Great Western Coffee Shop

The Coffee Shop forum will remain OPEN and online 24/7 and offer information and wider (largely friendship and emotional) support for our membership and wider friends.

EDIT - 7.1.2021 adding message from GWR at top of the thread: "In light of the latest Government announcement, if you still need to travel, please follow the latest guidance."

At the risk of sharing what you'll find shared at 101 other places too ... from www.gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home) dated 4th Jan 2021.  This is the summary - click on the link for full guidance document

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Summary: what you can and cannot do during the national lockdown

You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

You should follow this guidance immediately. The law will be updated to reflect these new rules.

Leaving home
You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave the home to:
* shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
* go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
* exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
* meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one
* seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse)
* attend education or childcare - for those eligible
Colleges, primary and secondary schools will remain open only for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. All other children will learn remotely until February half term. Early Years settings remain open.

Higher Education provision will remain online until mid February for all except future critical worker courses.

If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local in the village, town, or part of the city where you live. You may leave your local area for a legally permitted reason, such as for work.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable you should only go out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. You should not attend work

Meeting others
You cannot leave your home to meet socially with anyone you do not live with or are not in a support bubble with (if you are legally permitted to form one).

You may exercise on your own, with one other person, or with your household or support bubble.

You should not meet other people you do not live with, or have formed a support bubble with, unless for a permitted reason.

Stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in your household.

Below - Specific detail from the government via https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#travel

Also - Guidance for passengers at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers

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Travel

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 ? meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live ? 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:
* work, where you cannot reasonably work from home
* accessing education and for caring responsibilities
* visiting those in your support bubble ? or your childcare bubble for childcare
* visiting hospital, GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health
* buying goods or services that you need, but this should be within your local area wherever possible
* outdoor exercise. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)
* attending the care and exercise of an animal, or veterinary services
If you need to travel, walk or cycle where possible, and plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport. This will allow you to practice social distancing while you travel.

Avoid car sharing with anyone from outside your household or your support bubble. See the guidance on car sharing.

If you need to use public transport, you should follow the safer travel guidance.

Presumably "home" includes any garden, yard, courtyard, driveway or similar place that is part of ones home ?

In the last lockdown I recall police or PCSOs threatening to arrest the owners of children playing in a front garden. At the time, the home secretary confirmed that gardens could be used as normal.

IIRC this was an isolated incident prompted by one over-zealous police officer and which, as they are prone to do, the media  "pluralised".

This morning I did my Big Shop at Waitrose at my usual time of 0730. There seemed to be more parked cars than usual and I suspected panic buying. In fact there were double the usual numbers of customers, that is to say (only) sixteen or eighteen.

When I exited the car park at 0800ish I had to pause for half-a-dozen cars to pass - the most since late March. I wondered where their drivers were going, but I understand that more premises are permitted to be open this time.

Now I did my "big shop" at lunch time yesterday and wonder if I might be suspected of "panic buying" - though (of course) I would describe it as "prudent buying".  In any case, our major supermarket shops have been infrequent, but I have stretched the interval between them out to being longer thus the quantities purchased greater with things that will keep.  I guess my measure of panic v prudent is to keep wastage levels low, and to be fairly well run down on most things at the end of the extended inter-supermarket-shop interval.

Just one bottle of alcohol purchased ... sadly, the lady authorising it through the checkout did not ask for ID ...

The time to worry about age verification is when you ask for a store's over-60 discount card and they don't ask you for proof of age.

Once, on the SAME DAY I was presumed to be a pensioner on the bus, but was asked for proof of age when buying drink.

I have met you ... you have an ageless quality.

Alcohol - I've only once been asked how old I was and that was in Tesco a few months after I turned 18. The pubs never asked my age when I was 15.

Travel - A few years earlier a revenue inspector on a London Transport bus did not believe that I was under 16 (I was 15 at the time and had paid a child fare) and told me he was sending a policeman up to see me. I don't believe there was a policeman downstairs and I got off at my normal stop a few minutes later.

From GWR: "In light of the latest Government announcement, if you still need to travel, please follow the latest guidance."

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/gwr_20210107.jpg)