Southern England wild camping location tips please

[mrstorey]

Hi all.

New member here, first post on the site!

I've organised a weekend meet for myself and three old pals to get together and 'do some Ray Mears type stuff'

Trouble is, we don't know where to go. We're hoping to find somewhere where we can build a shelter, have a fire and chew the fat but a) we don't want to wind any landowners up by trespassing where we shouldn't or b) get rumbled and moved on in the small hours.

Soo, can anyone recommend anywhere to head for, or suggest any avenues of enquiry (Forestry Commission, sympathetic landowners, etc) that would help us find somewhere we can head for?

We're converging from Bath, Bournemouth, Reading and London and we'll all be working on the Friday before setting off, so somewhere roughly in the middle (Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire or Hampshire) would be best really.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers,

Michael.

 

[JoshG]

Hey there.
I'm having the same problem i'm afraid, and it's a seriously annoying one.
All land is technically owned by someone, so your best bet will be to contact a private landowner, which isn't an easy task but it can be done I suppose, although I haven't managed to track down any suitable woodland that's privately owned around where I live.

So yes you should try and find somewhere that looks good and looks privately owned long before you go and get in touch with the landowner and ask for permission.

 

[mrstorey]

Yeah, it's a pain, isn't it. Sorry to hear you're having the same troubles, JoshG.

Unfortunately, I live in the middle of London - 80 miles away from where we're heading - and I don't have a car. This means it's just not feasible to do as advised, ie. locate a likely bit of land in a suitable area then ask the landowner for permission.

I know that no-one's gonna recommend trespassing, but what I'm really hoping and praying for is that one of the many Southern-based members could pitch in with a few suggestions... at the very least the sorts of area we ought to head for...

See original post for the area we're hoping to head for.

Any help would really be appreciated, otherwise we're just gonna meet up somewhere at 8pm on Friday in the dark (and snow and rain from the forecasts!) without a clue where to head...

Thanks everyone.

Michael.

 

[philaw]

Did I read somewhere that English Heritage is easy going about campers on it's land as long as you just stay the one night and don't destroy the place? There's a wild camper's site somewhere, which may be where I read it. Sorry I can't help more.

 

[mrstorey]

Good call. Cheers for the tip.

Anyone else?

 

[pumbaa]

Just up the road from here is the local Scout troops bit of land . Unfortunately they do charge for it , but its not a bad place . Wareham forest is near by if you fancy a wander and there are a few heathlands localy too . You would have to book it up though . the site is somewhere between 4 and 6 acres and has some rules (but nothing too daft) . It isn't too far from bournmouth either .
PM me if your interested .
Pumbaa

 

[bilko]

Hi Mrstorey
It's a sad state of affairs i'm afraid. There is nowhere in the whole of britain where there is a law stating that you CAN wild camp unless i'm mistaken. It seems that every piece of land is owned by a body or individuals and so lighting fires and tresspas is a nono. Saying that though i used to ride my bycicle on the pavement when i was younger and never got put in prison for it
I very much doubt you will find people here saying Yes, go here , camp there ( without permision ) as that sort of message would have to be removed for advocating lawlessness.
This is the reason so many of us want to purchase our own land. But even then there are strict rules and guidelines.
So in reality you do what everyone else does and pays your money and takes your chances.
Sorry i am so vague but that just about sums it up in southern England anyway.
It's a slightly different storey oop north as more of a blind eye is turned.
Besides Mr Blair couldn't have people wild camping or they might learn how to live off the land and take up homesteading. Then possibly leave their jobs and work for themselves and not the bank.

 

[Doc]

Wild camping is completely legal (and, generally, wilder) in Scotland. There are places with train stations where you can literally walk a mile or two from the station and wild camp in great scenery.

Aviemore, Crianlarich, Rannoch Station and Corrour spring to mind. Overnight sleeper on Friday night?

 

[mrstorey]

Mmm. Take your point, but Scotland's not entirely handy for a short weekend camping break in the South of England*, unless I'm missing something...

Michael.

* "We're converging from Bath, Bournemouth, Reading and London and we'll all be working on the Friday before setting off, so somewhere roughly in the middle (Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire or Hampshire) would be best really."

 

[Doc]

Fair enough . Though if you make the trip north you would not regret it.

I used to live in Oxfordshire and about the remotest bits I remember were on the Ridgeway, but woodland it ain't.

Savernake forest near Swindon? Don't know if it would be suitable.

 

[Doc]

Just to edit the above: given the forecast in Scotland this weekend, you might regret it

 

[mrstorey]

Ha ha. I think you might be right. There are some brass monkeys looking for their missing metal orbs here in the middle of London, so God only knows how bum-clenchingly cold it's gonna be North of the Border...

Anyway, packing to go away tomorrow (anyone else think planning and packing is almost as enjoyable as the trip itself - it's an anticipation thing, I think...), now where did I put that down jacket

 

[innocent bystander]

Fair enough . Though if you make the trip north you would not regret it.

I used to live in Oxfordshire and about the remotest bits I remember were on the Ridgeway, but woodland it ain't.

Savernake forest near Swindon? Don't know if it would be suitable.

Bit naughty at Savernake iirc - even though we went there as cubs 30yr ago and made debris shelters and cooked in bean can billies

Now there are a few places on the ridgeway that you could get away with it. Hell, if travellers can park a fleet of double deckers along there, who's gonna notice some discreet bushie types ?

 

[mrstorey]

Ended up at Steeple Leazes farm, near Kimmeridge in Dorset. It was fab. Fiver a night and four quid per bag of logs for the fire.

Camping is £7 per tent per night high season, a fiver in low season.

There's a toilet block. Its got 2 or 3 loos, a laundry sink. and a water tap under the bush. Its about a mile to the coast.

Margaret and Julian (who own farm) are on 01929 480733

We had a fab time - no snow, alas.

Cheers,

Michael.

///////////////////

Rough directions:
* After Bournemouth/Poole, head for Dorchester (A35), then Wareham (A351), then Corfe Castle.
* Follow main road out of Corfe in the direction of Swanage.
* Take the right turn signposted to Kimmeridge.
* This road goes up over a high ridge with amazing views.
* As you come down to the bottom of the hill on the other side the road makes a sharp right bend.
* On the bend you take a right turn into Steeple Leaze Farm. If you do the OS map thing, that turn is at SY907812 (more or less).
* Follow the farm track to the end, passing the farmhouse on your left.
* If you stop level with the farmhouse, at 2 'o' clock is a 5-bar metal gate. Go through the gate into the camping field.

//////////////////

Here are some pics of us cooking partridge, chopping logs and enjoying the sun down at nearby Kimmeridge. I'm the stocky one with the brown hair/blue stripey hat and the black and grey TNF puffa jacket.
http://tinyurl.com/b29ey

 

[moduser]

You guys appear to have had a great time.

Thanks for the heads up on the farm, useful to have that kind of info.

The fact that you could walk to the beach is nice. Did you do some wild food gathering?

Don't suppose the camp group has anywhere to hang a hammock?

Nice pics, thanks for sharing them

Moduser

 

[mrstorey]

Perhaps we could have a dedicated area on the forum where you could post info and descriptions about decent campsites. Anyone else think that's a good idea?

We did have a great time - cooking partridges, mulling wine and telling stories. Splendid.

We didn't do any wild food gathering, alas. Would have been nice to get some mushrooms, but you have to be careful around there - it's Army firing range country, so you need to watch where you wander. Trespass around there could lose you a leg on an unexploded shell! Why can't the Army go and practise on some deserted island, instead of beautiful Dorset?

As for the hammock, there was a small wood adjoining the site where you could have hung a hammock quite happily.

M.

 

[Tony]

A thread would suffice for now if people want to list good sites for bushcraft, farms, campsites etc

 

[Tony]

I've just done a search on good campsites and there are loads of threads that contain info.

I'll put up a sticky thread in the resources forum and people can post info on good places in there and if you see any around the forum then feel free to cut and paste the info into the thread.

There was a project on the go for a while to get a list together, maybe that can be resurrected.

 

[mrstorey]

Tony,

That's great. Thank you.

And, yes, a list would be fab.

When I was in the Backpackers Club, they sent me a whopping great list of locations suitable for camp site camping and wild camping, arranged by county and also by proximity to long-distance footpaths. Dead handy.

If there is a list, I think grouping according to county is probably the best way, as they are the right size when searching... Grid References mean nothing without a map; place names aren't really helpful if you don't know the area and areas like SW England are too vague, whereas a county is a decent-sized area but still allows you to look at a reasonably specific bit of the country.

Any other thoughts, anyone?

 

[pyewhacker]

This website is a great resource lists hundreds of sites all allowing fires

http://campfires.co.cc


Wow sorry just seen how old thread is