This is a quick reminder to all activators in Scotland that the Scottish Winter Bonus period has shifted a day forward.
Bonus starts 30th November, St. Andrew’s Day
Bonus finishes 14th March
I should also remind people that crossing into Scotland is currently against the law in the current lockdown period unless you have one accepted essential reasons.
… which include, apparently [according to the Guardian] to take a driving test, feed an animal or donate blood
… or an eye test? 
There’s probably a fair chunk of the borders where for some their nearest test centre may be across the border. i.e. people living in Annan etc. going to Carlisle and no doubt something similar on the East coast with people going North for their test.
No that’s no longer valid since all the Cummings and goings in No. 10 the other week!
So it probably doesn’t include driving across the border to Barnard Castle and back to check your eyesight.
Has Durham formed an allegiance with Scotland? 
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Thanks Andy,
I am one of the few people this will benefit as I get St Andrews day as a public holiday! XYL works for NHS and does not get St Andrew’s Day holiday, but my Swedish employer gives me a holiday…
Its interesting to see all the variations of restrictions to travel effecting just about every country, like 20km in France. I have the feeling that the 5 tier system of lockdown we have in Scotland will be applied as is until the end of the pandemic, like it or not. In tier 3 and 4, which much of the population including myself are in you cannot make non essential journeys outside your local council area. The fact they brought this into law last Friday indicates to me its here to say…
I am lucky to live in the Perth & Kinross council area, which is massive with lots of summits. But very restrictive if you live around Glasgow or Edinburgh, until things improve and these areas drop to tier 2.
Yesterday I scratched my head and decided I was within the rules to do a quick handheld activation of Arthur’s Seat ! I was on leave to take my elderly aunt to a 4 hour medical appointment at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, within walking distance of the summit. Good use of my time 
73 Gavin
GM0GAV
I have Cairnpapple Hill which is OK for special events etc.
And the laws say you can do the following:
“local outdoor informal exercise such as walking, cycling, golf, or running (in groups of up to 6 people from no more than 2 households) that starts and finishes at the same place (which could be up to 5 miles from the boundary of your local authority area)”
A work colleague who hill walks and lives around the corner pointed out a parking area that is 4.45miles from my front door so meets the above limits and allows ascent of East Cairn Hill. So that gives me a real hill to climb.
We had an email from HR at work that basically said the situation regarding return to work in Europe is constantly considered but the current expected return date is July 31st 2021. If vaccination rollout shows rapid and quick results that date may move forward. But if it is end of July will mean all of my colleagues in Europe will have been in the “work-from-home” state for 15months. The unofficial word is productivity is such that people are looking at whether we’ll ever need the amount of office space we have now in the future, just let people stay working from home for ever!
I miss the office for a number of work reasons, being able to talk face to face about work issues with colleagues, A3 colour printer/copier, being able to flick the reset switch on a crashed test machine. And I miss the office for personal reasons because I can’t talk trash face to face about life and stuff with colleagues, A3 colour printer (for printing walking maps), infinite free real freshly ground coffee or tea.
More over, I am keenly aware of how supremely privileged I am to be still in a job and can work from home nearly as easily as I did in the office. Lots of people are not so lucky.
Indeed Andy. Part of me hopes that the world learns some good lessons from this pandemic and we can retain some of the remote ways of working (with the associated reduction in travel & nights away and improved time at home). However, I think many industries are relying hugely on pre-COVID personal relationships that were built up face to face. It’s a lot harder to create those relationships remotely.
Sorry, we’ve gone off topic (again)
Ditto, I have been working from home for the last 20 years so well used to it. But found it harder over last few months as the trips away reduced to almost zero, these allowed the face to face meeting and interaction plus a change of scene. Just get’s boring and working days stretch at both ends with more Teams meetings…
I have been frustrated for years driving into the office when much of what I can do could be done equally well from home, and working for local goverment every paperclip is counted so no pribnting maps or free coffee… In July I guessed things would continue so the home office / shack was reorganised with the installation of 2.5m of oak workbench ( Which it turns out is, even by anvil standards suprisingly heavy ) an office chair a cable rack under the bench and everything filtered ( Clean Up Your Shack – 2019 | GM3SEK's Technical Blog ) with more ferrite than it is possible to shake a stick at… - and Cat 6 cable runs… but I do miss the office a bit, but not the 40 min commute. As they are in the process of demolishing our offices this is likely to be a permanent process - well at least until my pension tunnel is complete . I am sure that a considerable amount of money and carbon could have been saved had some of this been done earleir, and for me one day a week with collegaues in the same building would be a good compromise. Must admit that our IT department has been brilliant - everything has worked perfectly throughout the entire period… anyway back to SOTA…
Not sure yet how much lockdown we will have in the lost lands of Scotland ( Co Durham ) but, fingers crossed for completing the NP summits by Easter… EDIT we will be level 3 and should avoid travelling to other parts of the UK, including for overnight stays other than where necessary… so if sticking to the letter of the law Cumbria, N Yorks and Scotland are all out of bounds…so the next target is… Slightly Crag 
or the SE bit of Peel Fell…