S. HERTS / N. LONDON - anywhere to wild camp?

[mrstorey]

Hey all.

Been itching to try out a few new bits of kit for weeks now, so am looking to head out into the Great Wide Yonder that is Hertfordshire. In particular, the bit just north of London, ie Barnet/Potters Bar/Hatfield/Enfield.

Trouble is, there aren't really any campsites in that neck of the woods, especially fire-friendly ones. Can anyone point me in the direction of a quiet corner where I could roll out a bivvy bag and spark up a little fire without aggravating any local landowners?

Note: I don't have a car, so I'm really looking for somewhere I can get under my own steam, or by public transport. Home is East Barnet.

All help gratefully received.

Michael.

 

[TallMikeM]

good luck matey, I live (and walk a lot) 'round where you wanna go and all I can say is that the "keep out" sign sellers must be doing good business.
There's a scout activity centre just outside Borehamwood (wellend to be exact) that have overwinter camping, they may allow fires.

 

[mrstorey]

Ah, good call. I'll give them a go.

Yeah, I'm surprised the symbol of the county is the stag - it ought to be a pair of crossed 'keep out' signs over a triple band of rusty barbed wire.

Cheers chap. I'll report back to let you know if I get any joy.

good luck matey, I live (and walk a lot) 'round where you wanna go and all I can say is that the "keep out" sign sellers must be doing good business.
There's a scout activity centre just outside Borehamwood (wellend to be exact) that have overwinter camping, they may allow fires.

 

[TallMikeM]

"Yeah, I'm surprised the symbol of the county is the stag - it ought to be a pair of crossed 'keep out' signs over a triple band of rusty barbed wire."

like it, very true.

I do know of some areas where I doubt you'd get permission, but may get away from it if you were discreet etc.

 

[jasons]

What about meet at swyns on th 5th thats not to far from you.We have a lot of bushcraft workshops on the go for this weekend.come along you will be made to feel right at home

 

[Mang]

If memory serves me correctly Wellend has just one fire pit in a hollow just past the accomodation block but a fire pit nevertheless.

 

[Rebel]

I've been to Well End several times.

There's a small woods, a large field and a smaller field. There's also facilities like kitchen, meeting room, toilet and such like.

If you don't have a car it's not very far from Borehamwood town centre, there might be a bus but you could always walk from somewhere nearby if not.

There's a large pit where they light camp fires but you can also light fires in the field where they have designated spots. They usually have a big pile of broken old palettes and wood although you can use tree branches but they light a lot of big fires there and they'd probably deplete the woods if they relied solely on the trees.

The caretaker lives on site, he's friendly enough but I think I remember him telling me that they only let organisations use the facilities for insurance reasons. But it's worth asking, if he likes you and you seem like a mature sensible person you might just be able to stay. There'll be child protections issues so you'd probably have to stay when nobody else is around (CRB check if you've got one might be helpful).

The Scouts also have a huge place near Watford also called Phasels Wood. Plenty of space there and lots of lovely fires. Again I think it's for recognised organisations only but here's the Website address:

http://www.phaselswood.org.uk/about.html

 

[mrstorey]

Jason,

That's a very generous offer, thank you. I was chatting to Swyn recently about coming along to your next meet-up, but we're off to Kerala the following week, so I'm not going to be able to make this one, frustratingly. Sounds like I'm going to be missing out on a lot of fun too :-(

Cheers,

Michael.

What about meet at swyns on th 5th thats not to far from you.We have a lot of bushcraft workshops on the go for this weekend.come along you will be made to feel right at home

 

[mrstorey]

Ah, it sounds great, it sounds like I don't have a snowball's chance of staying there, but I'll give it a go. Nothing ventured and all that. Cheers for the tip.

I've been to Well End several times.

There's a small woods, a large field and a smaller field. There's also facilities like kitchen, meeting room, toilet and such like.

If you don't have a car it's not very far from Borehamwood town centre, there might be a bus but you could always walk from somewhere nearby if not.

There's a large pit where they light camp fires but you can also light fires in the field where they have designated spots. They usually have a big pile of broken old palettes and wood although you can use tree branches but they light a lot of big fires there and they'd probably deplete the woods if they relied solely on the trees.

The caretaker lives on site, he's friendly enough but I think I remember him telling me that they only let organisations use the facilities for insurance reasons. But it's worth asking, if he likes you and you seem like a mature sensible person you might just be able to stay. There'll be child protections issues so you'd probably have to stay when nobody else is around (CRB check if you've got one might be helpful).

The Scouts also have a huge place near Watford also called Phasels Wood. Plenty of space there and lots of lovely fires. Again I think it's for recognised organisations only but here's the Website address:

http://www.phaselswood.org.uk/about.html

 

[mrstorey]

Wow. From your response (PM and posts), it looks like there are quite a few people on here from the Herts/N. London area. Enough in fact to make it worth setting up a meet, maybe.

If I can find somewhere suitable to camp for the weekend, I'll try to organise something when I get back from honeymoon.

PM me in the meantime if you're interested - it'd be useful to get an idea of numbers.

Michael.

 

[Zammo]

I live in Barnet so I know how limted places to camp legally around here are. Let us know how you get on as I'd be interested to know.

 

[benp1]

hmmmm - small world!

I'm from Barnet, now in Finchley

The Bucks group meets are good, so are the Reading ones. They're the only ones that are reasonably close

 

[mrstorey]

Yeah, the Bucks group meets sound fab. I've been surprised by how many there are of us around N. London/Herts, there's definitely enough of us to make up a quorum - if we can just find that elusive bit of woodland with our name on it...

 

[Zammo]

Theres enough of it around on the outskirts of barnet, it's just getting the permission which is the tricky bit.

 

[benp1]

I'm definitely up for one if you manage to sort out a place around here, permission will be the issue

 

[godfather]

I also would be up for a meet. I am near Watford, it is such a shame that there is alot of woodland near me but I have tried to get permission to camp with no luck at the moment but I am still willing to try and try until I loose my resolve!!

 

[mrstorey]

Tromped around Trent Park at the weekend. Lovely bit of the world. Shame so many dog walkers don't seem to understand the meaning of the words 'pooper' and 'scooper' :-(

 

[Rod]

Clucking Bell!!

You blokes all need to get off your butts and get on to the Bucks meet this weekend. I live in Berkhamsted and am one of the organisers.

Do It!

 

[benp1]

agreed. should be at Bucks meet too

Would be excellent to get one sorted near home. Means I'd save an hour's travel, particularly useful for the trip on friday nights after work.

I'm afraid i'm no use at organising so can't help with arranging a venue, though am happy to help with other things. The venue will be the hard part, stealth camping is prob not what we need/want

 

[TallMikeM]

Clucking Bell!!

You blokes all need to get off your butts and get on to the Bucks meet this weekend. I live in Berkhamsted and am one of the organisers.

Do It!

I was really hoping to make it, but got roped into something else instead. I will make one soon tho.