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Are you planning to visit your holiday home?

(167 Posts)
JenniferEccles Wed 13-May-20 12:40:05

Now we are able to drive as far as we like (well in England anyway!) I am sure lots will take the opportunity soon.

We are not permitted to stay overnight so we are excluded for the time being as ours is in the West Country, over four hours drive from home, but for those able to get there and back in a day it’s very good news.

gillgran Thu 14-May-20 10:58:02

Hopefully we will be able to get to our little "home-from-home", in the next week or so.
We are lucky that we live about 55 miles away, so can go for the day.
We would normally be staying there for up to half a week, most weeks from Easter until October.
When we bought, we made the decision that we have rarely any other holidays, & we are not able to travel overseas, (for personal/health reasons.)
During the winter, we do day-visits to check on the property, about once a month. (we last went at the beginning of March).
Now, of course, we need to cut the grass which is bound to look like a meadow !

I'm hoping to get there whilst the lovely blooms are still out near Sandringham..!!

ALANaV Thu 14-May-20 11:29:59

Just a tongue in cheek question really …..all these ;BRITISH; people living on the same small island are suddenly becoming racist as regards each other ….Scotland, Wales, Ireland banning English people from 'their country'....SO does the same apply to people from Wales, Scotland or Ireland visiting THEIR country homes in ENGLAND A....likewise those living in 'desirable' parts of the country ...presumably they would make no objection to visiting other parts of England themselves ….so if a Welsh/Scottish/Irish resident has a second home in Stoke on Trent (!) that's ok then ?????grin

lemongrove Thu 14-May-20 11:35:43

A fair point Alan ?

Lisa I tried to copy your style of flower arranging the other week when given a bouquet....but it didn’t look as natural. I shall keep trying.?your many and varied jugs will become well known on GN now.?

Callistemon Thu 14-May-20 11:43:05

SO does the same apply to people from Wales, Scotland or Ireland visiting THEIR country homes in ENGLAND A....likewise those living in 'desirable' parts of the country ...presumably they would make no objection to visiting other parts of England themselves ….so if a Welsh/Scottish/Irish resident has a second home in Stoke on Trent (!) that's ok then ?????

Ha ha, Alan
If someone lives in Wales, N Ireland or Scotland they have no need of a second home in England, they are surrounded by beauty.

And there is nowt wrong with Stoke-on-Trent - it is surrounded by beautiful countryside, no need to travel far.

Growing0ldDisgracefully Thu 14-May-20 11:46:45

We have a touring caravan in storage at the site we have been going to for many many years. We usually spend the first week of each month there so very much missing our home-from-home. The van is stilled wrapped up in its winter storage cover and I am very worried about whether the recent heat will have been causing any damage, due to heat build up within the van. However I entirely respect the site's directive NOT to visit the site to check on our vans, albeit if allowed we could get there, do a check and get back within a day.

Jang Thu 14-May-20 12:10:11

Unfortunately ours is over 5 hours away... so unlikely to be going anytime soon.. But did our yearly maintenance visit just before lock down - thankfully... so it should be good to go as soon as we get the green light.. Will be missing a family hol there in May though which is very sad as wanted t take grand daughter to see Eden Project.

WOODMOUSE49 Thu 14-May-20 12:53:12

I quite understand people wanting to check their holiday/second homes are OK but the tourism minister has tweeted this message.

-@HuddlestonNigel-

-You and your household can head outdoors for your physical & mental wellbeing in England.
But be respectful to local people & communities.
You must adopt social distancing at all times.
Then return to your primary home - No overnight stays, including second homes & holiday homes-

I know I've posted this before, but as someone else here has said the main hospital in Cornwall is the only one able to take in Covid19 sufferers and it has limited (11 ? ICU) beds. We have no lifeguards on the beaches and tourist attractions such as Eden remain closed.

Tom Huddleston also posts on his Facebook page: -Leaving your home - the place you live - to stay at another home is not allowed-.

Hopefully we won't get a second peak and things will improve.

MayBee70 Thu 14-May-20 13:29:34

If you have a second home you still pay full council tax so should still be as entitled to anything as local people are.

MarieEliza Thu 14-May-20 13:43:30

We visited st Anne’s on sea, just half an hour’s drive for us. We took a picnic and walked on the beach and parks for an hour or so. Not too many visitors about and weather was nice

Anniebach Thu 14-May-20 13:58:52

Wales is closed

Callistemon Thu 14-May-20 14:20:38

Anniebach I watched the lunch-time news and they were discussing the fact that different regions of England have higher rates of infection than others (well, we knew that) but then said that, of course, all were lower than Wales.
But said no more about the situation here.

Callistemon Thu 14-May-20 14:23:07

you still pay full council tax so should still be as entitled to anything as local people are.

entitled or not, this does not mean that the areas people may flock to have the capacity in their hospitals to deal with a possible upsurge of COVID19 cases.

Anniebach Thu 14-May-20 14:33:09

Callistemon Wales is an afterthought, it’s regarded as a county , no matter we have a Welsh government. ???????

Anyway we have taken down the Brecon Beacons, will rebuild
them when safe to do so , drained the lakes and turned camping sites into nature reserves , not forgetting we can plug
up the reservoirs ! ?

MayBee70 Thu 14-May-20 14:50:26

There’s a thought, Annie: you could say to Brummies ‘stay at home or the reservoir gets it’.

Barmeyoldbat Thu 14-May-20 14:52:33

I lived and married in a tourist town in the west country. It was hell when the visitors came, especially with the traffic and car pollution. House price rose, most houses are let for visitors so a shortage of rentable houses for the local people and prices were often artificially high in the summer months. We use to love the winter.

Anniebach Thu 14-May-20 15:26:37

MayBee ? Capel Celyn is first on the list, I froze camping
there in the 60’s , a Demo to save the village, we failed

paddyanne Thu 14-May-20 16:49:59

In answer to the post above Scots are NOT allowed to travel any distance from home for ANY reason and certainly not to a holiday home even in Scotland .No one is racist we're dealing with the pandemic in the way thats best for our country .Hospitals outside of the central belt are few and far between its very selfish of anyone travelling to an area with little resources thinking they are entitled to use those facilities .So no one can cross the border except on essential business ,that doesn't mean sitting on a beach or climbing a mountain.Like Wales SCOTLAND is closed

LinkyPinky Thu 14-May-20 17:34:05

I live in the West Country. We are in absolute DREAD of second homers arriving. Please don’t come here. There is not the infrastructure to cope.

Happyme Thu 14-May-20 18:47:47

Visit my holiday home most days, mind it is parked in the drive! Mr Happy desperate to stay overnight but have told him it isn't allowed smile

Bluegrass Thu 14-May-20 18:53:11

Well I never, I didn't know I had a holiday home!

Lisagran Thu 14-May-20 19:07:22

Ours is parked up too, Happyme! We sometimes have tea in there grin

JenniferEccles Thu 14-May-20 19:19:57

I guess the May bank holiday will be the main test to see how many people decide to go to their second home, especially if the weather is good.

We are not going yet but do hope to later in the summer.

It’s just a case of monitoring the situation. By July if restaurants and pubs are open it could well be business as usual in all the holiday hotspots.

Meta Thu 14-May-20 19:29:01

Well today my husband and myself went to our local seafront, about 10 minutes drive away. It was awful, I haven’t been down in the car for two months, and it was packed. We tried to do a short walk, there were people obviously meeting up in pairs socially distanced across the path, family groups across the path, dogs on long leads across the path and bikes weaving in and out at top speed- across the path. We were walking single file trying to keep our distance but it wasn’t enjoyable at all so we came home. I’ll stick to my walks around the block and exercise videos, my nerves won’t stand it otherwise. I understand we all want to get out and about, but I was honestly shocked by the total disregard by so many of social distancing. Normally I love the seafront, even on busy days but not under these circumstances. It is a Devon location, so please stay nearer home until things really improve.

Grammaretto Thu 14-May-20 19:43:00

My DD lives in an area of Scotland very popular with tourists. The police have already scooped up families of picnickers, hill walkers, cyclists and I daresay some 2nd home owners.

Where they are, if someone got into trouble on the loch - and they have been swimming and boating - DD would be the first port of call. She is NOT amused.

As paddyanne says Scotland is closed.

Paperbackwriter Thu 14-May-20 22:51:58

Ours is in Cornwall, close to where our daughters and their families live. We've had it for over 35 years. We can't go, of course as we're 270 miles away, which is fine but from the horrible hostility I've seen on social media, I'm not sure I'd feel safe anyway. If our cars didn't have Cornish numberplates (as they do) I'd be quite worried. Down there, they seem to think that anyone from east of the Tamar is a disease-ridden danger, sent specifically to infect an entire county.