People travelling from England still holiday homes
Sat May 09, 2020 11:03 am
The smouldering anger in West Wales as second home owners keep coming
Media Wales
Saturday 9th May 2020
'I was phoned by a lady in tears in her eighties living in a ground floor apartment with a shared access to a first floor second home - the owners arrived and she was terrified'
There has been an undercurrent of fear and uncertainty swirling around parts of Pembrokeshire as it geared up for another bank holiday weekend in lockdown.
That feeling has been lying under the surface of daily life in the county ever since March 23, when the UK was ordered to shut down.
It has driven one pensioner to tears and accusations that people in Pembrokeshire are turning into "Welsh nationalists".
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, locals painted messages on wooden boards: "Your holiday, our lives – turn around." There was resentment and anger that second home owners and holidaymakers were choosing to travel to self-isolate in the countryside.
Still that anger lingers as it seems second home owners continue to arrive in Pembrokeshire.
A supermarket worker, who did not want to be named, said the scale of the problem was going unnoticed. He said people living hundreds of miles away were ordering groceries and supplies to Pembrokeshire addresses. The giveaway was the invoice address, he said.
"If you want to see how many people are travelling to west Wales and getting through, take a look at superstores doing grocery click and collect. I have been doing tourists' grocery click and collect - they've made it through to their second homes and ordering food on line and going to stores to pick it up.
"We know they're from out of area by the invoice address. People are ordering from Nottingham, Manchester, Bristol, London and even as far afield as Glasgow. I've seen them all since the restrictions were put in place.
"The English are not aware of the rules that have been put in place about travelling to second homes." Once people have arrived and settled into their homes, the police have no powers to send them back where they came from.
Holiday home owners have even tried to avoid the police checkpoints by sending their luggage via courier.
The last thing people in Pembrokeshire want to do is turn the issue into a battle between the English and the Welsh. Most are eager to welcome holiday makers and second home owners back after lockdown is lifted.
They know they will need them more than ever as they seek to make up for a dire start to the 2020 tourist season.
Most are content to let people get on with their own business.
One man in Broadhaven said he had come across four families while taking a walk on the beach. He claims two had travelled from London, another from Grimsby and one from Newcastle. "I hope they enjoy their stay," he said.
Another, from the small village of Trefin, said he had challenged an elderly couple who were walking back to their car, to be told "You are Welsh Nationalists".
There is a sense of sadness from him that this is what it has come to. It is not a matter of the English versus the Welsh; it's about protecting this beautiful corner of the country, he said.
Media Wales
Saturday 9th May 2020
'I was phoned by a lady in tears in her eighties living in a ground floor apartment with a shared access to a first floor second home - the owners arrived and she was terrified'
There has been an undercurrent of fear and uncertainty swirling around parts of Pembrokeshire as it geared up for another bank holiday weekend in lockdown.
That feeling has been lying under the surface of daily life in the county ever since March 23, when the UK was ordered to shut down.
It has driven one pensioner to tears and accusations that people in Pembrokeshire are turning into "Welsh nationalists".
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, locals painted messages on wooden boards: "Your holiday, our lives – turn around." There was resentment and anger that second home owners and holidaymakers were choosing to travel to self-isolate in the countryside.
Still that anger lingers as it seems second home owners continue to arrive in Pembrokeshire.
A supermarket worker, who did not want to be named, said the scale of the problem was going unnoticed. He said people living hundreds of miles away were ordering groceries and supplies to Pembrokeshire addresses. The giveaway was the invoice address, he said.
"If you want to see how many people are travelling to west Wales and getting through, take a look at superstores doing grocery click and collect. I have been doing tourists' grocery click and collect - they've made it through to their second homes and ordering food on line and going to stores to pick it up.
"We know they're from out of area by the invoice address. People are ordering from Nottingham, Manchester, Bristol, London and even as far afield as Glasgow. I've seen them all since the restrictions were put in place.
"The English are not aware of the rules that have been put in place about travelling to second homes." Once people have arrived and settled into their homes, the police have no powers to send them back where they came from.
Holiday home owners have even tried to avoid the police checkpoints by sending their luggage via courier.
The last thing people in Pembrokeshire want to do is turn the issue into a battle between the English and the Welsh. Most are eager to welcome holiday makers and second home owners back after lockdown is lifted.
They know they will need them more than ever as they seek to make up for a dire start to the 2020 tourist season.
Most are content to let people get on with their own business.
One man in Broadhaven said he had come across four families while taking a walk on the beach. He claims two had travelled from London, another from Grimsby and one from Newcastle. "I hope they enjoy their stay," he said.
Another, from the small village of Trefin, said he had challenged an elderly couple who were walking back to their car, to be told "You are Welsh Nationalists".
There is a sense of sadness from him that this is what it has come to. It is not a matter of the English versus the Welsh; it's about protecting this beautiful corner of the country, he said.
Re: People travelling from England still holiday homes
Sat May 09, 2020 11:12 am
These people are absolute idiots and should be fined as much as possible 
Undoubtedly this is a main reason why it was made clear yesterday that the lockdown has to continue in Wales when you have knobheads travelling here from all over the place.
What part of "Stay Home" are these clowns struggling with?
Undoubtedly this is a main reason why it was made clear yesterday that the lockdown has to continue in Wales when you have knobheads travelling here from all over the place.
What part of "Stay Home" are these clowns struggling with?