Stuart
Yes, the rules should be law and enforceable by the law.
I have a step daughter who lives several miles from Madrid. She works in the capital. To get there she has to carry documents from her employer as proof she needs to travel.
Another family member lives in Cork, Eire. Road blocks manned by the Garda stop and check everyone leaving to make sure they have one of the officially prescribed reasons for leaving the city limits. Elsewhere I believe you are confined to your parish or postal district.
Here in Robin Hoodâs Bay, weâve had an influx of tier 3 & 4 folk arriving for Xmas at the numerous holiday lets.
I see the latest travel advice for all tiers in England is now âYou should stay local and avoid travelling outside of your local area, meaning your village or town, or part of a city, where possible. People should continue to travel for reasons such as work, education, medical attention or caring responsibilities.â
Been doing that since the announcements on 19th December anyway. No eagerly heading out to the Shropshire Five, the Ponderosa Pair, the Clwydians or even the delightful Billinge Hill as soon as 2021 arrives. Itâll be a strange new year, the first without that sort of agenda since 2002!
Purpose
1(1) The Licensee shall ensure that the Radio Equipment is only used:
(a) for the purpose of self-training in radio communications, including conducting
technical investigations; and
(b) as a leisure activity and not for commercial purposes of any kind.
âself-trainingâ = Education = Travel ?
Education covers a multitude of excuses, reading Wainwrights guides is quite an education.
Most of my activations nowadays fall under 1(1)(b). However, I find each time I usually learn something new about portable radio and hill-walking or improve on some skill [e.g. erecting the mast & antenna in the wind, discriminate amongst pileup CW callsigns]. But even if I didnât, thereâs always the pleasure and sense of achievement much needed in 2020.
And thatâs not even to mention the physical and mental well-being gained - oh, I just did.
Iâm hoping that the Welsh lockdown will end before the end of the Winter Bonus Season on 15th March. If not, there will be a rush to the Ponderosa & Clwydian hills next December! Corndon Hill is only half a mile inside Wales, so it is very temptingâŚ
You wouldnât even be permitted to leave the Wirral local authority area John, never mind down through Cheshire West, Shropshire and marginally over the border into Wales! Well, not for SOTA / outdoor recreation anyway.
Itâs all a bit grim, Tom. Wirral & Shropshire move into Tier 3 tomorrow-I wonât be surprised if 4 follows. I was planning to do the Clee Hills tomorrow, but itâs a 200 miles appx round trip for me, with iffy weather & snow already there, on top of everything else, so Iâll give it a miss most likely. I see Dave M0M?? is there today- he might give a conditions report later. Iâm glad I got the others ticked off before Christmas.
People can also exercise outdoors or visit some public outdoor places, such as parks, the countryside accessible to the public, public gardens or outdoor sports facilities. You can continue to do unlimited exercise alone, or in a public outdoor place with your household, support bubble, or with one other person if you maintain social distancing. You should follow the guidance on meeting others safely.
Travel
Travelling within a Tier 4 area
If you live in a Tier 4 area, you must not leave your home unless you have a reasonable excuse (for example, for work or education purposes). If you need to travel you should stay local â meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live â and look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall. The list of reasons you can leave your home and area include, but are not limited to:
outdoor recreation or exercise. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your Tier 4 area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)
My mistake John, for some reason, I assumed Wirral had gone into Tier 4 as well. Having said that, Iâm pretty sure that Tier 3 guidelines are against leaving your own area for outdoor recreation.
My understanding is that you can go out for exercise each day so long as you stay in your own council area as tier 3 and tier 4 restrictions prevent you from leaving your own council area except for valid reasons such as work (if you canât work from home), education, providing care etc. All areas of England (except for the Isle of Scilly which has no SOTA summits at all is in tier 1) are in tier 3 or tier 4. If you have any SOTA summits in your own council area, you can go and activate those SOTA summits. Apologies to all those who live in a council area that has no SOTA summits as this would mean you cannot go and activate any SOTA summits unless they are on route to travelling to another council area for an essential reason. Those living in council areas with no SOTA summits can still go outdoors and do some portable amateur radio in that council area, but sadly wonât be valid for SOTA.
One of the problems I feel, is there are various âweaselâ words in the Tier 3 guidance for example.
From the UK.Gov website guidance in Tier 3 areas, these include:-
âAvoid travelling outside your areaâ. Not, âDo notâ which is more emphatic & compulsive.
âWhere possibleâ, avoid travelling outside your area - again, âwhere possibleâ, is open to debate isnât it? "Iâm going to do some exercise (SOTA) and activate G/NP-008 for example. Is that OK as an acceptable reason?
Iâd say that depends on whether or not G/NP-008 is in council area. If this summit is in your council area, go ahead and activate it. If this summit is not in your council area, you cannot activate this summit unless this summit is an a council area that you area travelling to for an essential reason and this summit is on route also.
