I was discussing it with my friend Emma on Google Hangouts. I thought, rather glumly, that the new emergency law on this might ban all such trips. But not so - provided one adheres strictly to the 'social distancing' rules, and does nothing to place a strain on the emergency services. The destination mustn't be too distant, either. So day trips are out. How long to be away from home isn't stated, but I'm guessing that a two-hour 'exercise absence' would be the limit.
Anyway, I sent Emma this summary of what I'd heard:
Ah, I now have better clarity on whether it's all right to drive somewhere to sit in your car and munch sandwiches, or get out and walk. This is after listening to today's BBC Radio 4 One O'Clock News. The police are saying it's absolutely fine to drive somewhere (nearby, that's not a 'honeypot destination') and stay in your car - just admiring the view so to speak. But anywhere that's distant from home - an hour's drive away for instance - would be too far. I get the feeling that most quiet places within half an hour of home, certainly fifteen minutes, would be OK. And it's fine to get out of your car, and take a walk there, with or without a dog, provided you can avoid others. Crowded car parks are a no-no. Encountering other people on narrow footpaths is also a no-no. The police are primarily bothered about people getting too close to each other. Groups (three or more people, even if adequately spaced) will be approached and broken up, with fines issued if people won't co-operate. Wherever you go, it mustn't be for high-risk exercise, such as scrambling up steep hills, so that calls on the emergency services can be avoided too. So, I don't have to abandon driving at all, just keep it fairly local, and make sure that I stay away from other people if l venture out. So far the most risky thing I've done is go shopping at Waitrose and my favourite farm shop. A sunset drive, when most people are shut indoors for the evening, to some place known only to locals and a few others like me, for a very wary walk, must surely be very low-risk indeed, and not illegal in any way. Lucy XX
Responding, Emma pointed me to the actual legislation which the police have to apply. It's at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/350/regulation/6/made.
Restrictions on movement
6. (1) During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a reasonable excuse includes the need—
(a) to obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2;
(b) to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household;
(c) to seek medical assistance, including to access any of the services referred to in paragraph 37 or 38 of Schedule 2;
(d) to provide care or assistance, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(1), to a vulnerable person, or to provide emergency assistance;
(e) to donate blood;
(f) to travel for the purposes of work or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work, or to provide those services, from the place where they are living;
(g) to attend a funeral of—
(i) a member of the person’s household,
(ii) a close family member, or
(iii) if no-one within sub-paragraphs (i) or (ii) are attending, a friend;
(h) to fulfil a legal obligation, including attending court or satisfying bail conditions, or to participate in legal proceedings;
(i) to access critical public services, including—
(i) childcare or educational facilities (where these are still available to a child in relation to whom that person is the parent, or has parental responsibility for, or care of the child);
(ii) social services;
(iii) services provided by the Department of Work and Pensions;
(iv) services provided to victims (such as victims of crime);
(j) in relation to children who do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents, to continue existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children, and for the purposes of this paragraph, “parent” includes a person who is not a parent of the child, but who has parental responsibility for, or who has care of, the child;
(k) in the case of a minister of religion or worship leader, to go to their place of worship;
(l) to move house where reasonably necessary;
(m) to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the place where a person is living includes the premises where they live together with any garden, yard, passage, stair, garage, outhouse or other appurtenance of such premises.
(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any person who is homeless.
I know some pleasant spots within a fifteen-minute drive, and many within half an hour. Mostly in open countryside and along wide riverbanks. Although they are close by, the South Downs themselves will probably be out of bounds, as the car parks have been closed. They would be a 'honeypot destination' anyway, meaning one where you almost certainly would come too close to a lot of people. I would expect the police to be active there. And their drones. Indeed, I hope they are.
But obviously the spirit of the law, and common sense, as well as whatever the police say about their practical approach, are the things to guide one's actions. So I won't be playing games with the police, and doing things I know they would want to stop me doing, even if I can dodge them. And I won't be playing ducks and drakes with my own health, nor anyone else's, by going for a sunset stroll in a place - or in a way - that is dangerous, irresponsible, and clearly illegal, whether locally or not so locally.
Some will say that country dwellers (and I'm one) can more easily escape the full rigour of city-type lockdowns; and that it's unfair. There's truth in that. In fact it's almost a moral question: shouldn't people in locations like mine support the populous cities by not seeking out beautiful viewpoints and serene riverbanks, even they are close by? That's a hard one.
