Advice on where to go (UK)

[bigmoose]

Hey guys!

Long time lurker.. rare poster

I've been into the whole camping, hiking and bushcraft 'thing' since my years as a boy scout years ago. I've always been fond of visiting local [paid] campsites.. you know.. the whole 5 quid a night thing.

Nether the less, I want to start branching out into camping out in less 'official' places. I'm a young fella at the age of 20, and want to start branching out for experience.

Am I right in saying, it's fully legal to just pitch up and camp effectively where ever I feel like it in england?

Cheers!
Ben

 

[Mooseman1]

not to sure about that mate, i and the wife have been chased off many a land mass. I find the country parks are the worst, we went down to Surrey and Hampshire late this summer and on Nation Trust land was grassed up twice by locals to the Ranger station. I would not mind but on both occasions we made an effort to go to both stations and they where closed at 1500 on a weekend. We had no open fire and where sleeping off track under camo Bashas. I guess if you are not lucky enough to have a million pound pad in the area then they dont like you using their local woodlands.

 

[johnnytheboy]

You can wild camp in Scotland

 

[Wayland]

Snip>

Am I right in saying, it's fully legal to just pitch up and camp effectively where ever I feel like it in england?

Cheers!
Ben

Quite the contrary I'm afraid.

Scotland has much better access rights but even there it is not as universal as you suggest.

In England there are very few places you can wild camp without falling foul of some land owner or other.

The best course of action is to try and find the land owner and work on getting permission, which is often quite difficult unfortunately.

Or try Scandinavia......

 

[bigmoose]

haha, thanks!

I have been actively trying to get permission from land owners and camp site owners who basically claim their insurance wouldn't cover the risk.

Doh!

Thanks for the advice though!

Ben

 

[inthewids]

I am quite lucky up here for places to camp, 5 minute walk out of town and you can find good spots, just back from camping last night, the camp is on an estate but deep into the woods and well sheltered so shouldnt get seen/found, take all rubbish etc away, just tarps set up, go out for some walks and check some places out, good luck and happy camping.

 

[Squidders]

bit of a trek from you but wild camping in dartmoor is perfectly legal.

 

[Opal]

I've camped many a time in the Lake District without a problem, the likes of Ulswater and the Kirkstone pass areas. At the top of Ulswater, Pooley Bridge, my mate and I pitched on top of the hill called the Fort (according to our map in '84), took us a while to get up there.

Beautiful views across to Penrith away from the madding crowd.

 

[WoodWhite]

As far as im aware, scotland, dartmoor, and the lake district will be your best bet, but it has to be remote in the lake district, noone minds but I dohnt thinks it 100% legal, where as it is in scotland in not fencewd off areas

 

[robin wood]

In England all land is owned by somebody whether it be National Trust, local council or private landowner. If you go on that land without permission you are "trespassing". This is an offense but not a serious one. If said landowner finds you they can ask you to leave and you should do so. If you choose not to they have the right to use minimal force to remove you. They can not prosecute you for "trespass" but they can for any damage that you do. That is as I understand it the legal situation.

If bushcrafters start to regularly be found wild camping in popular countryside areas we will get a very bad name.

 

[Cobweb]

haha, thanks!

I have been actively trying to get permission from land owners and camp site owners who basically claim their insurance wouldn't cover the risk.

Doh!

Thanks for the advice though!

Ben

Have you thought about personal liability insurance? If you had that, then you could show them the documents and say if anything did happen then your insurance would cover it?

I understand a lot of people have bitten into the America Apple of suing for every nick or cut and many people are afraid that you will only be there for that.

 

[Mooseman1]

In England all land is owned by somebody whether it be National Trust, local council or private landowner. If you go on that land without permission you are "trespassing". This is an offense but not a serious one. If said landowner finds you they can ask you to leave and you should do so. If you choose not to they have the right to use minimal force to remove you. They can not prosecute you for "trespass" but they can for any damage that you do. That is as I understand it the legal situation.

If bushcrafters start to regularly be found wild camping in popular countryside areas we will get a very bad name.

Just wondering how this would give "bushcrafters a very bad name". As long as the folks in question clear the land after they leave, i really cant see the problem. Seems to me the rich want to keep the english countryside for themselves and keep other folk out.

 

[BushTucker]

bit of a trek from you but wild camping in dartmoor is perfectly legal.

Really Squidders, Can you enlighten me as to where, map refs would be great.

 

[robin wood]

Just wondering how this would give "bushcrafters a very bad name". As long as the folks in question clear the land after they leave, i really cant see the problem. Seems to me the rich want to keep the english countryside for themselves and keep other folk out.

The problem is that we are a small country with a big population. Now my post included the words "be found" and "in popular areas". If you are tucked out of the way, do no damage and no one knows you were there I personally don't have a problem though some would say you were trespassing and it's wrong.

When I do have a problem is if you go to the nearest country park, Bradgate? wander a few yards off the main footpath a set up camp for all to see. Whether you clear up after or not, it's not what I want to see when out on my morning walk and if folk see you getting away with it then the next weekend the local chavs will be there with a few cases of beer.

Most of my experience of this comes not from rich landowner areas but country park/National Trust sites. They are in fact kept for all of us to enjoy and its a difficult balance to let folk enjoy without trashing.

 

[Mooseman1]

I agree that you have to keep a lid on the "chav's", but lets be honest there are to few places for people like ourselves to go camping with out having to pay and share the site with a hundred other people. Yes you can stealth camp but you are always looking over your shoulder waiting for the land owner to come and kick you off. Seems mad to me when there are so many woodlands all over england. Why not adopt the scandi system of free camping on private and public land, educate the people and provide safe rural areas for familys and single men alike to do what they love, camping and bushcraft.

 

[robin wood]

Why not adopt the scandi system of free camping on private and public land, educate the people and provide safe rural areas for familys and single men alike to do what they love, camping and bushcraft.

Here is why not

Sweden — Population: 9,031,088 (July 2007 est.)

Sweden — Area (Land): 410,934 SQ KM of which forest cover 65%

United Kingdom — Population: 60,776,238 (July 2007 est.)

United Kingdom — Area (Land): 241,590 SQ KM of which forest cover 11%

If you want to work out how many people per sq km of forest that makes and compare Sweden to UK I think you will see why they can afford to be relaxed.

 

[Mooseman1]

yep and out of the 60,776,228 population we can expect 30,000 are into camping and bushcraft the rest are happy taking there rugrats to the costa del sol region for there hol's.

This is why we have so many daft laws in the UK because civil servants are happy to role off statistics rather than using there common sense, the fact is you educate people about the country side rather than treating them like kids each time they drive out of london and they are sure to pass on the skills to their young, when you hold people to right with local bi laws and fines they are going to revolt and the chav's as you call them have won.

 

[dangerpie]

Really Squidders, Can you enlighten me as to where, map refs would be great.

Hi Bushtucker,

I was looking on the dartmoor site for wild camping a few days ago.

This PDF could be of use to you. It includes a map which shows you coloured areas with a handy key showing where you can and can't camp. There's a nice woodland area to the east of Dartmoor (just west of a little town called Lustleigh) that I would like to visit and wild camp in sometime

http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/camping_booklet.pdf


You may also want to read this page which has some bylaws you will want to have a look over: http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/index/aboutus/au-theauthority/au-legislation/au-byelaws.htm


Pete

 

[BushTucker]

Thankyou Dangerpie, a very informative read and surprising how many areas you can camp in.:You_Rock_

 

[BushTucker]

Would be really good if anyone with experience of Dartmoor could point out some other spots and posibly locations of water springs and the likes.