Cheaky two nights at a nature reserve( pic heavy )

[Tat2trev]

This is all crazy he had permission hasn't broken any laws been out with his lads good time was had by all end of .

 

[santaman2000]

Great pix Mouse. And looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing.

 

[Ivan...]

This is one of those threads, that will be closed, i am sure! We are all different in our views and opinions, on everything, from my angle i feel for Mouse a bit, poor fella has joined our little forum and has gone to the trouble of posting, what a lot of us like to see and read about, but after 2 months and one persons view on a particular activity, must wonder if anyone else is going to come out of the woodwork, to have a pop at him!

Gixer, i understand your views, whether it be 4x4's, nature reserves or the other 0.6 percent you keep mentioning, but as pointed out before you were very quick to judge and comment, before you knew the facts, then even after being told the facts, you failed to apologise and then after 24 hours or so thinking about it, came back and had another go!

Nowt so queer as folk, i politely suggest you let it go, and so will the rest of us.

By the way, do you have children? And where do you camp? When you do get the time off course, not very often, if at all, i shouldn't wonder, oh yeah do you have a fire, post some pics or a report? I am sure the feedback would be interesting.

Ivan...

 

[bushwacker bob]

Good trip Mouse and kids. You may need to ignore some of the comments made by the politically correct police on here.

We had a Lovely place near where I live that attracted nesting Lapwings. Some IDIOTS decided to make it into a 'nature reserve' So now it doesnt get sprayed with weed killer and has been taken over by Ragwort and has only ants and cinnibar moths occupying it. Some folk are so naive they think that a nature reserve is there as the only way to preserve anything.

 

[Tat2trev]

Plus 1 to what Ivan said

 

[Goatboy]

Sorry Mods, Mouse, Ivan, Trev and Gixer. I'll not respond here again unless asked too. Was just trying to defend a happy and positive chap out with kids doing nothing wrong. And I was getting sucked into what could become an online argument.

I apologise for any bad feeling caused and hope we can agree to disagree - but privately.

ATB,
Colin.

 

[Mouse040]

Fantastic work on the volunteering, i mean that in all sincerity.

Commendable that you sought permission as well.

Problem i have though is

• There are better less environmentally sensitive areas to camp
  As a result i can think of absolutely no justification for camping and having a rather large roaring fire in the middle of a nature reserve

• Even IF you have the correct permission from the correct parties (not just some warden you bought a pint saying it's ok) then as a bushcrafter you have a responsibility both to the environment AND the image that is portrayed as a bushcrafter
  Just think what ramblers, birdwatchers or the like would think about our hobby if they saw you.
  Or if local kids saw you and automatically thought it must be ok to camp there

• Even IF you have the correct permissions for the correct parties i think it's unlikely they would have approved of a fire that size

• The fact that you titled the thread sneaky does you no favours, it shows me you knew exactly that it wasn't right doing what you did

I have a permission in some woods on a farm the owner trusts me completely, i could if i wanted have a 5 foot high fire every night till there was no wood left.
I could blast away at every vermin with my shotgun till i ran out of either shells or things that moved.
I don't do either because i feel a responsibility for the area, if local kids heard me shooting away it would attract them like moths to a flame, the same with a big fire.
So even though i can do pretty much what i want, when i want i still keep a low profile.
This is on normal run of the mill farm land NOT a nature reserve.
So all because we can do something it doesn't mean we should

I have been reading this forum for years only recently joined and don't post often.
There have been many posts i disagree with but even when i didn't agree with posts i could still see some fracture of understanding there.

I cannot see why anyone that is supposed to enjoy nature would camp in a nature reserve though.
It's arrogant, irresponsible and selfish even IF you have the correct permissions for the right organisations.
Nature reserves make only 0.6% of our beautiful country, why disturb them, attract critism from other outdoorsies and organisations and potentially encourage other even less respectful campers.

So my questions are

• Other than 100% selfish and arrogant reasons, WHY camp on a nature reserve?

• What have enhancements have you bought to the area and other organisations by camping there?

• Why post on a public forum the fact that you sneakily camped illegally on a nature reserve?

There is absolutely no gain to made by clearly stating you were sneaky and it was a nature reserve all we need is the RSPB, ramblers association, BASC, or anything group of conservationists or outdoors enthusiasts to read about your trip and you've set a black mark against the image of bushcrafting.

You say you have permission, you say you left no trace i do not know you though and care more about our pursuit and image of bushcrafting than i do about your feelings, i couldn't in good faith NOT bring any more sneaky camping trips on nature reserve to the attention of the right authorities
Not sure why that casts me in a bad light as the only thing we all have in common here is we all care about the land and keeping our pursuit sustainable.

Good morning campers

I have to say I'm quite happy that you have taken the time to post a reply as it shows that you are a person of conviction

If I'm honest there are several things you have noted that had not been in my train of thought whilst being out on my camps the biggest being my actions being responsible for the choices and actions of others and thank you for pointing this out as I will take more time to consider this in the future

Your quite right in your comments regarding my posts title 'cheeky not sneaky , and this was a failing on my behalf as I intended It to be in relation to the time taken away with my boys not the action or even the place it's self so I apologise for any miss understanding that could of been taken

I also have taken your points regarding me having no regard to the amount of damage I cause when trudging around of the path
This I do take offence to as we do not know each other I will always refrain from making assumptions upon your personal character and choices you make as I'm not aware of your circumstances and would never make assumptions upon not having the facts
That said I welcome your comments as I have taken them on board and will remember them in the future and reflect upon them when making any similar choices

Anyway I applaud your standing and respect your opinions and look forward to your posts ,whatever side of the fence they may be ,


Anyway I've got 30plus ten year olds to trudge around one of my local reserves today hopefully the pics of that will be more to your liking

 

[treadlightly]

Good luck with that Mouse, the more we get kids onto the land and show them its delights the better.

 

[greensurfingbear]

Good luck with that Mouse, the more we get kids onto the land and show them its delights the better.

My sentiments exactly. It's amazing how much a good visit to the countryside can benefit school kids. Helps if they have passionate and knowledgable guides to show them the delights that are out there.


Orric