Why it is NOT a good idea to rush off to a Scottish island to "get away from the crowds"

Population of England around the 60 million mark, population of Scotland around 6 million or thereabouts, probably not exact. Obviously the infection rate here in England will be greater than that in Scotland, even allowing for the fact that clearly there have been mistakes in the handling of lockdown by our government. It is assumption, as others have stated, that it is the English only who are taking their miserable infected bodies north of the border. I bet you enjoyed commenting everyone (meaning the English) "to keep to their own areas" Heavens, on that basis I do hope any Scots person, because believe it or not quite a few choose to live here, are not amongst the hordes down on our south coast beaches!

Happily I have no desire to revisit Scotland, given how overt the dislike of the English is amongst a vociferous minority, oh yes I know you don't dislike them at all just WESTMINSTER........yeah right! sorry that palpable distaste just jumps off the page at any given opportunity to air it. Anyway doesn't bother me if I never set foot over the border again, happy in the balmy south thank you very much particularly given the memory of my last visit to Oban, mid August, the weather was equivalent to a coldish day in January down here!

"Oban, mid August, the weather was equivalent to a coldish day in January down here!" Best wait until this sudden hot spell is over - the ferry to Cumbrae won't have three-hour queues then. like

Interesting - there are more posts from English denying that it is them filling up the ferries and so on, than there are from Scots accusing them of it. Even more posts accusing the Scots of hating the English. Very sensitive and prickly, these English - must be an inferiority complex!

I don't know how that solitary "like" crept in.

This is ‘our’ beach yesterday in Fife , where I lived for many years until recently. Really, who wants to queue for 5 miles In a roasting tin can, to get into a car park and then sit on a hot sandy beach, cheek by jowl with strangers, any of whom could be carrying the Virus? I know in Scotland folk have to make the most of summer, but on days like yesterday we just stayed in the garden even though we were only 100 yards from the beach. Next day we’d go down and help clear up the mess. Amazing how folk can carry everything bar the kitchen sink to the beach but never manage to take it home or to the bin

Glad to hear TerriBull is making no further visits to Scotland, or she might end up with a thistle up her arse.
If she's not got one there already.

Totally agree with your post Marmight applies to any coastal area.

We are seeing a lot more people from the cities Paris etc, and other nationalities coming to our rural area of France because there is less infection here, that will soon change.

We have a fair share of numpties up here in Scotland already. In fact visiting English people might help considerably to dilute them. Portobello beach yesterday was jam packed and police called to break up fights. The Meadows area in central Edinburgh was similar and made worse almost by there being no toilets open so human effluent abounded. Disgusting.
Life would be so much easier all round if people just did what Chris Whitty said they should do.

I don't blame parents for wanting to take children to the beach. We all know with our own DGC that they have been very hard hit - no school, no friends, no playgrounds, no swimming pools, just the same old walking routes every day until they don't want to go any more. Some have no gardens, some live in cramped modern houses (generalisation I know but they do tend to be open plan= smaller) or flats. Added to that many of the little ones can't express their fears or worries so their behaviour might have deteriorated, they are more than due a day out on the beach. It is summer, surely there must be room to be 2m apart on a beach or in the sea. Perhaps anyone without children should be turned away!

TerriBull please give Scotland another chance. You've been unlucky so far. Some of us would be very happy to see you.

Lucylastic, at least I imagine at some stage I'd retrieve that thistle from my arse, although I can't help feeling apropos of ongoing caustic anti English comments from a couple of lone voices, it seems the thistles remain firmly stuck in their McArses!

Jane10 I really don't think that about the vast majority of Scots, my husband's best friend is Scots and we stay with them and vice versa when they come south. My husband's friend, Scottish through and through, is one of the loveliest men I know apart from my own. Quite a few years ago my husband told me when he was visiting him they went to a pub, a pal of his came up to join them, my friend's husband went to introduce my husband with "this is x from London" the mate, without a word just turned his back on them and walked away Our friend was highly embarrassed and really angry, more so than my husband who thought it was just laughable. Fortunately, people like that are in a minority, as they would be anywhere else..

Terri
Perhaps they are ‘little Scotlanders’?
All tourist areas rely on tourists actually being present, so I doubt anyone will hear Scottish businesses complaining....they don’t mind where their tourists come from.

Population of England around the 60 million mark, population of Scotland around 6 million or thereabouts, probably not exact. Obviously the infection rate here in England will be greater than that in Scotland

Using your figures then - if Scotland has say 9% of the UK population and Scotland has had 6,067 confirmed cases then the whole UK should have 54,603 ( when in fact the total is 303,181 to date).

Scotland has recorded 566 deaths; UK 46, 119 deaths, whereas 9 times the Scottish figure, would be only 5,094 for the whole UK. In fact the UK has recorded 46,119 deaths to date. Whether this discrepancy can be attributed to the less dense population, better SG management, a better funded NHS Scotland I could only speculate but it is undeniable that it is not simply that Scotland has a smaller population.

It isn’t just population figures though it’s also geography!

lemongrove, I think it's safe to assume there is at least one "little Scotlander" who has never been south of the border and relies entirely on hearsay such as "no one talks to their neighbours in England" to formulate opinions about us all! How lucky we are to have such fine examples set to us as to getting on with others, can't help feeling that entente cordiale doesn't extend to Anglo/Scottish relations though.

If I judged a whole country by one example, I would consign all Austrians to deepest hell after a coach tour we took one day whilst in that (beautiful and welcoming) country.

We were travelling a road over a high pass, and looking down on a forest of fir trees , many of the top branches of which were festooned with lichens. A passenger from the US asked what had caused that. Our driver/guide informed us that it was because of acid rain blown over from industrial GB. As we were in the path of winds from the industrial Ruhr, that would have been a more likely culprit - however, I know, and so do most other people, that lichens only grow on trees where the air and rain are pure.

During the drive, he made several other comments which showed that he held the Uk responsible for almost anything bad, and was barely prepared to be polite to the British passengers. On our return we mentioned this to our hostess at the guest house. She recognised him at once! "Oh, he always does that!" she said. His trips over the border into Bavaria often took him to rightwing political meetings, apparently.

There's always one! Don't judge the barrel by the first herring you take out of it.

Elegran

MawB I don't think anyone said that the crowds were all English - I certainly didn't. People will tend to go to the nearest woods/beach/loch/lake/beauty spot. However, the appeal of travelling just a bit further, now that restrictions are being lifted, could tempt them to visit one of those beautiful "deserted" beaches, whether they go there from Glasgow or from south of the border.

I was passing on the information that these places can fill up remarkably quickly in a rare burst of hot weather.

9 deaths in Scotland for the whole of July .....none for over 2 weeks
Over 2000 deaths in England in the same time.Please keep to your own areas until its safe

I think I was right in guessing who Paddyanne was aiming her remarks at!

Interesting - there are more posts from English denying that it is them filling up the ferries and so on, than there are from Scots accusing them of it. Even more posts accusing the Scots of hating the English. Very sensitive and prickly, these English - must be an inferiority complex

Hardly, it’s not like I have a drop of English blood in my veins.

Granny23

I am not claiming that the crowds in Scotland are all English Tourists. My point is that People from England travelling to Scotland, NI or Wales are statistically about 10x more likely to be carrying the virus, than the 'native' populations.

I could have accepted that post if it had not contained the word “all”.
Try it without and it sounds very different.

Not sure about your statistics though (second sentence) it all depends where doesn’t it?

My solution: keep away from beaches, wherever they are.

I live in a scenic area of Scotland, well to the north of the Central Belt. Everywhere was indeed busy but to go by the number plates on cars, the vast majority of visitors were home-grown, not English.

My sil runs a holiday business in Scotland and they are fully booked until September. Not one of those visitors is coming from England.

Covid has allowed the racism, nationalism & parochialism that lies at the heart of the independence movement to flourish. I am so sad that this beautiful country I moved to 40 years has been divided and its institutions such as schools, the NHS and universities reduced to a shadow of their former selves.

Couldn't agree more SueDonim. Here's Portobello beach in Edinburgh yesterday. Packed with Scots.

Some of my family are planning to go up to Scotland for a camping holiday. There have been more than 18,000 cases of Covid19 in Scotland, whereas the South West of England, where they live, and has a similar population, has only had about 13,000 cases. Should they go?

Would think it’s highly unlikely that many people from England would risk going all the way up to Scotland for a seaside break.
Much easier and probably warmer to stay south where weather is marginally closer to the hot Mediterranean that we are missing.
Don’t blame Scotland for being nervous though.

Varian. It’s got to be the south west, if they can find a quiet part.