The hermit of Loch Treig

[Toddy]

@Broch, thank you

It's the comments among the small print that end up being the sticking point, " Offers potential as a house plot, subject to the correct local authority permissions being obtained."....and this on an 'owner occupied croft... of 1.67 acres.
My bold on the emphasis.

I think everyone's trying to make a bit of cash tbh and there are some really not clear deals on offer. Caveat emptor, etc..

The family I mentioned have decided that unless it's absolutely right, they're just going to keep saving and just wait and see. They're not going to dive into the first thing that turns up and then regret it. The wife has just finished her masters, and they're both working, but in a way that would make moving simple. They were offered five times their salaries as a mortgage. They were both horrified. Imagine owing five times their salaries ? They've a healthy deposit, but that and 5x would make it a ridiculous sum. They want a home and a lifestyle, but not a millstone of debt.

 

[Paul_B]

There's plenty of buildings in remote parts if Scotland that are now just ruins. I remember a few former crofts round the coast from Inverurie in knoydart on the way to a bothy. I came down the path from the pass straight to an old footbridge across a river. Signs warned it was unsafe so I had a nervous walk over it Indiana Jones style stepping over the gaps and then past the spooky remains only to find a real mess of boggy land. I didn't fancy going back over the bridge then the path around the edge of the boggy valley as that was probably 10 plus miles. So I went through the boggy ground then knee deep plus through the river again and across. I found a deer track through the bog halfway across so not too bad.

It was a common sight to see these old crofting hamlets in Knoydart. Just that this one looked like it was no good for farming since it was now in a bog! I bet there's a lot of these ruins around but I doubt you can build in them.

On a visit to the nw corner of Irish Republic, the gaeltracht I think it's called a local said it there was a ruined house on a piece of land the family, owing it can build a new house next to the old ruin without planning permission, just had to conform to building regs. No idea if true but perhaps a remote part of Ireland might suit better because of the practicalities of this is true. Just have to learn their version of Celtic language I guess.

 

[Corso]

I was born and raised on a farm, I hunt, fish and am a historian. I am taking my final survival instructors course in the wild far from civilisation for 50 days. Beyond that not really haha

Would love to know more about the course, who runs it?

 

[bearbait]

Not sure how similar Scotland and Wales are in this respect, but here in Wales we’ve had several cases of people building houses on their own land (usually environmentally-friendly ”unusual” houses) without planning permission, only for the houses to be demolished by the council. So you can’t assume that you’ll be able to just build a cabin somewhere, even with permission from the land owner or on your own land, or that it would be easy to get planning permission to do so.

It’s also very hard/ near impossible to build a permanent home in a woodland or on agricultural land (e.g. a field), unless you fit some very specific criteria. Wales has something called the One Planet development scheme that allows building on some land where otherwise not allowed, but it comes with very strict conditions.

It might be easier to buy /rent a derelict house and do it up, but I don’t really know much about that. Others here might.

I knew of a couple in mid-Wales that had a little farmland with a barn on it. They lived successfully for a number of years in a caravan inside the barn.

 

[Paul_B]

There's a family not too far from where I work that's locally infamous for building a large family house without planning permission inside a barn! They got caught out driving their flashy cars into it then shutting the doors.

It's amazing what some get away with but others get pinged.i guess you just need to take the gamble that you'll go unchecked for long enough to keep anything you build. A big gamble but very occasionally it has paid off. More often it hasn't.

 

[Broch]

I'm not sure it's that big an issue with crofts in Scotland.

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember something about crofting law. If you take on a croft you must 'croft' it. That also means that if it has a ruined building, you are allowed to rebuild it. Obviously, there will be planning restrictions on what you can build - single story, stone built etc. I suspect.

 

[Toddy]

It's more that folks take on crofts for reasons other than living/working as a crofter. In doing so they deny locals the crofts where they grew up.

So, there are all sorts of different restrictions. Owner occupiers are one thing, holiday homes are another. Owner working the land is fine, but building to put up a kind of hotel is not. Living there is fine, owning and keeping it as a bolthole is not.

There are a lot of ruins, but many of them were never more than a simple blackhouse and not really suitable for upgrading for a modern family, so the crofters often just left them and built alongside. The old house was used as a byre, as a storage area/workshop until it mouldered into decay. That doesn't mean that the property can be re-built because technically it already has been re-built with the new house.

It's not straightforward as see a ruin and build a house.

M

 

[SaraR]

I'm not sure it's that big an issue with crofts in Scotland.

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember something about crofting law. If you take on a croft you must 'croft' it. That also means that if it has a ruined building, you are allowed to rebuild it. Obviously, there will be planning restrictions on what you can build - single story, stone built etc. I suspect.

I thought a large part of crofting was having animals (e.g. sheep) grazing on common land/upland hills shared with other crofts. Is that still the case? It's always seemed an intensely social way of life in that respect.

I'm always slightly awed by people who set out to follow a lifestyle with only 1 or 2 ppl to do all the work that in the past was managed by a large family, possibly with hired help and a big community around them to do big tasks together. (and always hope that they manage and make a success out of it!)

 

[Tengu]

Nothing like locals for being curious over some new build scheme.

You cannot get past them.

 

[Laurentius]

We've had cases of people living on the allotments before. It's tempting.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

This is quite a full thread over the 4 pages and I don't fully desire reading it all right now, so maybe it's been covered but...

Perhaps put yourself in someone else's shoes, and visualise the interaction you desire and how realistic it might turn out to be...

Times have changed a lot and despite us perhaps not becoming literally/physically closer, we have become closer via internees and messaging and the like. You can't as much as fart without someone the other side of the world knowing about it these days...

If I was a landowner in Scotland (and wasn't already a hermit myself!! Hah!), I'd want someone (you) to approach me and talk to me about their plan... you would like to build a cabin you'd say - first hurdle right there:

1. I'd suspect there may be calls for planning permission? Or at least for me to turn a blind eye and hope I don't cop it for having a cabin built on my land.... if its the former, I wouldn't want to pay for it, or at least if I did, if want you to pay me rent (most likely), if not monetary then I'd require services (which would mean regular interaction for updates on my requests or those services - wood chopping or whatnot), if its the latter then again, I'd have to at that stage, know you're not a complete fruit and would suddenly have a small town of like-minded suddenly building on my land... and again, services/payment would be required.

2. Perhaps prior to all that, I'd also like to know who you are, your background, your skills, your plans, your credentials and how you propose to actually survive... I have never killed a deer before, I know the theory on where to shoot one (next load of chaos - do you have a licence?), I figure once I plug a deer, I could probably chop some meat off it and cook it, but I'd likely waste the rest not knowing what I'm doing... is that the same as you? Do you know how to hunt? Do you know how to dress a carcass (dress? Gut?)? Last thing I'd want is 100 dead deer lying around with a slice of bacon taken off each of their buttocks...

3. Related to the above, how do you propose to eat and survive? The UK has strict gun laws and I doubt someone like yourself will be granted a licence easily... and I know in England (and suspect in Scotland too) that hunting with a bow is illegal... so how will you feed yourself?

4. Do you have permission to reside in the UK? Last thing I'd want to do is being harbouring an illegal...

Food for thought.

 

[Tengu]

Oh, I think the OP has long headed for the hills.

 

[demented dale]

One guy set up in a forest in Scotland . He was there 15 years before anyone found him. They asked him to move. I m not sure what happened but there a are legalities when you have been there that long. That said occupying land is still a civil matter and it costs a lot of money to evict people through the courts. If it was me I would just go and set up, dip my toe in the bath and be ready to move if need be.people can be tolerant and accepting and you never know, you might get lucky. x

ps do not let anyone discourage you from your dreams. I have made miracles happen throughout my life simply because I believed in them.
pps in box if you want

 

[Poacherman]

Hello, if you have read my previous post, you know what my intentions are. Recently, I heard about a man who is called the hermit of loch treig which is exactly what I am trying to do. My question (which I can't find info online about) is does he own that land? How has he been permitted to build a cabin and hunt? I plan on doing the same thing but many people have discouraged me for various reasons, one of this biggest being that every piece of land is owned. Can someone please share how he did this? Sited information will be much appreciated

EDIT:

Can anyone give me some advice how one can get permission to build a cabin on someone's land to live like this? I know doing it on my own could end very badly by getting kicked off and maybe even arrested

There's many lochs many have islands u can row out at night to many islands without any boat dockings\habitation And camp on 1 off thousands

 

[Poacherman]

it has nothing to do with isolation. Scotland is what I want period. There is no question about that. I get the point that it is not like Alaska, the rainforest, the amazon, the plains of Australia, I get it. With how many people have said it, I truly doubt I can dispute it. The way he is living is what I want. I wanted it before I knew he existed. This is what I want. Scotland is my home regardless of modern day society views and I REALLY don't want to get into a political discussion about it please.
8,352 mile
What I am trying to figure out is how. He MAY have or MAY NOT have gotten land owner permission. From his story it sounds like he didn't the estate care takers found out and turned a blind eye. No one knows people are only making an assumption because there is nothing on the internet that shares that detail.

I respectfully wish people at this point would stop repeating themselves. I get it. I won't be 3,598,352 miles away from people. I get it. I know Maine has a similar climate, I know Alaska is good, I know the rainforest is good. I am sorry to be nasty but I am just getting overwhelmed at this point and I am tired of how much research I do from day to day. I wake up, I code all day, on my breaks I research, at the end of the day I research, on weekends I train. Some weeks I train all day. It has just become so exhausting at this point. I am autistic and do NOT do well with people. So I am sorry I am getting overwhelmed by the same answers and I am sorry. I just don't understand if no one is getting my point. I get that it's not the 14th C. I get that 90% of trees were cut down in the 60s. I get it. 1 hour from civilisation is good enough to me. It's rare you will ever see anyone and that is sooooo great. Please let us move on from this.

All I asked was if anyone knew how he did it and clearly the answer is not possible, only speculative. Therefore, I used hypothetical editing stating what happens if I do it. What would happen? What would the owner say, would he/she/they not turn a blind eye too?

New question

How would I even get in contact with them

Please forgive me again for my nastiness. I am just overwhelmed and I am sorry

Hello, if you have read my previous post, you know what my intentions are. Recently, I heard about a man who is called the hermit of loch treig which is exactly what I am trying to do. My question (which I can't find info online about) is does he own that land? How has he been permitted to build a cabin and hunt? I plan on doing the same thing but many people have discouraged me for various reasons, one of this biggest being that every piece of land is owned. Can someone please share how he did this? Sited information will be much appreciated

EDIT:

Can anyone give me some advice how one can get permission to build a cabin on someone's land to live like this? I know doing it on my own could end very badly by getting kicked off and maybe even arrested

Being a hermit sounds fun id be terribly bored without women though .

 

[Tengu]

Some folks were hermits to get away from women.

 

[Chris]

I’m surprised more women don’t become hermits to get away from our nonsense to be honest!

 

[Pattree]

There are many legends here in Shropshire. The central and best known ones are those of Hefren / Sabrina, the spirit of the Severn. As a story teller I include her in a few of my repertoire.

In most legends she’s a vengeful spirit who demands a soul every year. She usually gets it.



(A legend my foot!)

 

[Woody girl]

I’m surprised more women don’t become hermits to get away from our nonsense to be honest!

Am I the only one???

 

[Poacherman]

Some folks were hermits to get away from women.

A life without women isn't much off a life at all.