Getting away from people is getting harder and harder...

 

Over lockdown the world seemed like a much quieter place. The roads were quiet, and though we would run into people (or rather cross the road to avoid people) on our daily exercise walks, we felt like the annoyances of living in a densely populated town seemed to be less evident. 

But of course the easing of restrictions, plus the fine weather recently, mean that things have more or less gone back to normal. In fact it's like COVID never happened. Does that worry you like it worries me?

We decided to go on one of our favourite walks, a 4 mile circular route around Stonor Park. This route neatly avoids the busy park itself, but skirts around it, up to the top ridge of the edge of the Chiltern Way, and then back down again through the Park's public access trackway. 

For the first part of our trek we didn't see another soul. It was peaceful, quiet, and a real tonic, reminding us what it felt like to escape the confines of our usual lunchtime exercise walks and actually get 'out there' into the countryside again. 

Coming back down on the second part of the walk, we passed through Stonor and realised that the place was heaving. People were given a slight whiff of freedom, and were definitely making the most of it. For a brief moment it was quite something to see - a preview of what the summer will once again be like, and again that nagging feeling at the back of my mind that we'd all be paying for this later on with a possible fourth lockdown, even despite the great strides made in vaccinating the population. 

Lockdown and COVID has made us naturally edgy about being anywhere near other people, and without going to the lengths of wearing masks when out in the open air, it feels odd when anyone gets too close, and we still always give everyone the widest berth possible even if they don't reciprocate (in my experience, people NEVER reciprocate, you are expected to move - they will not move for you). 

In recent years - even before COVID and lockdown, we had begun to notice that, as National Trust members, it was getting harder and harder to get into our favourite NT green spaces, houses and parks at weekends purely because the number of people doing the same had risen exponentially. 

When we were first members, we could pretty much park easily, find a quiet picnic spot and enjoy a nice day out. Quite often we'd see very few people when we ventured off the beaten track a bit, but over the last few years our favourite places (Stowe, Cliveden and Basildon) are now so busy that it's impossible to avoid people when you go. 

In fact that goes for most places. There are so few places left where you can comfortably predict you won't see another soul. A colleague at work has just come back from a day trip to the New Forest and described the scenes there, so many cars cramming into car parks that folk were parking on verges - all desperate to get 'out there' after months of staying stuck indoors and who can blame them. 

Now and again though I just like the idea of going somewhere where other people aren't. Call me selfish but nothing makes me happier than the combination of a green space, a wood or a forest, and a distinct lack of humans.