I've been doing a load more walking since Covid struck and being of a certain age and health I've had to improvise my walks to avoid being around as many people as I can which leads to all sorts of counterintuitive stuff.
For instance during the original lockdown the obvious places to go for a walk are the local parks or scenic areas - but everyone else do the same, so those became the areas I would tend to avoid and instead used to wander around the commercial districts and town centres instead because the office workers were working from home and virtually all the shops were shut, which meant there was hardly anyone around.
Similarly in summer, where my daughter lives is just off the Thames and a nice stroll to go and visit her would be along the Thames footpath but of course everyone else were out on their walks themselves and thus it was rammed with people, cyclists, joggers and everybody else enjoying the sunshine and the views. I actually found that walking down the main residential streets running parallel to the river, there were far fewer people about and thus less potentially hazardous to my health.
In the winter months I found a late evening walks in the dark and cold in the local parks to be the place where most sensible people won't be found although you need to avoid the car park areas where the local youth are parked up in their hired BMW's smoking their weed which you can actually smell from quite a distance on the wind.
I'm not an antisocial person by nature but needs most and until I have both of my jabs I'll stay away from the crowd on my little walks the best I can.
As for the two ladies above, we only have their side of the story.
Would people's view of the police action change if they had been caught doing this a number of times previously and asked not to - but ignored the warnings and persisted never the less?
Just a thought.
For instance during the original lockdown the obvious places to go for a walk are the local parks or scenic areas - but everyone else do the same, so those became the areas I would tend to avoid and instead used to wander around the commercial districts and town centres instead because the office workers were working from home and virtually all the shops were shut, which meant there was hardly anyone around.
Similarly in summer, where my daughter lives is just off the Thames and a nice stroll to go and visit her would be along the Thames footpath but of course everyone else were out on their walks themselves and thus it was rammed with people, cyclists, joggers and everybody else enjoying the sunshine and the views. I actually found that walking down the main residential streets running parallel to the river, there were far fewer people about and thus less potentially hazardous to my health.
In the winter months I found a late evening walks in the dark and cold in the local parks to be the place where most sensible people won't be found although you need to avoid the car park areas where the local youth are parked up in their hired BMW's smoking their weed which you can actually smell from quite a distance on the wind.
I'm not an antisocial person by nature but needs most and until I have both of my jabs I'll stay away from the crowd on my little walks the best I can.
As for the two ladies above, we only have their side of the story.
Would people's view of the police action change if they had been caught doing this a number of times previously and asked not to - but ignored the warnings and persisted never the less?
Just a thought.