Close to where I live, where I go for my walks (and get attacked by dogs in fact) is one of the nicest spots around here. It is at the top of a shallow valley overlooking rustling fields of either corn or wildflowers (there's a new farmer so it's all wildflower meadow at the moment). It's a point where the shallow valley gets a bit steeper and so the hill heads up into some woods.
Picture the scene ... sitting there with a cool drink on a summers evening watching the many rabbits playing just a few yards away, the birds are singing in the trees and there is a calmness that is hard to find around here.
I'd love to say that this was a frequent thing during the summer, but it's not. Unfortunately the local teenagers use this spot as a party area, they turn up en mass playing loud music and burning any wood they can get their hands on, even going so far as to drive a car along the field to push a tree over with it so they can burn the tree and then the car. Drink, drugs and debauchary all night long (ok, I admit I don't have a problem with the 3 Ds providing they are in the right setting).
If wild camping was made legal, these kids would be allowed to do this and there would be no consequences to their actions. As it is now, it's hard enough to discourage them and then try to get it into their drink/drug addled heads that what they are doing is wrong.
I can well believe that this scene is being played out in hundreds of places around the country all within a 10 minute walk of 'civilisation'.
Keep wild camping illegal, I say, but also lets find something for these bored teenagers to do because they only do this as there is nothing better to do.
Picture the scene ... sitting there with a cool drink on a summers evening watching the many rabbits playing just a few yards away, the birds are singing in the trees and there is a calmness that is hard to find around here.
I'd love to say that this was a frequent thing during the summer, but it's not. Unfortunately the local teenagers use this spot as a party area, they turn up en mass playing loud music and burning any wood they can get their hands on, even going so far as to drive a car along the field to push a tree over with it so they can burn the tree and then the car. Drink, drugs and debauchary all night long (ok, I admit I don't have a problem with the 3 Ds providing they are in the right setting).
If wild camping was made legal, these kids would be allowed to do this and there would be no consequences to their actions. As it is now, it's hard enough to discourage them and then try to get it into their drink/drug addled heads that what they are doing is wrong.
I can well believe that this scene is being played out in hundreds of places around the country all within a 10 minute walk of 'civilisation'.
Keep wild camping illegal, I say, but also lets find something for these bored teenagers to do because they only do this as there is nothing better to do.