Green Dweller Beloved said:
Maybe you find the name of a farm on an OS map and ring them up? It sounds to me that the safest, most legal way is to ask the landowner, but how do you approach a subject like that? A lot of landowners have surely snobs, who would look down their noses at you maybe?
Thats probably not the best way, many farms are not named, and in many other cases the farm is run by a manager, not the owner, however they may well be able to give you permission.
Many land owners are now corporations or co-ops run by directors, who are not necessarily snobs, just buisness men who can't see a return for the potential risk of having you on their land. To them it might as well be a factory floor, if you got hurt then you might be able to sue them because they gave you permission but didn't mention that rusty nail in a bit of wood 1/2" below the surface 78.2m SE of the big tree.
So you can see that when we do find somewhere we try to be respectful, absolutly no rubbish left, epecially down rabbit holes!! Don't light a fire on anything other than bare soil or raised off the ground, keep it away from trees, if nothing else your smoke can kill baby birds in the branches above, and don't make it too big. That time of year you won't need a huge conflagration, just a few sticks to cook on and look at. use something dense that will burn for ages and minimise the wood you take.
Its a contentious one but I never make shelters form anything other than wood on the ground, to outsiders it looks like a bunch of sticks and vandalism
Oh yes, don't sleep under beech trees! (Widowmakers!)
PS Have you subscribed to the magazine? If not then I can highly recommend it.
