarrassing.

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 02:42

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:28

The issue under discussion here is the impact on rural Scotland (and Cornwall) of settlers forcing young, local people out of their own communities.

Sorry, run that past me again - "settlers forcing people out"

I must have missed the reports of invasion by English geriatrics armed with swords, pillaging and evicting the locals.

Or perhaps it's the locals taking advantage of the Scottish sealed bids, offers over system for selling their houses?

This thread is deeply embarrassing.

One does not need to take up arms to 'force', it can be achieved by financial means e.g. sell an ex-council flat in London and take advantage of (what until recently was) Scotland's cheaper housing.

This thread is indeed embarrassing. English people in denial that Scotland is a distinct country, not an extension of England.

Since Brexit it has worsened. No longer can exclusive English conclaves be created in Spain, so there is a concerted attempt to do so in rural Scotland.

I have a friend who is a hotelier in a small West Coast village. Last year when we visited we barely heard a Scottish accent, and when we asked about the group of local waiting staff/customers with whom we'd previously had great banter, she said they'd all moved away due to lack of accommodation or it no longer feeling like home. She's also considering selling-up.

A few months ago, she was telling me about her wee grandson being bullied at school because he 'talked funny'. I was perplexed because his diction is perfect. It turned out he is the only Scot at the local village school, all the other children, as well as the teacher, being English. They were bullying him for having a Scottish accent in Scotland.

So, no, no swords required.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:49

This thread is indeed embarrassing. English people in denial that Scotland is a distinct country, not an extension of England

I'm Scottish. I'm embarrassed by the anti- English, xenophobic and hypocritical posts on here.

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:53

Oh and as for "talking funny" my husband's idiot, NAT supporting brother, thought it was hilarious to mock my accent the first time he met me, because despite having been born and brought up in Aberdeenshire, it wasn't apparently sufficiently "Scottish".

Trez1510 · 09/04/2023 02:59

NatashaDancing · 09/04/2023 02:53

Oh and as for "talking funny" my husband's idiot, NAT supporting brother, thought it was hilarious to mock my accent the first time he met me, because despite having been born and brought up in Aberdeenshire, it wasn't apparently sufficiently "Scottish".

Okay, Uncle Tom, you're right it's perfectly acceptable for a gang of English children to bully a Scottish child in Scotland for speaking with a Scottish accent.
Gotcha! 🙄