ASHAMED !! No BLOODY ANNOYED TOO !!

[maddave]

Just been camping for a week up at Glyn-Y-Mul campsite with Spikey the Pikey and was utterly appalled at what we found. For those that have never been to Glyn-y-Mul farm let me fill you in. It's a working farm that incorporates a small campsite that in my view is quite unique. There is an upper campsite with nice facilities, showers, kitchen, electric hookup and all the usual stuff for a nice quiet camping experience. But also there is an 18 acre broadleaved woodland with a lovely river going through for those who like to "go native". Ian the owner is a great bloke who is as laid back as they come and treats all his customers fairly and always goes out of his way to please, and just lets folks do their thing. He's not a man for rules and regulations but expects people to use common sense and respect his land. Now this place is an absolute jewel for bushcrafters and I believe there are a few meets going on over the winter months. However on this last trip I was actually ashamed to be wearing my Bushcraft UK badge when we arrived on site. We arrived late evening so pitched the tarp where we dropped and planned to find another pitch come daylight should we need to, so in the morning we had a scout about and frankly were dismayed. what we found was beyond comprehension and totally against the bushcraft ethos in my view. Now I may be wrong but the abandoned camp we came across looked very "bushcrafty" with stick built benches for people to sit on which was cool. What wasn't cool however was the half burned sleeping mats left tossed on the fire area the rubbish that was strewn about like plastic bags, glass bottles, galvanised nails, half eated sweetcorn cobs, bailing twine and clothing.Someone had even burned a fence post (there must be 50 tonnes of felled timber already in the wood and Ian sells logs too!!) I'm not a man to easily get annoyed but to be frank I was bloody seething !! I had to look Ian in the eye as we paid up and although we left our camp spotless I was embarrassed to be a bushcrafter. If this site is going to be available for others to enjoy PLEASE PLEASE Don't be a selfish cretin and look after the woods as if they were your home, because let's face it when you camp in there it IS your home and it's Ian's home too and as I'm sure you wouldn't like some scrote throwing his crap onto you nice neat flower beds at home, I'm sure Ian doesn't relish picking up after inconsiderate assholes who are too lazy to clean their own mess !! Rant over !!

Please see pics below

Discarded bailing twine Great for trapping birds or small mammals well after you've gone.

Rubbish and discarded corn cobs thrown down the hill

Untidy abandoned fire pit (burned kip mats removed)

Nice galvanised nails to puncture tractor tyres, kids feet animals hooves etc

Can't find firewood? Sod it BURN THE FENCE POSTS !!

Discarded glass bottle of Iodine

Waterproof jacket remains thrown in the bracken

These are as many photos as we could take before Spike and I started to get "A bit wound up" shall we say.

ONCE AGAIN PLEASE TAKE ONLY PHOTOS....LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS

Places like Glyn-Y-Mul and people like Ian are one in a thousand it only takes one padlock on one gate from Ian for bushcrafters to lose this wondeful place forever. And from what we saw, who could blame him

 

[LazySod]

Rant seconded.

I didn't know places like Ian's existed til i joined this forum, it doesn't take much to change a mans mind.

Abuse it, lose it.

 

[Matt Weir]

Dave,

Surely this can't be a BCUK regular but some dim whitted pleb who typifies the saying of 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

Hopefully, they will learn the error of their ways soon enough.

 

[Timinwales]

Planning on being there next weekend, it's a cracking place and a travesty that some #*"**@e has left it like that. To second what Dave says about Ian he's a decent bloke and has a right to be treated accordingly. Before we start to mention the woodland, which we have a duty to treat well.

Really who could blame Ian if he locked the gate and closed off his wood?? given the state some kind soul left the pitch in the photos in?

Tim

 

[Ed]

I was actually ashamed to be wearing my Bushcraft UK badge

Thats a real shame mate..... can I ask why? or did you think it was someone from here and not one of the mountainbikers, quad bikers, wanabe wildcampers, overnight fishermen or the plethora of other people that use the site for camping or kids just out to have a fire (found a few of their sites when we were down there)
I was actually quite proud of the fact that we cleared the place up of other peoples litter and made it look a little more respectable.... and that was even before we set up. Considering Ian provides bins at the farm and re-cycling facilities there really is no excuse for any of these things to be left there.

When I went down the first time we found everything from CD's, discarded fishing hooks and line to half a bottle of 2 stroke oil.... they had quite a nice camp built, but I deffinatly wouldn't have called them your average bushcrafters with the tat they left behind.

But to echo what dave said.... if you are going to use the place, do ian a favor.... clean up.... even if it is other peoples mess, as without people like us the place will become a wreck in no time at all.

Ed

 

[Toddy]

I can only echo Dave's disgust
It's an all too common problem, the filth the lazy fundamental orifices abandon without conscience is appalling.
I routinely tidy up the mess on a site because I'm embarassed someone would think I had left it, but the numpties just brazen it out without shame.

Along Loch Tayside it's fishermen who trash the area, along Loch Lomond it's the *visit the countryside and get blitzed* brigade. This desecration of naturally beautiful places seems to be a nationwide issue.

I wish I knew the answer, fining them only works if they're caught, and education is all very well, but the terminally thoughtless, careless, self centred and pathetic excuses continue their repulsive behaviour regardless of the consequences.

I sometimes wonder what sort of pig stye they live in at home?

Toddy

 

[Toadflax]

to be wearing my Bushcraft UK badge

For my tuppence worth, be proud to be wearing the badge but, to further our cause, make sure that you are seen wearing it and seen to be tidying up other peoples' mess, especially by the site owner.


Geoff

 

[Cobweb]

I can't believe that someone left the place in such a state, it's a wonderful camp site and Ian is absolutely lovely. After the September meet up I ended up chatting to him for about fifteen minutes and he really likes the idea of people using the wood, not just to walk though but to stay in as well. His rates are very reasonable and he is pretty much single handedly taking care of the place, trying to create a perfect place for us woodsy types to stay.

I add my disgust to this news of disrespect. I hope that Ian understands that it's not us that are creating this mess and I hope that no one, animal or otherwise was hurt by this blatant laziness and thoughtlessness..

 

[Bodge]

Hi,
I don't wish to change the subject but on a similar note with regard to litter.
There are too many people who just don't give a toss apart from the tossing of litter.
I get sick of picking up chip wrappers and empty pop cans from outside my house.
When I go out for a walk at our local country park you can follow some peoples route of wrappers, empty cans, ciggy stubs and dog mess.

I have always taught my kids to take everything you bring, home unless a bin is available.
If I could just get them to tidy their rooms!!!

I spent a midweek holiday at my favourite campsite in late summer. It's a working farm with camping fields and a beautiful meadow which is fenced off as the grasses are used for feeding his livestock.
On this occaision myself and my kids spent a good hour searching through the high grass along with the owner to remove dozens of glass bottles, empty cans and food tins, there was also part burned wood from a campfire which was later found to be part of the fence.

Apparantly the previous bank holiday Monday had seen his site swamped with idiots with all the kit and no clue.

I've finished now thanks

Bodge

 

[shep]

Glyn-y-Mul is a rare thing and needs to be looked after.

I was there last week in the North wood area and found foil-wrapped charred tatties, beer cans and a set of DIY goal-posts. Likewise, with the nails left in. There won't be many more campsites like this if this is the way they get treated.

 

[Wayland]

I once stood chatting to someone on a hillside in Cumbria and watched open mouthed as he took a sweet from his pocket, unwrapped it and dropped the wrapper on the path.

When I could speak I said "Are you going to pick that up?"

To Which he replied "What?" He was really mystified about what I was talking about.

When I told him he shouldn't drop his sweet wrappers all over the place his answer was" It's only paper, it'll rot away."

To this day I genuinely think he didn't understand what all the fuss was about. This was about a decade ago.

These days there is a generation that have grown up with parents showing such scant regard and It's little wonder I went up to my local dog walking spot just after banefire night, to find spent fireworks everywhere, the remains of a three piece suite still smouldering on a fire in the middle of a patch of heather and a cheap tent lying in tatters thrown over a bramble.

I picked up two bin bags of rubbish and beer cans that night and used four gallons of water to put out the fire.

I wish I could say it's the only time it happens but it's just the same in bar-be-que season too.

I'm sure what happened at Glyn-Y-Mul was not down to anyone on this site.

 

[Shewie]

It`s so annoying to see our last few spots of wilderness being trashed by irresponsilbe and thoughtless a-holes. When I was wild camping a lot I was constantly having words with people about discarding rubbish in camp, for some reason they thought if it was stashed in a wall or under a rock it would magically evaporate somehow. As I was usually the first to rise I would go round picking up all the crap and sticking it in a bin liner, I would then carry it out with me rather than wasting my breath on these losers for a second time.
I now always carry a couple of bin liners with me just to tidy up after others but you`d be surprised just how often they get filled even covering the same routes. Part of the agreement with my permission landowners is that I clear up rubbish when I`m out and about, this doesn`t bother me at all, in fact it`s quite satisfying work.
Not sure what the solution is but perhaps Ian should ask for a deposit of somekind, but that would mean he would have to check the site before people leave and possibly confront people on the matter. Why should he have to go out of his way when he`s clearly being a star in the first place.


Rich

 

[BushTucker]

My wife does not like to camp, so often we spend time together hiking around local spots. We always have to take a supply of bin bags as cretins seem to think that because no one lives there it is a free spot to dump, why?. it breaks my heart to see such lovely spots being treated so badly. To top it off last time we went I spent 10 mins trying to free a rabbit from a tangled mess of twine.

Makes me puke.....

 

[Toadflax]

I don't know if I'll ever get to Glyn-y-Mul, so it's probably not really my place to comment on what BCUK visitors there should do, and what I'm going to say is probably like teaching Grandmother to suck eggs, preaching to the converted, and lots more cliches and you probably do it anyway...

...but if it is clear that whenever BCUK members go there they help clear the place up then, even if the site is closed to the public, hopefully BCUK may still have a ticket to go there. Sometimes it isn't enough to do these things, you need to make sure that you are seen to be doing them...

...and I know that this is really just a rewording of my previous post, but I'm bored this morning as I'm stuck indoors with a cold. And I won't say any more on the matter.


Geoff

 

[Wayland]

As I was usually the first to rise I would go round picking up all the crap and sticking it in a bin liner, I would then carry it out with me rather than wasting my breath on these losers for a second time.

Maybe that's why people think it will magically evaporate...

 

[Mirius]

Be proud to wear the BCUK badge I'd say, and as others have said, make a difference, and if necessary be seen to be different.

Having picked up in my local dog walking wood, it is disheartening to find that week after week what was cleared has been replaced. At times I will admit to giving in and not doing it and it doesn't seem to make any difference to the amount of litter.

 

[ArkAngel]

Well i would love to take the moral high ground and say that i tidy up and ignore/educate these people........


.....but i'm afraid i can't


It would not be the first time in my younger days when groups of us went out wild camping for the weekend. There are loads of places round where i live and it is frequented by all types from the caring bushcrafters to the special brew "yoofs".

It would not be the first time that my group (normally mates from the forces or my martial arts club) have stood over groups of shivering thoughtless oiks and glared at them while they cleaned up their campsite (we provided the binbags!).
This was mainly due to us attempting to point out the error of their ways by logical reasonable and polite conversation. After the normal response "go forth and multiply" it was amazing how an early morning fully clothed dunking in the river changed their attitude.:twak:

This is not something i would normally admit to and in some cases i am not proud of. I ask myself "did i make these people think when they were in this situation again and tidy up after themselves?" or "did i stop them going out in future and poison their attitude towards the outdoors in general?" But i read constantly on here how often people on here are forced to tidy up after other people who don't care or expect some brightly couloured council worker to come along with his lttle cart and tidy up after them.

I shall not view my opinions on what should be done with these sort of people as it will get political. This is not the place for this and would most likely get my post deleted/ me barred from the site and the thread locked which i do not want to happen.

People need to take resposibilty for their own actions, if you make a mess....tidy it up. That applies to the countryside, the city and their own homes.

A bit of care and a bit of thought coupled with a tiny bit of effort makes the world a better place

 

[Diamond Dave]

It makes you want to weep..............................

 

[Nat]

I'm taking a small party to Ian's site in February. We spoke ont eh phone for half an hour before he was happy that we would leave it spotless and not annoy his wife.

Some of the horror stories he told me of recent "events" made me ashamed to be associated with some people. I fully intend to make sure we leave nothing but footprints and good times behind when we leave.

Ian is a sound bloke who has kindly allowed us to use his site for bushcrafting despite having problems of his own.

I know a couple of people who visit this site have made him cringe, and we need to stop it and be clean and tidy or we will lose his good nature and site forever.

 

[EdS]

litter really really annoys me.

When I go green laning I useually bring a binline full of litter back - dropped miles form the road by people who should know better.

I can cope in town well Bradford district - but that is because I got a little book of tickets t ogive them £70 fixed penalty notice (fine) for dropping litter. Plus upto £1000 and or a sentece for not providing theri details.

When I rule the country I'll be bringing the stock back for littering.