Been for a walk...

[imamearcat]

We've driven to some quiet woods 10 mins away.. which I believe is within the law and guidelines. But I've been berated by family for it!

We saw a couple of families in the distance and that's it.. so I'm not exactly worried about spreading covid19 but I don't know, I feel a bit guilty??

Just wondered what other people were thinking about this kind of thing?

[ErrolTheDragon]

You don't need a 100 mile run though, especially not at this time of year when you don't need lights, rear windscreen heater or aircon - unless you have bad hay fever opening the windows is sufficient.
An absolute distance limit doesn't work because if you're in a remote area, your 'local' shop may be 10s of miles away.

[Goatymcgoaty]

I suspect the government know people need to charge their car batteries, and that this is a reasonable thing to do. They just can’t say that though, as it opens the floodgates to every Tom Dick and Harry going on 100 mile outings with the excuse that the car needed a run.

[PickAChew]

DH just bought a new battery for our 9 year old car because a couple of 3 mile round trips a week led to it being dead when he needed to go and collect dome thing from the office.

He also now has a charger and jump start pack!

[Somanythingsmakemesad]

Women can 'wild wee' too, just sayin

[ErrolTheDragon]

I think there is a necessity to keep cars roadworthy.

That's also true. We're not going to the shops at all (far more likelihood of contact than on a country walk) but one of our cars is old enough it's battery isn't great, and the other is a hybrid which apparently must be driven a certain amount each month... if the lithium ion battery goes flat it'd need towing to the garage except the only one which can deal with hybrids in the area is shut.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Tbf the only limiting factor is my middle aged bladder.

They ought to put that in the guidelines. Walking time must be far more than driving time (not 'the same' or 'more', it's 'far more' )... but the sum of these must not exceed your bladder time. (unless you're a bloke and it's a walk where you know for sure you'll be able to find a suitable tree...)

With these clarified parameters, DH identified a way to access a favourite nearby walk. The car park is shut so the only way to get there is either totally by foot or from a few lay-by spaces. It's still 'locals' because you wouldn't drive a long way not knowing for sure if a space is free or not.

[BubblesBuddy]

I think there is a necessity to keep cars roadworthy. They are a life line for many in the country. I don’t have a bus route coming anywhere near me! We use a car to go to the shops. We take a scenic route back and stop for a walk. I would need a car if there was a family emergency.

[PickAChew]

I think someone on this thread is missing their pub to be a bore in.

[Somanythingsmakemesad]

These aren't "my" rules. You need to exercise for longer than the drive. Gove suggests you shouldn't need to exercise for more than an hour.

He actually said that in general most people would exercise for up to an hour. That is true, most people probably aren't fit enough to do much more than an hour, if I were to drive for 30 mins to a deserted area and run for 2 hours then drive back 30 mins I have still exercised longer than I drove and away from the madding crowds. Your dictate about between 20-60 mins is made up - by you

[Goatymcgoaty]

@AJPTaylor sit on a bench??. Good grief, in mumsnet world that’s tantamount to killing off half of your town population in cold blood

[Goatymcgoaty]

@Itwasntme1 I would use the car to pop out for essentials like milk or a supermarket shop, and perhaps use a supermarket that’s not your nearest. Or to collect a prescription or something.

Driving for the sole reason of charging the battery and keeping the vehicle roadworthy is apparently not essential, according to Which!. But driving for an essential reason with the added bonus that the car is being given a run, seems to be acceptable.

[Mascarponeandwine]

@Wewearpinkonwednesdays I agree it’s madness. I looked out the front of my house today and just couldn’t face “exercising” by walking from the house alongside all the people walking past in family groups - toddlers on trikes, dog walkers, couples etc, it just looked busy.

So i got in the car with the kids, drove less than 10 minutes, and walked round the deserted Cemetary* - zero people there, didn’t touch anything or sit on anything. It was so so much better, and I feel so much better and less stressed than if I had to keep dodging groups of people by crossing the road or veering onto the verge.

• Cemetary is new so is basically a huge empty field with a few graves in one corner and a nice view / sunset. So nothing to touch anyway.

[Floatyboat]

@userxx

As stated earlier as long as op walked for between 20 and 60 minutes in a place quieter than her immediate surroundings I don't think any reasonable person would grumble

[userxx]

@Floatyboat I've no idea but I bet you're dying to tell us the rules and regs on time keeping?

[puffinandkoala]

Whats so special about you that you can take you daily permitted exercise but the rest of society can't

To be fair it works the other way round though. People going for a walk who went for a walk once a a year moaning about the "joggers" who run 3 times a week, every week and acting as if they shouldn't be out. It doesn't matter how fast your legs move (although I would argue you should be moving fast enough to get your heart rate up a bit, a languid stroll is not exercise), everyone has the same rights to use the paths.

[puffinandkoala]

We do need more spaces open. If they want to keep car parks closed to discourage driving, fine, but don't close the parks and open spaces altogether.

The National Trust went from one extreme to the other. One day it was opening up car parks to non members, the next it was closing everything and telling people in a nannying way to stay at home. We don't have any NT sites close enough to reasonably drive to anyway, but if you only live a 10 min drive away it must be maddening.

[NuclearWinter]

"The majority of viral infections come from prolonged exposures in confined spaces with other infected individuals. Person-to-person and surface contact is by far the most common cause. 78-85% from long term living together, or day to multi-day exposure."

So say the WHO. So, presumably, if we focus on that then that's where we'll get the best reduction results. Not whether to not the OP passes 5 or 10 people outdoors and at a distance of 2m or more.

[imamearcat]

It's quiet and empty because it's always quiet and empty? There are plenty of places in the countryside that aren't the usual touristy hotspots. I wouldn't go to that kind of place at the moment, similarly if I got somewhere and it was busy, I would find somewhere else or go home.

More generally speaking, surely walking from home / on the streets means more people in close proximity to each other??

We live in Derbyshire and when lockdown first happened Derbyshire Police had taken drone footage of people walking in the Peak District, they was them and no one else for miles around! I think some people have kinda missed the point of social distancing!

[pennylane83]

Posters constantly wittering on about all these people out and about who they never normally see and berating them for using their permitted 1 hours exercise a day to go on a bike ride/walk etc with their family when its not something they would have usually done - of course you bloody wouldn't have seen them prior to lockdown - the majority of these people would have been at work, out shopping, at a play centres etc but you know what, everyone is now stuck at home 24/7 with nowhere open and no work to go to. These people now have to fill their time in some way just like you do or do you honestly expect these people just to sit staring at the same four walls 24/7 until a time that normal life resumes because had lockdown not have happened they wouldn't have had the time to be out in the fresh air/exercising. Serioulsy, give your heads a wobble. Whats so special about you that you can take you daily permitted exercise but the rest of society can't.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Hearhooves
But they’re not. And we don’t make legislation or the rules. I think I wouldn’t sweat this one tbh.

[AJPTaylor]

I live in a tiny town in East Sussex. I go out with Dd everyday for 2.5 hours late afternoon, early evening. We are surrounded by miles of woods and footpaths and finish up at the enormous empty park where she spends 45 mins practicing her gym moves and dance moves and I sit on a bench enjoying the view/sun. She puts music on her Phone to practice to in the empty park as well. I take a bottle of water as well. Tbf the only limiting factor is my middle aged bladder.

[Hearhoovesthinkzebras]

I understand why everyone shouldn't be driving to beauty spots etc. But we know the area, we know these specific woods are quiet, we picked woods because we know some farmers are keen for people to stay away.

We didn't stop of petrol or food or a toilet or anything like that.

But can't you see the reason why the place you drove to us quiet and the car park empty? Now people think it's ok to drive somewhere to go for a walk why shouldn't everyone do it? If you are allowed to drive to those woods then so is everyone else. And you might not have stopped for petrol, food or the toilet but others will do.

This is the.point. On an individual basis doing anything won't make much of a difference to the course of this virus - if I decide to go and visit relatives it won't make a big difference to numbers of infections or hospital admissions, if I decide to go and hug someone it won't make a big difference, I only I decided to stay at home and not work or travel.it won't make a difference, but if we consider any action at a population level it makes a huge difference.

So, no, it isn't a big problem if you go for a long walk, drive for exercise, go shopping every day. But it is a big problem when large numbers of people do it.

[NoMorePoliticsPlease]

Yes you ARE now allowed to drive to your walk. The general guidelines ar tht the drive shuld be a shorter time than the walk. It is nonsense to have everyone walking in close proximity. The Police have updated the guidelines

[Deux]

Your common sense is excellent OP. Some people are just revelling in lockdown and trying to tell or guilt others into behaving differently. Suddenly they think they have a voice and will be listened to. Ignore them.

[imamearcat]

@Floatyboat we were out for about 1.45hrs. (Dawdling kids!). It was a 10/15 min drive. There was 1 other car in the car park and we saw 2 other families while out (a good distance away).

I understand why everyone shouldn't be driving to beauty spots etc. But we know the area, we know these specific woods are quiet, we picked woods because we know some farmers are keen for people to stay away.

We didn't stop of petrol or food or a toilet or anything like that.

Other than potentially having a car accident and having to top up with fuel earlier I can't see how going for a walk is going to spread the virus. I think I am using my common sense? Maybe my common sense isn't very good??