Everywhere is England is rammed

[Hyperfish101]

Maybe different elsewhere in UK but Covid has certainly wiped out options for a peaceful day out anywhere. Or so it seems.

Went to a local beauty spot for a walk yesterday. At 10 am cars queuing for the car park. All the NationL Trust type places swarming. Even little walks by our local river are overrun with people.

Had a week in a usually quiet place in the Scottish Borders. Nope. Jammed. The usual quiet beach was overrun. Car park rammed. Rubbish everywhere.

It’s horrible. I realise I was there too so limited grounds to complain but I’ve been going to these places for years and suddenly I can’t even park.

That’s even before mentioning the ‘wild camping’ we saw in the Lakes. Tents abandoned, rubbish everywhere.

I’m hoping when people can stop ‘staycationing’ and go abroad, things will settle down. I feel as if there are no unspoilt areas left now.

Yes, people advocating councils spending more on rubbish collection, and community litter picks - why? Dropping litter is an offence and should be punished.

We could at least have a return to the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

I think it's the behaviour. We're in Pembrokeshire on a holiday booked last May. DB still lives here. He and SIL have noticed lots more rubbish and rudeness, especially SIL working in a village shop.

So , is this thread proof that England is indeed overcrowded ?

This is a great thing about living somewhere actually really pretty with some good beaches where no one comes on holiday!! Who chooses Essex for their holidays!

Actually Suffolk was pretty quiet too, we were one of about 10-20 people on most beaches!

Puff...going on Friday! 3rd trip to London in 6 weeks!

@MyPersona - which Lavender farm? We passed so many Lavender arms in last few days. One of them was definitely not set up for Tourists (big Keep Out signs). Little Slaughter had some tourists (about 50:50 British vs. foreign accents).

Went into this pub for hot chocolate at 2pm. Lovely hot chocolate & only one person to Q behind. Not full inside or out. Burford high street was busy but I have a feeling it's the sort of bottleneck always heaving in high tourist season.

Norfolk beach bins are being emptied a lot more frequently than I am used to -- or there isn't as much rubbish going into them as usual. One or the other.

Come on Lasses, fess up, there's 'class' snobbery theme to this thread. Moaning about a certain sort of person perceived to usually go on package Spanish hols, perceived to have fished up in British countryside instead this year.

@canteenofcutlery

So , is this thread proof that England is indeed overcrowded ?

No. It’s proof that people always go to the same places. For example look at how crowded Durdle Door and Bournemouth beaches were earlier in the summer were. At the same time many friends who live locally who were on empty beaches.

@lljkk the one by Snowshill. They do have a little shop and I guess some visitors, but you don’t normally see more than the occasional car around there, it’s just fields of lavender and empty lanes. Yes the market towns get busy every summer, especially the prettier more famous ones. The Lamb Inn was always very nice but I haven’t been in for years.

For example look at how crowded Durdle Door and Bournemouth beaches were earlier in the summer were. At the same time many friends who live locally who were on empty beaches

Yes most of the, also beautiful, Hampshire coastline was deserted! (I mean it’s awful and crowded don’t come )

Just got back from newquay and was not rammed in Porth beach, Polly joke or our hotel away From town centre. However Fistral beach was heaving. Nightmare to park. It depends.

My son got back from the Lakes and said they found lots of places alone - I think they climbed some extremely high things so that was probably part of it as a lot of holiday makers seem to like to sit by their cars in lay bys or walking only 1 mile to a tea shop.

We were on a Dorset beach that heat wave day with the tutting about Bournemouth- was empty it’s a quiet beach with no facilities where my elderly uncle lives a world away from the crowds.

1 mile, Xenia? 1 yard in most cases!

Regarding the litter. Councils have a vested interest in keeping their tourist locations appealing. More revenue from shop rates, parking, etc. Better for residents too - who pay Council tax to actually be able to live somewhere clean and tidy.
Just enforcement, or getting people to take rubbish home wouldn't result in a cleaner environment, certainly not in the short term. You really need both. More cleaning/emptying and wardens who can issue fixed penalty notices.

I agree with more wardens. In the city near me there are heaps of traffic wardens, even quite late (just avoided one at 8pm). Perhaps litter wardens with commensurate powers to issue fines would be a good revenue raiser. However, judging by some of the offenders, the wardens would need full armour and an arsenal of weapons!

Maybe we could train the traffic wardens to be able to issue litter tickets too...

@Beamur and while they’re at it they could issue people who sit in their with their engine running for minutes on end, which apparently is illegal but nothing ever gets done about it.

Hi. Does anyone know what Torquay is like just now. We were hoping to go on Sunday for 5 days but all the good b and bs and hotels are fully booked so guessing it’s really busy ?

Hoping you saw herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains sorry it's friday and I have had a glass of wine and could not resist

Bee. Thank you for the link,but it’s fully booked until the end of October. It looks really lovely too.