The past few months have been tough on everyone.

Not being able to do our normal exercise has appeared to cause cabin fever. This is not a big surprise especially in our part of the world where we have such stunning features and coastline at our disposal.

This lockdown can have unintended consequences, those of us of an outdoor persuasion adapt what we do depending on the time of year, perhaps starting off after the winter months at a gentle pace and increase as our experience and the weather improves.

After being ‘confined to quarters’ for so long, once we do get out, we can make rash decisions that we would otherwise not do as this picture clearly indicates…

It is easy to criticise, but it is only experience that teaches us that this is unwise.

The same could be said for taking a walk on an unfamiliar beach, looking in rock pools and not realising that the tide is coming in, and the route back to safe, dry land is not covered by water.

The key things to remember are look and think before undertaking any activity. Try not to go anywhere alone. Let people know where you are heading and know how to summon assistance.

Usually this is by dialling 999, but many coastal or mountainous areas have incomplete mobile phone coverage so have a backup plan.

The rescue services members are all volunteers, this includes the Coastguard, the RNLI, mountain rescue and lowland rescue. While the training and experience is exceptional, the levels of personal protective equipment is not.

In the current climate of Covid-19, we must remain very careful so not to become infected ourselves. If this were to happen then teams would have to self isolate and therefore not be available.

Enjoy the mountains, enjoy the coastline and the sea, but remember that they are unforgiving and catch out the unwary or unprepared.