Anybody?

[JoshG]

Okay, i'll lay it out straight.

Does anybody here own some land (preferably woodland ) or know of a place that I may use to camp for a few nights on my lonesome? I live in the north east of england, Stockton-on-tees. I really need somewhere remote where I can have permission to set up a tent and have a small fire etc...

I could probably travel quite far but I would need directions for places reasonably far away, especially if they are away from easily recognisable roads.

I just generally need some time to myself... I need to see what true lonliness will bring me... I guess I just generally need to test myself.

Thankyou all in advance.
Josh.

 

[JoshG]

Anyone?...

 

[Eric_Methven]

Josh, when I want to get away from people and not travel too far I generally head up towards Kielder forest. If you head north through the forest you'll hit the Scottish border. The forest proper terminates at a small river and on the other side is Scotland. It's wild, it's desolate and nobody will bother you there. I don't know who you'd need to ask permission from. I've always gone covert up there so never bothered asking anyone.

Another place not too far away is to the east of Hamsterly forest - about half a mile from Hamsterly ford. There's a long flat piece of valley bottom with a few trees next to the river and I sometimes go there. Sometimes you'll get someone walking their dog and if you want complete solitude maybe that's not for you but I like it for short trips with the grandkids.

The north east is pretty crowded and finding somewhere secluded won't be easy. Have you thought about travelling some distance away and what's your distance limits?

Eric

 

[JoshG]

Josh, when I want to get away from people and not travel too far I generally head up towards Kielder forest. If you head north through the forest you'll hit the Scottish border. The forest proper terminates at a small river and on the other side is Scotland. It's wild, it's desolate and nobody will bother you there. I don't know who you'd need to ask permission from. I've always gone covert up there so never bothered asking anyone.

Another place not too far away is to the east of Hamsterly forest - about half a mile from Hamsterly ford. There's a long flat piece of valley bottom with a few trees next to the river and I sometimes go there. Sometimes you'll get someone walking their dog and if you want complete solitude maybe that's not for you but I like it for short trips with the grandkids.

The north east is pretty crowded and finding somewhere secluded won't be easy. Have you thought about travelling some distance away and what's your distance limits?

Eric

Hey Eric,
Kielder sounds like a good place to go. I've been to hamsterley many times and it seems to be quite the super popular place, so as you said that's probably not what i'm after. My distance limits are probably... a 150 mile radius from here, as a rough estimate.

Hmm, another thing. I hear Kielder is rife with rangers... I should probably ask somebody as even if your covert ops. went succesfully I'm not sure I want to take the risk. Especially with no instant means of transport. Do you think I should e-mail the forestry commission?

 

[Eric_Methven]

I never used to camp on forestry commission land. I'd just hike through it up to the northern boundary then cross the stream into Scotland and camp there. There's lots of wild moorland just over the forest fence and is excellent for bushcrafting. I used to pitch a basha and kip on top of the heather it was so lush it was better than my mattress at home. If you go through the forest, using logging roads you can pretty much choose to exit onto moorland that has no roads for many miles, so nobody will even know you are there except the sheep and maybe some deer if you are quiet. There are deep gullies where the stream runs through and you can get a good cooking fire going there without sending out smoke signals. There's plenty of dead wood just over the fence in the forest and the fence shows plenty of sign that rabbits frequent the place. No problem with snares either. Just remember to check them often and remove them when you have caught enough to eat.

Eric

 

[JoshG]

I never used to camp on forestry commission land. I'd just hike through it up to the northern boundary then cross the stream into Scotland and camp there. There's lots of wild moorland just over the forest fence and is excellent for bushcrafting. I used to pitch a basha and kip on top of the heather it was so lush it was better than my mattress at home. If you go through the forest, using logging roads you can pretty much choose to exit onto moorland that has no roads for many miles, so nobody will even know you are there except the sheep and maybe some deer if you are quiet. There are deep gullies where the stream runs through and you can get a good cooking fire going there without sending out smoke signals. There's plenty of dead wood just over the fence in the forest and the fence shows plenty of sign that rabbits frequent the place. No problem with snares either. Just remember to check them often and remove them when you have caught enough to eat.

Eric

Cheers, Eric.