WE’RE FREE... AT LAST!
Families and friends hit sun-kissed beauty spots for emotional reunions after long months apart
IT was the moment they had all been dreaming about throughout eight long, lonely months of sacrifice and solitude.
Friends and family members who had been forced to keep their visits virtual, separated by rules banning all but essential travel outwith local authority areas, were finally able to meet in person again yesterday.
The easing of lockdown rules meant Janice McDairmant was able to give her grandson Robbie a hug for the first time since August. The joyful reunion came after the ten-year-old’s father, Ross McDairmant, drove from his home in Lanark to his parents’ home in Brydekirk, Dumfriesshire, yesterday morning.
He said: ‘It was a wee bit emotional for them. They have both had their jags – Dad has had two and Mum is waiting on the next.
‘They were just glad to see him. Normally they see him quite often and for holidays and things like that but it’s been a long time.
‘It had been a long winter for them. FaceTime is good but they have never gone that long without seeing him before.’
For the first time since November, Scots are now free to travel out of their local authority area and six people from six different households can get together outdoors. The spring sunshine prompted thousands of Scots to travel to the country’s beauty spots, parks and beaches.
At dawn, wild swimmers braved the freezing waters of Loch Lomond, pairing swimwear with woolly hats to keep out the cold.
Two sisters enjoyed an emotional reunion on the sunny seafront at Largs, in Ayrshire.
Tiffany Irvin, 37, and Wallis Newton, 29, had not seen each other since Christmas Day. They live in different council areas and kept strictly to the rules.
Miss Irvin, the owner of the Beachcomber café and Fish Works chip shop in Largs, said: ‘It was really weird seeing her again. We just kept giggling and I could tell she was desperate to see my kids.’
Her sister, a furloughed waitress from Glasgow, took the children – Smith, 11, and fiveyear-old Sloan – to a local swing park.
She said: ‘I am so excited. It seems like forever since I’ve seen my sister and her kids.’ On the sandy shores of Loch Morlich, Inverness-shire, families went paddleboarding under blue skies. They included the Naylors from Alford, Aberdeenshire, and Vivian and Allan Bogle, who left their home in West Lothian at 4am so they could enjoy a fry-up breakfast in the Highlands in their camper van.
Others flocked to Loch Lomond, visiting Balloch and Luss.
James Fraser, chairman of the Friends of Loch Lomond, said: ‘It is fantastic seeing people enjoying simple pleasures after so many months cooped up at home.
‘You can tell people are in a happier state of mind.
‘Car parks on the eastern side of the loch have been chock-a-block since early doors and it’s a bit of a frustration that there’s not enough bays to cope with the number of visitors.’
Facilities on the west side of the loch have been improved, with additional temporary toilets and a new 260-bay car park at Luss. Nature Scot used its Twitter feed to warn visitors who were planning barbecues that there is an ‘extreme’ risk of wild fire at the moment, due to a dry spring. Elseand where, in Glasgow, bride-to-be Michela McGinley enjoyed her hen party with her friends in Kelvingrove Park.
Popular beaches such as Portobello in Edinburgh and Troon in Ayrshire were also busy.
Drivers faced delays on a number of routes during what was dubbed an ‘unofficial’ bank holiday.
Queues of vehicles could be seen snaking slowly along the lanes of the M8 in Glasgow during rush hour yesterday, after months of quieter roads in the city.
Meanwhile, a ‘multi-vehicle’ crash forced the closure of the A1 in both directions in the early afternoon, between the popular beach at Thorntonloch in East Lothian and the village of Cockburnspath, Berwickshire.
Forecasters have predicted more sunny skies over Scotland today,
the North-East will hold on to bright conditions until Monday.
Temperatures are set to reach 16C (61F) in some areas.
Alex Deakin of the Met Office said: ‘The vast majority will have a dry day. Any mist and fog should clear away from the South-West.
‘Some cloud will develop during the day, so it won’t be blue skies everywhere all day, but somewhere on the Moray coast could easily get to 15C or 16C (59-61F).’
It comes as the number of first vaccinations in Scotland hit 2,722,084, with 688,761 second doses given out.
Another 204 positive coronavirus cases were recorded in the previous 24 hours, it was announced yesterday, with three more deaths.
A total of 106 Scots with Covid were in hospital, with 18 patients
‘It’s been such a long winter’ ‘In a happier state of mind’
in intensive care. It also emerged yesterday that three people have been charged and 12 others fined after breaching virus rules to gather for a funeral wake.
Police attended a property in Edinburgh’s Shandwick Place, near the Haymarket area.
Police Scotland said: ‘Police were called around 10.20pm on Thursday following the report of a breach of coronavirus regulations.
‘Three men aged 32, 34 and 37 were arrested and charged in connection with the incident, and are due to appear at court at a later date. There was a further 12 fixedpenalty notices issued.’