please empty your brain below
This proved to be an interesting exercise. My own box would have been half the size had it not been for delivering shopping to the inlaws. Indeed an optimal shape would have been a triangle! Strange to think I've lived all these weeks in a triangle of land.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 13.05.20 - 8:35 a.m. | #

That was / is very interesting. I must get out more. This lockdown is making me lazy.

doug robinson | 13.05.20 - 8:36 a.m. | #

I've done something very similar around where I live. I've tried to walk down every street at least once. It's been very interesting.

Johnny Topaz | 13.05.20 - 8:48 a.m. | #

Within my 1.6 x 0.9 box I've used half a tank of petrol.

Malcolm | 13.05.20 - 8:53 a.m. | #

I guess that box would have been the limit of most people's movements 200 years ago.

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 13.05.20 - 8:55 a.m. | #

Malcolm, wow, that's a lot of short journeys. In my 22x10 miles box I've just used one tank full.

Going to bust the distance today as we've got a Click and Collect at the nearest Sainsburys for some stuff we've been struggling to get locally. So a 25 miles each way trip this morning.

Putterz | 13.05.20 - 9:12 a.m. | #

Watch out with car batteries degrading doing such short journeys. Mine died over the weekend and the AA said you need to be doing at least 10 minutes driving to recharge what was lost starting the engine.

David | 13.05.20 - 9:19 a.m. | #

My own box is much smaller - for health reasons I'm self-isolation so I've not been off my property since 16th March - 3 metres from my front door and 4 from the back...

Steve | 13.05.20 - 9:29 a.m. | #

I have location tracking enabled on my phone and look at my Google Maps timeline most months.

Although my bounding box is quite big I'm actually really only going North, South, East or West which is a massive change for me. I spend most of my time in London but like visiting lots of different places (often inspired by DG's postings) and I'm feeling frustrated that I can really only go as far as I can walk.

Steve Rochford | 13.05.20 - 9:35 a.m. | #

My red line boundary is a narrow strip from my front door to the nearest supermarket.

The line may have a small blob at each end for my home and the supermarket.

I live vicariously through this blog.

Anon | 13.05.20 - 9:51 a.m. | #

Because of one essential journey my box was many times bigger, since that journey I've only been 550m from my house.

Michael | 13.05.20 - 9:54 a.m. | #

The furthest distance from home I've walked would be about 2.5 miles away as the crow flies.
Yesterday I exceeded that in the car, driving to a different supermarket than usual, a whole 4.5 miles away...

Mikey C | 13.05.20 - 10:05 a.m. | #

Within my 1½ square miles I've managed to walk a total of 170 miles.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 13.05.20 - 10:13 a.m. | #

My box is shortly going to expand massively next month (150 x 200 miles), as I will be fetching three students back home from three different cities at the end of their courses.

Timbo | 13.05.20 - 10:27 a.m. | #

Home E7 FG North to CHAT Canning Town 3.5km to collect the cats insulin medication.

I am confined to home voluntarily since everywhere I want to go to is shut theirs not much point travelling very far!

Andrew Jarman | 13.05.20 - 10:28 a.m. | #

500m x 250m maximum

Christine Scantlebury | 13.05.20 - 10:48 a.m. | #

Wow 170 miles walked in 1.5 square miles, have you been to every single road in the box?

dg writes: See post.

TomH | 13.05.20 - 11:21 a.m. | #

My local walks are mainly limited to two thin strips, one going about a mile to the north and the other a mile to the east. Walking to the west became impossible when the large, landscaped business park, complete with mature trees, a lake and waterfalls, closed its gates to the public at the first whiff of pestilence. Privatisation of public space. I suppose the Olympic Park could do the same if the land owners felt like it.

However, as from today we'll be able to get our golf clubs, tennis racquet, fishing rods and basket ball out of storage, and really have a good time!

ActonMan | 13.05.20 - 11:38 a.m. | #

The Coronavirus Regulations were amended with effect from 9:30 this morning, permitting for example "to visit a public open space for the purposes of open-air recreation to promote their physical or mental health or emotional wellbeing - (i) alone, (ii) with one or more members of their household, or (iii) with one member of another household".

Also allowing the opening of garden centres and "Outdoor sports courts" (e.g. basketball and tennis, maybe angling and golf).

The regulations don't mandate 2m social distancing with people outside your household, although that it obviously still a good idea.

Andrew | 13.05.20 - 11:39 a.m. | #

170 miles! Blooming 'eck, that about a London Loop's worth!

You are very fortunate indeed. I could walk 2 miles to get to a tow path and my favourite stretch of the Grand Union, but I expect it'd be very busy at the moment, and wouldn't fancy the 2 miles walk back after I'd returned to my starting point.
In normal times I'd bus there walk a 4 mile stretch and bus back again at the other end.

Cornish Cockney | 13.05.20 - 11:42 a.m. | #

Just been out in the car; So for first time in 4 weeks went at a speed greater than walking pace. Sensation was quite noticeable .

Richard | 13.05.20 - 11:52 a.m. | #

Living by the river has not been a boon - the lockdown curse of aerosol-spewing joggers and cyclists who won't keep their distance has forced me into doing laps of the local park. The most wonderful day I experienced was Tuesday 28th April, when the heavy rain ensured the park was absolutely empty the hour I was there. I have been able to do 10k steps on those days I venture out but I've discovered my knees don't like me doing my usual daily total exercise in one bout!

E1W-er | 13.05.20 - 12:15 p.m. | #

I got bored of being within the radius of distance I could walk in, so I got out my bicycle and it allowed me to extend my range about fourfold for the same time exercising.

Grichal | 13.05.20 - 1:19 p.m. | #

Social distancing on the Thames towpath is also impossible. My three mile cycle trip to give blood had to be extended to more than five because the nearest bridge is only 4 feet wide (and over 100 yards long).

Timbo | 13.05.20 - 1:50 p.m. | #

Can't stop looking at my lockdown box. What an interesting task.

My one covers quite a big area, due to essential journeys.

My most Northern tip: Chingford Sainsbury's
My most Eastern tip: Ilford Town Centre (Clements Road)
My most Southern tip: Stratford City (junction of Montfichet Road and Westfield Avenue)
My most Western tip: Walthamstow Marshes

PVR | 13.05.20 - 2:06 p.m. | #

I'm heartily fed up of confinement and can't wait for the time when I'll be able to travel further. (For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying lockdown is wrong, nor am I breaking it, nor do I advocate anyone else does. But I am fed up with it.)

Multiple people have mentioned anxiety about the inability to keep 2m away on public paths. This analysis suggests that the transmission risk of a brief encounter in the open air is very very low - it's confined spaces like a tube train we need to worry about.

IslandDweller | 13.05.20 - 2:29 p.m. | #

Not going out at all.
My own fave walk-related stat is the time since I last wore shoes. It's just past 8 weeks.

O | 13.05.20 - 3:35 p.m. | #

Just pushed it today, and walked somewhat further. Must have ended up 3.5 to 4 miles from home, so a decent round trip walk, and through open land parks and quiet streets too.

Mikey C | 13.05.20 - 5:57 p.m. | #

Until today, the furthest I'd been was the post box across the road. Today I walked to the post box round the corner because I thought it had a later pick up time. It didn't.

Scott | Homepage | 13.05.20 - 7:25 p.m. | #

For my local large supermarkets, mid afternoon on a weekday has worked well: at most a dozen people queueing at Sainsburys, at most half a dozen at Waitrose and at most two at the M&S Foodhall on the bypass. Today the traffic on the short car trip to Sainsburys was far heavier than previous weeks. For the weekly food delivery to my elderly mother, mainly involving an A road and motorway, last week was noticeably much busier with private cars than previous weeks and I expect tomorrow to be even busier.

DavidC | 13.05.20 - 8:26 p.m. | #

I moved house by going back and forth in my car many times, the new house being 12 miles away from the old.

In February and March I had been going to the new house to do renovations. Each trip took 60-90 minutes and used X litres of petrol.

Around the start of lockdown I came down with symptoms of COVID-19 so I didn't go outdoors for 2 weeks (although the guidance said 1 week is OK). I then moved my possessions making two trips once every 3 or so days, as it was exhausting after my recovery from the disease.

The rental contract of the old place ended at the beginning of April but the landlord generously said I could stay on for free until house viewings were permitted again, so I could take my time to move.

In the middle of April each drive took 30 minutes and used 0.2X litres of petrol. By the start of May each trip was taking 45 minutes as the number of people driving increased, but still used 0.2X litres of petrol, as most of the petrol normally is used to move 20 yards forward in a queue at traffic lights.

John | 14.05.20 - 9:49 a.m. | #

As a designated key worker. I've been commuting by bus from Woolwich to Beckenham every day so that's roughly 9 miles

Rachel | 14.05.20 - 12:33 p.m. | #

This was an interesting exercise. I am astonished however at the overwhelming use of miles for measurement. I'm a slightly older vintage than DG but while I'd use miles as a figure of speech, I find kilometres so much easier to deal with in real terms.

anon | 15.05.20 - 11:52 p.m. | #

It's interesting reading these accounts written at the time. How things have changed after data has come to light and those involved in making decisions that affected all our lives have had a change of heart or have simply admitted they got it wrong. But now, focus has switched to the war in Ukraine and for now at least, the public attention is elswewhere.

Ben Lovegrove | Homepage | 27.02.22 - 8:23 p.m. | #











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