A Walk on the Coastal Path with Old Friends (social distancing, Burton Bradstock)

My old friends Mark and Sue drove down from Wiltshire on Saturday for a walk by the sea.

We kept a good social distance. I have just found one of the poems he wrote as a teenager. It still seems relevant. I have his permission to publish it here.

It may be one of the last walks any of us oldies will be allowed to enjoy for quite a while.

(A poem by Mark Allen, written at the beginning of the 1960's)

Here's an equally cheerful, optimistic poem of my own, which is included in my new collection, Reading the signs (Colenso Books, February 2020):

Walking the coastal path

 from West Bay

 to Burton Bradstock

Some people leap

from the top of sheer cliffs.

Others are buried

    by landslides.

Planned or unplanned,

life's all cliff-falls and ifs.

There's no saving hand.

Rocks erode, land subsides.

Jim Potts


As an afterthought, a very short poem from the same collection:


Taken  short 

Your heart could stop
at any time.
Better smell those roses.


Coronavirus: PM to rush in emergency laws as UK heads towards lockdown, Sky News/MSN

Warning to stay away from beaches and beauty spots as thousands flock to coast, Dorset Echo

Update, Tuesday 24th March,  from South West Coast Path

Stay home. Save lives

"The advice is now clear and simple, stay home and save lives. We are urging you to only visit the Coast Path as part of your allowed daily exercise and encourage you to strictly follow social distancing rules. You can find additional information links below and advice from us on how to exercise safely during the pandemic.

To avoid putting unnecessary stress on local services, we urge holidaymakers, second homeowners and campers not to visit the south west during the outbreak. We will be doing all that we can to bring the South West Coast Path into people’s homes virtually at what is a challenging time for us all."

Official Government guidance:

"Only leave your home for one of four reasons:

Shopping for basic necessities such as food and medicine. Shopping trips should be as infrequent as possible

One form of exercise a day such as a run, walk or cycle. This should be done alone or only with people you live with

Any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person. This includes moving children under the age of 18 between their parents' homes, where applicable. Key workers or those with children identified as vulnerable can continue to take their children to school.

Travelling to and from work, but only where work absolutely cannot be done from home".

To reiterate, from the PM:

"That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

One form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and

Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home".

Clear? Clear.


From Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset: Sunday, 22nd March 2020: 

"West Dorset MP Chris Loder tells visitors who are blatantly disregarding the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and Prime Minister to ‘wake up’ and to stay at home. The MP’s message comes after crowds were gathering on the beach at Lyme Regis and at West Bay and at campsites over the weekend, putting themselves and others at risk with a total disregard for Government advice to stay at home or to keep a safe distance from others. Chris Loder says: “We have a massive community movement going on here to help those in need and it is totally ignorant of visitors during this pandemic to not listen to the Government’s advice, thus making this important work more difficult and putting our community at increased risk. While there may not be many cases so far in Dorset, the community here is of a higher-than-average age and therefore much more vulnerable. I know it goes against the grain, but we must temporarily close the door to tourists until this pandemic has passed; and that means visitors need to listen to the advice, just as we do”. The West Dorset MP says we must maximise local resources and minimise community risk and tourism only goes to aid a potentially deadly wave of Coronavirus. Already growing rapidly in other parts of the UK, Coronavirus is making its way from London on to the West, with the Hampshire County Council area now having the highest number of cases of any local authority area in the country, with 138 cases reported on Saturday. Chris Loder says: “I really do need to get the message through – holidays are not essential in the current climate; however, it seems visitors do not yet understand that. Potentially bringing the virus and sharing it here with others is not something we’re geared up to cope with”. Considerable numbers of people have raised concerns on social media this weekend from West Dorset’s popular tourist towns, such as Lyme Regis and Bridport and from neighbouring campsites who are concerned that visitors continue to flock in to the area after this weekend – seemingly oblivious to the impending crisis, even though the coffee shops, pubs and restaurants are closed. Diligent and sensible local communities are alarmed that, although they are maintaining social distancing within their neighbourhoods - as Government has advised, that visitors behave as though nothing has changed. With an aging demographic, the South West is set to be one of the most vulnerable to coronavirus and locals are worried. Chris Loder continues: “We look forward to welcoming visitors back with open arms when we are through this current crisis, when our rolling countryside, Jurassic Coast and bustling market towns will give you a holiday to remember; but for now we ask you, please, to stay at home”.