UKC

That is my interpretation of this timetable from the Scottish gov.

https://twitter.com/jasonleitch/status/1371836045470339079?s=19

If we are allowed to travel anywhere then presumably we can travel to Glencoe then travel up a hill or two. Not sure whether we can camp though.

If you camp with no one to see you were you ever there?

Quite.

I imagine bothies will remain closed as will club huts. Mind you, they'd be the last places I'd want to sleep in right now.

I wouldn't worry about discreet camping at that point whatever the rules say.

Travel within mainland Scotland allowed. I don’t think it means that us English are allowed north of the boarder though. I couldn’t work out when we’re likely to be let in. 

Some good news, yeah - for the Summer, at least. I'm not sure it's very clear about 26th April yet - it does say travel restrictions lifted for mainland Scotland, but it also says most areas will move to level 3, which doesn't currently allow non-essential travel between local authorities. Maybe this will get clearer.

And it's still a wee bit vague about crossing the border for leisure ("Non-essential journeys to other parts of the UK and the wider common travel area should also be permitted from 26 April or soon after").

Regarding getting to the hills, the main dates (planned - will be changed if they have to be) are:

2nd April - 'stay home' becomes 'stay local'. I think this is guidelines rather than laws, but it'll probably mean more travelling within local authority areas will be happening.

26th April - back to 'levels', aiming for all to be down to level 3. Maybe allowed to travel around, or maybe that's the next stage?

17th May - most council areas hopefully moving to level 2, which does allow non-essential travel to and from other areas at level 2 or lower

1st June - hopefully all of Scotland down to level 1

30th June - hopefully all of Scotland down to level 0

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53166816

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-timetable-for-easing...

Only if you can't resist dropping hints on UKC about "what a naughty boy I've been,  hee hee!"

Several times it was mentioned that it was expected to allow free travel around the mainland 26/4. Already rattling around a tiny local authority so no change early April.

I'm not sure what the difference between is between "stay home" and "stay local". If it just means I can go out inside my local authority any time I want I still can't go anywhere further than the Pentlands and most central belt residents are similarly restricted. Map of local authorities in link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_in_Scotland

The BBC report suggests we'll still be confined.

Of course the other question is whether I'll be able to get to the Lakes or Northumberland then. Seems that restrictions on travel to and from England should be lifted around the same time.

Looks like good news, although after they get the votes on 6th May there could be changes.

Sounds like level 3 till mid may but level rules changed to allow travel outside council area in level 3 from April 26th?

Something like that, yes.

It's mainly the travel bit that's important to me. I can't remember the last time I was outside Edinburgh, certainly a while before Christmas.

Absolutely. Who cares about beer gardens and hairdressers!?

Ratho would  be good though. From April 26th?

I suspect not.

Gyms open for individual excercise on 26 April. Bouldering maybe.

But it looks more like early June.

Yes, that was my thought too - 6 May is arguably as significant a date as any of the others. As a sceptical/cynical neighbour said to me in the street this morning, before the announcement, "There'll be sweeties on offer before 6 May."

Re Eric's point about stay home vs stay local, I'm not sure either. If it still allows the police to stop people on the basis of not staying local enough, then it won't change much. Here in Stirling I know of people managing to climb Munros elsewhere in the Stirling council area, as per the law, but I also know of a couple who were recently turned back between Stirling and Callander, presumably as per the guidance. That doesn't seem right but there wasn't much they could do about it. That kind of stuff could well continue for ages yet.

Maybe. It does say "travel within all of mainland Scotland permitted (subject to other restrictions that remain in place)" (emphasis mine; from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-timetable-for-easing... ).

Worst case scenario, they just mean that the blanket ban on travelling around mainland Scotland - the one they introduced on top of the levels system - ends, which might not be all that exciting depending on the levels (especially speaking as a Stirling resident..!)

A lot of what has been said does suggest it'll be OK to travel around, though.

Stay local vs Stay at home; my guess (and it is an entirely uneducated one!) Is that it could be that you can travel outwith your local authority area but still no overnight stays? That would limit your distance a bit, hence local? Pure guesswork though!

My take is that at the moment we're only allowed to leave home for excercise or essential stuff. Stay local presumably means you need to stay inside the same boundaries as before but can go outside for non essential reasons.

Yes, could be that! I presume they will clarify nearer the time.

I, personally, couldn't give two hoots about the non essential stuff like hairdressers and the like and would rather meet a friend from another area for a run! It would be safer! But we, on here, are not very representative of most people!

We were discussing that exact clause last night over food. To me it allows the authorities a significant amount of wiggle room in terms of continuing restrictions, even if there's not another surge come late April. As you say, it does suggest it'll be OK to travel around, but I'm suspicious of adjustments/tightenings in due course.

In practical news, a couple of my Stirling friends yesterday went to Ben Ledi - not from the main car park - and got on fine, a nice day with no problems. I'm still pondering that kind of outing, which is fine in theory but not necessarily so in practice. Despite doing industrial amounts of Ochiling, I haven't driven more than a couple of miles west of Stirling since November.

So maybe it means you will be able to move freely between areas in Levels 1 and 2 again but not from level 3.

I wonder whether Skye count as mainland for the purposes of this, given the bridge?

Alien Rock down in Newhaven should be able to open a bit sooner then

 

Only if you sing hymns while you climb! 😜

If granted such a gift from the postcode fairy, I would take it.   

No shortage of prayers when on the end of a long run out.

I think I might, if the weather stays springlike into next week. Probably not Ledi, more likely Stuc from Braeleny or from lower down the road, but something thereabouts anyway. Hope you're able to do more soon too - don't despair!

Actually, I'm still really enjoying the local low-level pottering outings. Had a good 2hr wander from Sauchie to Clackmannan Tower at the weekend, via various paths that I'd not been on before. Some of the best outings I've had in the past year have been of that type - local, small, semi-exploratory. Possibly the best jaunt of 2021 thus far wasn't one of the Ochil things but quite a lengthy wander to mighty Peathill, all 103m of it, at the northern edge of Devilla and tackled from Alloa (as far as I'm allowed to drive in that direction) during the snowy spell in February. Very enjoyable and atmospheric, especially on the return leg, walking along the long straight sections of the old railway / cycleway in a slow TV kind of way with fresh snow falling and everything looking lovely.

These discussions are putting me in mind of the quotation from Marx. "the philosophers have only interpreted the world - the point is to change it".
I'm not at all sure where the government feel their power to limit our liberty to do perfectly reasonable things derives from but it is certainly not from any consent that I have given them.
Nothing I would do has any intention to harm nor would I be reckless or neglectful: I'm therefore not sure how my putative actions can be characterised as "criminal".

I am thoroughly sick of being confined inside the City of Glasgow and am beginning to hold myself in contempt for my acquiescence to these regulations.
Ironically I might he happy to be a volunteer but not any longer to be a conscript.

Too late! All the ice has gone😡

Got plans. Enough

I really could not have put it better myself.