Forestry commission land

[Dirty Karlos]

I know it's not right to wild camp there, but they own all the best forests!!!
Anyone else camp out on FC turf?? I plan to, I'll leave no trace and have no fire. What could be wrong with tarp & hammock or bivvy?

This country sucks.
Yes I'm in a bad mood too.......

 

[-Switch-]

For god sake, don't get me started on the FC

 

[Bernie Garland]

I know it's not right to wild camp there, but they own all the best forests!!!
Anyone else camp out on FC turf?? I plan to, I'll leave no trace and have no fire. What could be wrong with tarp & hammock or bivvy?

This country sucks.
Yes I'm in a bad mood too.......

Its naughty

Bernie

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Well, I'm a naughty boy.

 

[sharp88]

I was planning to bivvy down in the New Forest at one point. If you had a low down green tarp and a bedroll, no one would see you. Besides, no one goes 200 yards away from there cars anyway. Most people's idea of a few days in the countryside is going down the pub or pulling up and eating lunch in there cars.

 

[woodstock]

I know it's not right to wild camp there, but they own all the best forests!!!
Anyone else camp out on FC turf?? I plan to, I'll leave no trace and have no fire. What could be wrong with tarp & hammock or bivvy?

I'll tell you why its a bad idea to camp in FC land its because most of the rangers are jobsworths and believe it to be their land I had permission on FC land to thin the magpies and squirrel population when one of the wardens spotted me with a basher under which i was gutting as it was raining and I wanted to keep dry and make a brew he only phoned the police and reported me for trespass when I showed them my letter of approval I never even got apology and they always prosecute the next time you go onto their land have a look at the big boards everywhere...rant over

 

[fishy1]

I have camped up here on foresty commision land plenty of times, fires occasionally, not in the horrible sitka forests though. They seem to encourage it up here, scotland is great.

 

[Wallenstein]

If you turn up late and leave early, and keep a low profile, the chances are they'll never know.

 

[Lurch]

They must suffer the bigger part of the twonks though.

 

[Pang]

FC land IS the best. However may it's because i dont camp very often, cause believe it or not i've never seen a warden/ranger in my entire BC exprience.

 

[Mikey P]

I like FC land BUT I don't do open fires - there's been too many big bush fires in my area lately.

 

[durulz]

I've done FC land a couple of times. The only thing to be careful of are the footpaths that criss-cross the land like a web. We woke up in the morning, walked just 15 feet and found we'd camped right next to a footpath! Fortunately no one came by (we got to the site late and left early). But a late evening/early morning dog walker could have seen us and called someone. So, if you do use FC land, make sure you have a REALLY good look around to ensure you are away from any areas potentially used by the public.

 

[Wallenstein]

I'd also say that the average dog walker is less likely to report a couple of chaps hunkered down under a tarp with a hobo stove... if it were a group of rowdy kids with beer cans and an open fire then fair enough, but I reckon regular users of FC land would exercise some judgement (not in all cases of course).

 

[Tony]

Guys, please don't pro-actively encourage camping on land that you're not supposed to camp on. No matter what you're views are and no matter how much they are shared by other people Bushcraft UK does not condone acting outside the law where that be tort or criminal action.

In many places wild camping is tolerated and discussed but without permission FC land in England and Wales (not sure how things stand in NI, is a No no, please respect that. In the long term you're much better off trying to build a relationship with them than taking advantage when you can.

In Scotland the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC), the position with Forestry Commission (Scotland) is different. As long as camping is lightweight, for no more than 2-3 days in any one place, not car based and done responsibly it can be done within the Law. I think that they like small groups, 6 or less?

Scotland's the place to get out whenever you want, you can see that quite a few do in the Out and About forum. (thanks for the reminder Fred )

I'll close this thread.