Weekend bivvy suggestions?

[bivouac]

Can anyone any suggest a nice spot for a weekend bivvy? Peace and quiet would be essential. Enough wood for the Kelly kettle. Friendly locals (No shotgun-waving peasants shouting "Get orff moi land!"). An empty hillside, a secluded valley, a corner of a field - something like that. I can carry in enough water & carry out my poo, so an ablution block is not necessary. A babbling brook would be an optional extra as would the song of birds. A lot of wild camping is above the treeline so no wood & no birds. Anywhere in England or Wales would do (Scotland is a bit far for the weekend). A map reference would be good. Glyn Y Mul in Wales looks ideal & I have read a thread on here recommending a place in Cumbria, but I would welcome some more suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[bivouac]

I've just come across this posting in another thread:

"Wild camping, though popular under a bushcraft heading, is illegal under trespass and criminal damage laws. As such, BushcraftUK cannot recommend anywhere to go, as that would be advocating illegal behaviour. Access to any land should be with the full permission of the landowner.
That said, there are plenty of people who do it and return to civilisation leaving no trace of their transgression, but we ask that they do not discuss it openly on the forum, nor openly recommend places to go. You might recieve a few answers by private message, but again I ask that you don't promote the activity on the forum."

Is there anywhere on the internet that people can share such information openly? It does seem strange to me that the very spirit of bushcraft is to get away from rules and regs and just live freely doing what you want to do without answering to anybody and yet reading through the posts on this forum there is all the cloak-and-dagger stuff with people talking about "secret locations" and whatnot. "Rules are for the guidance of the wise and the obeyance of fools" someone once told me. It seemed kind of a wise thing to say and I never forgot it.

 

[Kerne]

I live in Gloucestershire and have spent nights out locally. I go to woods that are "public" i.e. NT, FC, Woodland Trust or NNR etc. This gives you lots of opportunities in Glos. I don't light a fire (not strictly true - I use my bushbuddy but this leaves no trace of my passing.) I don't set up a permanent camp - just my bivi bag and tarp - and I don't try to make a natural shelter. I know that these are things we all want to do as "'shcrafters", but on someone else's land it just isn't always possible, or, even, desireable. I also observe the wild camper's rule of "camp late, rise early". Get away from the honeypots. People walk their dogs early and late and dogs love to sniff out shcrafters almost as much as they do rabbits! A lot of Glos woodland is worked - shooting, timber etc. - and, consequently, guarded jealously by its owners - to whom we don't half look like poachers! Be careful out there, but, in all honesty, no-one has ever disturbed me.

For a first night out, why not try the "bivi cave" near Symonds Yat. Well known to climbers and canoeists and I once slept there with 12 kids in tow on a school camp and no-one bothered us.

 

[scanker]

I think Scotland is the only place you can go and legally camp where you want.

We're lucky enough to have access to woodland on a mate's Uncle's farm in Herefordshire. There are a few spots you can go though, and not too far from Gloucestershire.

I've spent many a night on a farm at Llanbedr near Abergavenny. They used to advertise camping but don't any more. It'll be you on your own in a field pretty much, with a cold water tap and a portaloo. Details are in work. I can PM them to you tomorrow if interested. It was about £3 a night I think, last time we were there. Open fires are fine.

 

[bivouac]

Thanks for the advice, Kerne. It's a reminder that good times can be had in one's own backyard. I used to get up to Snowdonia once in a while but knee problems put paid to all that so I'm looking around for an alternative. Never thought of a cave though!

 

[bivouac]

Thanks, skanker, Llanbedr sounds perfect. I will be grateful for the details.

 

[scanker]

In reply to Kerne's post, me and a mate once "camped late" in the FoD, walked 500 yds or so off a track. Next morning, brewing up, we were within 50yds or so of another track. Dog walkers were looking over at our brew fire. Scout early, camp late, leave early!

 

[tobes01]

(No shotgun-waving peasants shouting "Get orff moi land!")

Without wishing to sound like a grumpy old bar-steward...

There are of course always those who over-react to the presence of anyone on the land. I once (quite accidentally) strayed off the path in a local woodland only to be confronted by some pompous scrote on a quad bike with a rifle pointed casually close to my direction.

But in general, those of us who are out with shotguns have normally spent good money to be there, and the presence of anyone before a shoot day is likely to have scared off the game - and some of us have also put a lot of work into managing that game over the months before hand. I've been out on shoot days where we've had fly-tippers, dog-walkers, bl**dy trespassing off-road motorcyclists (theres a special ring of hell reserved for them), even paintballers messing it up for us. Not a bushcrafter yet, but it's probably only a matter of time (although not when I'm camping out there )

One of the few upsides of the ban on hunting was greater protection for legal hunting activities - in other words, if someone is out with a gun engaged in a legal pursuit on private land, then the law falls in his favour, not yours as the trespasser.

Anyway, my point is that your quiet and thoughtful enjoyment of an unauthorised night in the woods can ruin a lot of work and investment for a lot of other people, even if you really do leave no trace. And please remember that some of the peasants waving shotguns around are bushcrafters too...

Tobes

 

[Shewie]

There's some good advice here ....

http://v-g.me.uk/index.htm

This one as well but it's not been updated for a few years now. The hills are still the same though

http://www.bassplace.freeserve.co.uk/wildcamp/

 

[bivouac]

"Anyway, my point is that your quiet and thoughtful enjoyment of an unauthorised night in the woods can ruin a lot of work and investment for a lot of other people, even if you really do leave no trace. And please remember that some of the peasants waving shotguns around are bushcrafters too..."

The idea was to spend a weekend cooking & sleeping in the open, Tobes. It is enormously difficult to find any official campsites that cater for this sort of thing and low-level wild camping involves the sticky issues of trespass and open fires. To be honest, I am not too bothered about the legalities of it all, however, living where I do, I am aware that the countryside is not just a scenic backdrop for Julia Bradbury to swan around in the latest Goretex fashion, but it is a place where people live and work, and it is precisely to avoid the sort of problems you mention that I thought, a little fancifully it seems, that this forum would be awash with postings about suitable locations. As a newcomer, I was a little surprised to find that it is not so. I was even more surprised that your own rules preclude the open sharing of such information. The message board, after all, does come under the heading of "where to go & what to do". No matter. I have found a lot of useful information and advice and, now I put my mind to it I can think of a few places of my own to try out. I may even take a camera and post a thread about my adventures!

By the way, I married a farmer's daughter so I know a little about peasants. Although in truth my father-in-law has never owned a shotgun.

 

[Brown Bear]

Dartmoor has legal wild camping areas. Google will show you the way to the website and maps.

 

[bivouac]

Dartmoor has legal wild camping areas. Google will show you the way to the website and maps.

I've just checked it out. Dartmoor seems to positively encourage wild camping and the wording about fires in the bylaws is interesting:

"8 Fires
No person shall light a fire on the access land, or place or throw or let fall a lighted match or any other thing so as to be likely to cause a fire. This byelaw shall not prevent the lighting or use in such a manner as not to cause danger of or damage by fire of a properly constructed camping stove or cooker."

My interpretation is that a Kelly kettle would be ok.

 

[Chambers]

I've just checked it out. Dartmoor seems to positively encourage wild camping and the wording about fires in the bylaws is interesting:

"8 Fires
No person shall light a fire on the access land, or place or throw or let fall a lighted match or any other thing so as to be likely to cause a fire. This byelaw shall not prevent the lighting or use in such a manner as not to cause danger of or damage by fire of a properly constructed camping stove or cooker."

My interpretation is that a Kelly kettle would be ok.

Yeah sounds like fire lighting is okay so long as it doesnt damage anything. I do like the wording of that rule

 

[jonajuna]

remember dartmoor is predominately peat, peat doesnt need a flame to ignite it and it can smolder underground for months and months before bursting upwards and out

if using anything that generates the sort of heat a fire will (a gas cooker is normally different as it is on a support off the ground) please make sure you insulate the ground well from said heat, with stones or similar (ie the ground shouldnt get above the temp you can sustain on your skin to be 100% safe) else you may be the cause of the moorland fire weeks after you are back home

 

[Brown Bear]

Indeed. Best to find a rocky area and do your cooking on a slab of granite.

 

[rik_uk3]

The "shotgun-waving peasants " tend to be the people who own the land so best ask for permission first try not to refer to them as peasants. Lighting a fire can and will often let others know you are there, so use a small stove (don't burn wood).

 

[jonajuna]

The "shotgun-waving peasants " tend to be the people who own the land so best ask for permission first try not to refer to them as peasants. Lighting a fire can and will often let others know you are there, so use a small stove (don't burn wood).

and we are the peasants, they are the landed gentry. so doff yer cap

 

[bivouac]

.. you may be the cause of the moorland fire weeks after you are back home

I couldn't handle the guilt, jonajuna. I've changed my mind. I'm going to Bognor Regis for the weekend.

 

[tobes01]

I couldn't handle the guilt, jonajuna. I've changed my mind. I'm going to Bognor Regis for the weekend.

Of course the season's over now so it's not a bad time to be snurgling around in the woods since the keepers are putting their feet up for a week or two (not that I'd ever condone illegal camping, of course).

Btw, no offense was taken or meant in my original comment - just get a bit fed up with those who think that a patch of countryside is anyone's for the taking. The most extreme I've yet had was a fee-paying mountain bike event organised by bl**dy Evans Cycles that sent a couple of hundred riders down through the middle of our shoot, on a route that was *not* a right of way for them. Completely stuffed the morning, and the organisers wondered why we were more than a tad grumbly with them...
:BlueTeamE

 

[bivouac]

:Btw, no offense was taken or meant in my original comment

No problem, Tobes. Beautiful words are not always truthful and truthful words are not always beautiful as the saying goes. You made an important point and I did ask for advice......