Especially on the moors in dry weather as we have seen over the past couple of years. Toilet etiquette is another concern.
£20 to wild camp?
- Thread starter Fossil Bluff
- Start date
Especially on the moors in dry weather as we have seen over the past couple of years. Toilet etiquette is another concern.
Padstowe
Thru Hiker
We can but hope there's some educational level behind it & not just throwing people in a field & saying work it out for yourselves. It would be a shambles if the latter but with the former as someone whose major majority of holidays as a kid was those camping with cubs & scouts due to the low cost being all that could be afforded really, I can only find the price disagreeable.
Am suprized at the attitude on here given that a fair amount admit to only getting back into camping not so many years ago, less than or not much more than a decade for alot of people's first "wild camp" as it reads to me, but yet seems to be an attitude of no more people on the hills please.
I can't get that, maybe I don't have to, just know I don't wanna.
edit: We all hate seeing a mess & practical education more than theoretical is the best way to stop this imo. I don't know what the plans for this business are, nor the people involved to be able to say how business smart they are, but even a fool like me can see that expecting someone to pay £20 isn't going to create alot of revenue if any, but applying for somekinda funding with an educational basis at a cost of £20 per person might?
Am suprized at the attitude on here given that a fair amount admit to only getting back into camping not so many years ago, less than or not much more than a decade for alot of people's first "wild camp" as it reads to me, but yet seems to be an attitude of no more people on the hills please.
I can't get that, maybe I don't have to, just know I don't wanna.
edit: We all hate seeing a mess & practical education more than theoretical is the best way to stop this imo. I don't know what the plans for this business are, nor the people involved to be able to say how business smart they are, but even a fool like me can see that expecting someone to pay £20 isn't going to create alot of revenue if any, but applying for somekinda funding with an educational basis at a cost of £20 per person might?
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Nigelp
Thru Hiker
Chris Townsend has summed most people thoughts up well.
https://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2019/06/wild-camping-by-permission-of-government.html?m=1
https://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2019/06/wild-camping-by-permission-of-government.html?m=1
You can read the introduction to the “Rewilding the Humans: On Wild Camping” on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rewilding-...+humans&qid=1559459713&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell
There’s one review which is not very flattering (two stars) and suggests that £6.99 is poor value (understatement!) for a book that can be read in 10 minutes.
I think I’ll give it a miss
There’s one review which is not very flattering (two stars) and suggests that £6.99 is poor value (understatement!) for a book that can be read in 10 minutes.
I think I’ll give it a miss
Enzo
Thru Hiker
I think Chris has it for me.
Agree with @Padstowe though that's it's uncharitable to want to exclude others from something you enjoy. But I think it's common to prefer a feeling of wildness that isn't enhance by crowds.
I know the two things that I hear putting people off going out are axe murderers and the illegality/ confrontation with landowners.
Both vanishing rare of course but fears are driven more by the availability huristic than an accurate map of reality.
Agree with @Padstowe though that's it's uncharitable to want to exclude others from something you enjoy. But I think it's common to prefer a feeling of wildness that isn't enhance by crowds.
I know the two things that I hear putting people off going out are axe murderers and the illegality/ confrontation with landowners.
Both vanishing rare of course but fears are driven more by the availability huristic than an accurate map of reality.
Nigelp
Thru Hiker
They should then rebadge the scheme and call it a ‘basic camp experience’ and make it clear that you are staying on a site close to the road. There are numerous camp sites that offer a basic camping experience that people can try including ones on the South Downs Way. £7.50 gets you a water tap, toilet and not much else.
Nigelp
Thru Hiker
That could work. I’d more readily donate to that. Or the funding is used to help landowners set up informal sites with a compost toilet and a tap. Like many do now!
Baldy
Thru Hiker
But that would be an invitation to have a toilet area. Most people would head for the nearest discreet spot leading to quite literally a bog.
No middle ground for me. If it's wild it's wild. If a campsite and you're paying, decent facilities,
I agree with everything in Chris's statement, surely this endeavour will fail.
I guess the problem with even offering basic camping facilities is that the providers might run into Health & Safety and legal liability issues given how regulated and litigious society has become. It will only take one case to blow it up. The danger is that it might give impetus for NPAs to restrict or discourage true wild camping and possibly an impetus to for legislation. There must be a temptation for some marketing whizz at an NPA to introduce a permit scheme. Hopefully nothing will happen. In any case, it’s almost impossible to police effectively.
Enzo
Thru Hiker
There are lots of potential problems with an Amberley type site. Most I think are side stepped by having the sites at least a mile from a road. Permanent residents are an issue. But the walk would put most off. Last sdw meet there were a couple of guys who looked like they were living there. They seemed fine and I wouldn't have a problem with that use. The Amberley site has a compost area that gets used as a latrine. Seems to work OK as long as the area is big enough and people are up with LNT ethics.
If I ever won the lottery I'd do it. Less likely to happen as I don't do the lottery....lol
If I ever won the lottery I'd do it. Less likely to happen as I don't do the lottery....lol
Thanks for posting that.
It’s even made it into today’s Telegraph 
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/03/wild-camping-scheme-suspended-critics-brand-nonsense/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/03/wild-camping-scheme-suspended-critics-brand-nonsense/
TinTin
Thru Hiker
British Mountaineering Club backlash
Dan Outdoors
Trekker
You'd be correct that wild camping is a civil not criminal matter, it only becomes criminal if you refuse to move on after being requested.
dovidola
Thru Hiker
In point of fact (in England and Wales at least) it still doesn't become criminal if you refuse to move, but the owner (or agent) is entitled to use reasonable force to evict you. This is because while simple trespass is not 'illegal' (in the sense of being a criminal offence) it is nonetheless 'unlawful' (a different thing), which is why you can be sued for the trespass at civil law.
There are certain forms of criminal trespass recognised and punishable by the criminal law. Far too many to go into here, but (in brief) more common examples would include:
- residential trespassing on land with vehicles
- trespass on land with a firearm/weapon of offence/poaching equipment
- trespass on educational premises
- trespass on railway land
- trespass on restricted military land
- trespass with intent to steal
- 'raves'
- groups of people trespassing in order to disrupt lawful activity
As always where UK hiking is concerned, bear in mind that Scots law is in independent entity and fundamentally different from the law of England and Wales.
TinTin
Thru Hiker
AFAIK, in civil law, they still have to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that you did actually trespass. Which means that 1. They need to know who the person is to take action against and 2. Need to show that you did something that caused them a loss of some kind.
theoctagon
Thru Hiker
I’ll be collecting all the £20s at the TL meet, cash only
dovidola
Thru Hiker
Quite correct, although that's about the practicalities of pursuing a possible legal action rather than the legal position itself. It's just my opinion, but I think it would be fair to say that landowners and their agents are at something of a disadvantage in that, as you point out, they are generally going to struggle to ascertain a trespasser's identity, but there's seldom any real difficulty identifying a landowner (because s/he is 'tied' to an identifiable piece of land). While I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing of itself, my concern is that if, with increasing numbers of 'trespassers' plus a few high-profile 'regrettable incidents', landowners perceive a growing problem they can't deal with, then the law will be amended to change what at present is, in my view, a reasonable balance of interests/rights/duties and a workable modus vivendi.
I'm convinced that the less regulation we can have, the better it will be for this pastime that we so cherish. Sadly, I expect the reverse will be the case, and schemes like this (thankfully aborted for the moment) £20-a-night-special-offer are going to accelerate that process.
Fair Weather Camper
Thru Hiker
Yes and we need to keep an eye on any tightening of laws such as this - regarding our civil rights - to wild camp and other things - its already escalated in the last couple of decades.
Sometimes legislation brought in on the back of irresponsible occupiers, but also resulting in an impingement of our rights to peacefully protest and so forth.
"Groups of people trespassing in order to disrupt 'lawful' activity - sounds OK until you realise that means anti frackers, rendition flight disruptors, forest protectors, cruise missile refuseniks, treasured greenspace preservers, oil pipeline or windfarm objectors, and so forth - are all potentially at risk of hefty jail terms for exercising their democratic rights to peacefully object to questionable yet 'lawful' activities.
So really not a problem for your 'average' wild camper.
Its only going to cause a problem where there are large groups hanging about, lighting fires, breaking trees etc.
I'm a firm believer in 'the shared commons' in relation to all our land.
In terms of ownership,
Just because a legal document confers ownership I don't have the right to misuse, corrupt, or despoil that land, or its associated air, water, or resources.
Nor do I have the right to use force against a person to persuade them to move, if they're simply sitting on it quietly existing.
Tbh if someone parks their tent at the top of the hill here late evening, and moves off in the morning, we probs wouldn't even notice.
Hardly likely to be problem on a remote fell.
TinTin
Thru Hiker
40 years ago I camped in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. At 6am a team of Gendarms came through the area where we were camping with maybe 50 other tents. We were women by a Gendarm banging on a tent pole with a gun. Never packed up and moved on so fast. The point is if you are wild camping and someone who appears to have some authority tells you to move on you're unlikely to argue.
Fair Weather Camper
Thru Hiker
Especially if they have a gun
But that was a fifty tent scenario - not a small backpacking tent or two in the middle of nowhere - were you holding some kind of unofficial jamboree Phil??
Its unlikely that any landowner is going to persuade the local plod to shift a few campers off their scrubby bit of pasture.
The most that's likely to happen - so long as you're not damaging anything - is they will want to be assured that you are moving soon - or they might even be friendly - be up for a chat - and really not mind that much if you stayed another night - if you seem like a reasonable human being.
We're not all miserable trigger happy "Get off my landers" by any measure - some of us are even quite nice, and like to see people enjoying the countryside...
