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Original poster

Travelling to Walk

41 replies

GinJeanie · 21/03/2021 07:39

Am in England. When are we (officially) allowed to travel in order to go for a walk? I know lots of folk are already doing this anyway and tbh I don't blame them. Am a bit confused about timing of restrictions being lifted...

OP posts:
toodleloooo · 21/03/2021 07:50

I was looking into this yesterday, and I'm not sure it will be expressly allowed for the time being. Although on 29 March the "stay at home" order will be lifted, there is a lot of talk online that it will be replaced with "stay local". I'm really not sure how much people will follow that without it being law, though, particularly in terms of having other propt to visit. I haven't seen my parents since September/October (they're just over an hour away) and don't think I can indefinitely agree not to see them whilst the government figures its position out.

ThursdayLastWeek · 21/03/2021 07:53

You’ve always been allowed to travel to go for a walk.

You have to use your common sense to decide what is 'local' for you.

Or are you thinking about going further afield?

Stealthynamechange · 21/03/2021 07:55

Also interested in this, I'm wanting to go to some different national trust places, only 45mins away & will be there for hours, but one of them is known to have police turning people away...

ProfYaffle · 21/03/2021 07:57

"You’ve always been allowed to travel to go for a walk."

This. We often drive about 3 miles to start a walk. Once the stay at home order is lifted we'll drive probably 30 - 40 minutes. We live in a rural area and talking about countryside/field path walks.

Badger2021 · 21/03/2021 07:57

I thought it was guidance and not law? I could be wrong, things change so much. We just use common sense. It's 10 miles to our nearest supermarket.

ThursdayLastWeek · 21/03/2021 07:59

@Stealthynamechange

Also interested in this, I'm wanting to go to some different national trust places, only 45mins away & will be there for hours, but one of them is known to have police turning people away...
Ah now this is something that doesn’t seem to have happened too much where I live - but would make me reconsider if it had.

I consider about half an hour to be local I suppose, but only because I’m lucky enough to have a lot of nice walks in that radius. I would extend it a bit I think if my options were limited.

I work in a place where people come for walks and some of the addresses I see checking in are deffo 45/60 mins away.

Original poster
GinJeanie · 21/03/2021 07:59

@ThursdayLastWeek - I'm talking hour drive or more really. We've driven shorter distances but everywhere is obviously crowded and it's all a bit repetitive!

OP posts:
SnooperTrooper12345 · 21/03/2021 08:02

@ThursdayLastWeek

You’ve always been allowed to travel to go for a walk.

You have to use your common sense to decide what is 'local' for you.

Or are you thinking about going further afield?

Pretty sure I saw a while ago that some people drove 3 miles to go walk their dogs in some fields and got fined for it because they drove there
SnooperTrooper12345 · 21/03/2021 08:07

@ThursdayLastWeek

You’ve always been allowed to travel to go for a walk.

You have to use your common sense to decide what is 'local' for you.

Or are you thinking about going further afield?

We also had police stopping cars since January and if you weren't going to work/shopping ect then they were turning you around and fining you
ikigai2021 · 21/03/2021 08:12

The guidance is pretty explicit about 'local' means in England.

ikigai2021 · 21/03/2021 08:15

The government guidance states that your local area is limited to 'your village, town or the part of a city where you live'.

BarbaraofSeville · 21/03/2021 08:16

It's also set out clearly in the road map, what is allowed and when.

Ifailed · 21/03/2021 08:18

There is nothing in law preventing anyone in England travelling anywhere in England to exercise. If the police give you a fixed penalty notice, do not pay it - it won't go to court as you wouldn't have broken any law.

midgedude · 21/03/2021 08:19

I read the guidance and such

You should stay local but can travel to access open space for exercise. That varies according to where you live - if you are rural with a quiet footpath from your door, you don't need to go further

We travel around 5 miles to the nearest open countryside.

A number of other people parked nearby one time got fined by the police, we didn't. They were travelling 15- 20 miles and in some cases more

itsgettingwierd · 21/03/2021 08:19

You've always been allowed to travel but guidance has said stay local. (Basically it's a request)

One of the steps has the 'stay at home' message being lifted (March 29th one maybe?)

Rule of 6 or 2 households outdoors from 12th April if all goes well so that's when I imagine more and more country parks etc will begin to open up properly. Also I think this is when zoos etc open so there is an expectation people will travel.

ThursdayLastWeek · 21/03/2021 08:20

As stated upthread, our police force is obviously too underfunded to be monitoring national trust locations!

So I suppose it’s common sense based on your area?

TBH at this stage, and after reading the thread about how loads of people are socialising in their homes, I don’t driving in your own vehicle to be in an open space for a while before driving home is particularly dangerous.

yearinyearout · 21/03/2021 08:22

Pretty sure I saw a while ago that some people drove 3 miles to go walk their dogs in some fields and got fined for it because they drove there

You might have, but it's not enforceable so I hope they didn't pay it.

MaxNormal · 21/03/2021 08:22

In Scotland but we've always travelled to walk.

minniemoocher · 21/03/2021 08:27

29th - stay at home order ends

minniemoocher · 21/03/2021 08:28

But even then you need to be able to return home that day and services like toilets will be hit or miss

NeedSomeInfoAgain · 21/03/2021 08:29

If you are rural, you currently have to stay in your village for walks, or start walks from home. We live in a small village with two short and muddy public footpaths. Surrounded by A roads and dual carriageway with no pavements, so going further afield on foot isn't possible. Really appreciate a quick walk in nearest town when I get the shopping. I am so looking forward to the restrictions being lifted! Smile

CovidPostingName · 21/03/2021 08:29

Legally there is not and never has been a distance travel restriction in the legislation if your reason for leaving home is a valid one in the first place. Which is why most of the fines that have been challenged have been withdrawn or overturned. See Derbyshire police's record.

Clearly this needs to be balanced with the guidance and I suspect one would be hard pressed to justify being much more than 45mins to an hour's drive away from home for leisure, and it's never worth getting in to an argument with police at the scene at the time. So avoid places like those mentioned where there is an existing reputation or history of people being stopped.

Original poster
GinJeanie · 21/03/2021 08:31

Thanks for replies. Think we're going with March 29th... Decent walks are one of the things we've missed the most!

OP posts:
nameychange · 21/03/2021 08:34

Rule of 6/2 households starts from the 29th not 12th

Cut and pasted from gov website

Changes on 29 March
Social contact
The evidence shows that it is safer for people to meet outdoors rather than indoors. And this is why from 29 March, when most schools start to break up for the Easter holidays, outdoor gatherings (including in private gardens) of either 6 people (the Rule of 6) or 2 households will also be allowed, making it easier for friends and families to meet outside.

starfish4 · 21/03/2021 08:35

Our police are regularly patrolling in our county, we're seeing them far more in our village. We know they're also in the villages which are tourist hot spots, gently suggesting people from our area should stay there, and a lot of fines issued to people an hour or more away.

I think once holiday let's open mid April, staying local will go out of the window.