Over the half term holiday, the lockdown started to be lifted - prematurely in the views of many, and following the breach of regulations by several people, notably Dominic Cummings who showed his contempt for all those who had strictly observed the rules, even if it meant losing the opportunity to say goodbye to a parent or partner or loved one.
There were the usual issues with people not social distancing, but also some high profile incidents:
- drunk people requiring assistance after getting too much sun on Brighton beach, which was very busy and full of groups of people
- people injuring themselves while 'tombstoning' off Durdle Door requiring air ambulance to be called and people to be crowded onto a small area of beach
- BBQs causing fires in many National Parks, and also in the woods near to the car park at Wells next the Sea in Norfolk
With millions of people furloughed and therefore with time on their hands and no requirement to go to work, there are going to be far more people out and about generally. Add in the likelihood that travel restrictions mean we are not going to be able to travel to many of the usual destinations and there are likely to be more people staying at home - the ugly phrase 'staycationing' has been used.
Some countries began opening their borders, but not necessarily to UK Passport holders due to the high number of cases we have had in the UK. France was added to the list in August, causing thousands to have to end their holiday prematurely and rush back before the deadline for quarantine (assuming they paid attention to that and quarantined without anyone checking if they had or not).
I think it would be a good late summer project for students to consider the geographies of their own summer breaks as they are likely to be taken in the UK, often quite close to home for many.
Which industries are benefitting? Who are the losers?
What are the social, economic, environmental, political, demographic etc. implications?
What about traffic issues, crime, health, financial and other issues.
What we need are some good ideas for questions, tasks and contexts to explore... I've started some thinking and would be good to have some further ideas added here.
The final challenge will be to explore and capture the summer to come and the impact of the increased numbers of people staying local or at least holidaying in the UK.
Use this link to edit the document and add your own idea(s) - please add your name and credit any images that are added - use your own images if possible, or screenshots of news items / tweets.
There were the usual issues with people not social distancing, but also some high profile incidents:
- drunk people requiring assistance after getting too much sun on Brighton beach, which was very busy and full of groups of people
- people injuring themselves while 'tombstoning' off Durdle Door requiring air ambulance to be called and people to be crowded onto a small area of beach
- BBQs causing fires in many National Parks, and also in the woods near to the car park at Wells next the Sea in Norfolk
With millions of people furloughed and therefore with time on their hands and no requirement to go to work, there are going to be far more people out and about generally. Add in the likelihood that travel restrictions mean we are not going to be able to travel to many of the usual destinations and there are likely to be more people staying at home - the ugly phrase 'staycationing' has been used.
Some countries began opening their borders, but not necessarily to UK Passport holders due to the high number of cases we have had in the UK. France was added to the list in August, causing thousands to have to end their holiday prematurely and rush back before the deadline for quarantine (assuming they paid attention to that and quarantined without anyone checking if they had or not).
I think it would be a good late summer project for students to consider the geographies of their own summer breaks as they are likely to be taken in the UK, often quite close to home for many.
Which industries are benefitting? Who are the losers?
What are the social, economic, environmental, political, demographic etc. implications?
What about traffic issues, crime, health, financial and other issues.
What we need are some good ideas for questions, tasks and contexts to explore... I've started some thinking and would be good to have some further ideas added here.
The final challenge will be to explore and capture the summer to come and the impact of the increased numbers of people staying local or at least holidaying in the UK.
Use this link to edit the document and add your own idea(s) - please add your name and credit any images that are added - use your own images if possible, or screenshots of news items / tweets.
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