adhickley
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We've just had a fabulous two weeks from East Anglia to Land's End and back in our 1990 Autosleeper Talisman, a mix of wild-camping and sites but we've decided that we much prefer the wild-camping!
First night was in a small carpark on The Ridgeway just south of Wantage. Stunning views across Oxfordshire and a lovely place to stop: lots of dogwalkers but quietish once the road calmed down. We stayed on Salisbury Plain on a huge area of hard-standing beside the road near Tilshead. Again, very quiet: one other van which I don't think we disturbed at all since we could park so far away. Best place of the whole trip was Minions on the eastern edge of Bodmin Moor. I don't think you'd get there in anything much bigger than our van but a fantastic spot with distant views of Dartmoor, an epic sunrise and some wonderful prehistoric remains nearby (Cheesewring and The Hurlers) as well as a pub (The Cheesewring Hotel) which is a tiny bit ambience free but is very friendly and does good pub food.
Having lived near Land's End we knew about the carpark in Treen (St Levan). It's not really wild camping since the owners, John and Sheila, charge £4 a night but all you get is a fantastic view! Logan Rock Pub is almost next door but always busy so best to book ahead. On the return trip we stopped on the Somerset Levels at an RSPB reserve at Greylake. Another lovely quiet spot once the traffic stopped, and we saw a pair of Great Egrets which are v rare in this country. Heading towards East Anglia, the POIs seem to get a bit thinner: we found our own at a nature reserve near Ramsey. Another very quiet spot but it does have a lockable gate on the carpark so might be a bit tricky. Lots of dogwalkers though so I don't think it gets locked up often. Last night was in West Harling Woods east of Thetford, which is an area we know well. Very quiet and many places to stop. Again, lots of dogwalkers and horse-riders but lots of room too.
We are thoroughly bitten by the wild camping bug and can't wait to get going again. Sadly, I don't think this will be until the spring since time off work is at a premium. Our two berth AS Talisman did us proud although re-configuring the beds is a bit of a pain and turning the driver's chair round seems to need a different combination of tilt and swivel every time you do it! We knew the fridge was not working but shopping every day is fine and caused us no problems at all (maybe different in warmer weather...) and we had the occasional issue with the split charging which I think has now been sorted. One day, we think we might upgrade to an AS Amethyst, having seen one we really, really liked: more or less the same but just a bit more space and 'easier' beds.
We had good weather for most of the trip although the gales were 'interesting'. Even with the rear steadies down it was more like sleeping in a dinghy. We stayed at a couple of bigger sites and we won't be doing that again. We also used a couple of small 'CL' sites and they were much better, and useful/easy places to empty loos and fill with water. We haven't yet worked out how to do that when we're wild camping: any tips? Lastly, we met so many friendly people, which I am sure is not news to any of you. The live-aboard owner of Blodwyn at Avebury was lovely. The advice from the Autosleeper veteran at Treen was useful. And the waves from other vans as we drove past made us feel part of the tribe!
First night was in a small carpark on The Ridgeway just south of Wantage. Stunning views across Oxfordshire and a lovely place to stop: lots of dogwalkers but quietish once the road calmed down. We stayed on Salisbury Plain on a huge area of hard-standing beside the road near Tilshead. Again, very quiet: one other van which I don't think we disturbed at all since we could park so far away. Best place of the whole trip was Minions on the eastern edge of Bodmin Moor. I don't think you'd get there in anything much bigger than our van but a fantastic spot with distant views of Dartmoor, an epic sunrise and some wonderful prehistoric remains nearby (Cheesewring and The Hurlers) as well as a pub (The Cheesewring Hotel) which is a tiny bit ambience free but is very friendly and does good pub food.
Having lived near Land's End we knew about the carpark in Treen (St Levan). It's not really wild camping since the owners, John and Sheila, charge £4 a night but all you get is a fantastic view! Logan Rock Pub is almost next door but always busy so best to book ahead. On the return trip we stopped on the Somerset Levels at an RSPB reserve at Greylake. Another lovely quiet spot once the traffic stopped, and we saw a pair of Great Egrets which are v rare in this country. Heading towards East Anglia, the POIs seem to get a bit thinner: we found our own at a nature reserve near Ramsey. Another very quiet spot but it does have a lockable gate on the carpark so might be a bit tricky. Lots of dogwalkers though so I don't think it gets locked up often. Last night was in West Harling Woods east of Thetford, which is an area we know well. Very quiet and many places to stop. Again, lots of dogwalkers and horse-riders but lots of room too.
We are thoroughly bitten by the wild camping bug and can't wait to get going again. Sadly, I don't think this will be until the spring since time off work is at a premium. Our two berth AS Talisman did us proud although re-configuring the beds is a bit of a pain and turning the driver's chair round seems to need a different combination of tilt and swivel every time you do it! We knew the fridge was not working but shopping every day is fine and caused us no problems at all (maybe different in warmer weather...) and we had the occasional issue with the split charging which I think has now been sorted. One day, we think we might upgrade to an AS Amethyst, having seen one we really, really liked: more or less the same but just a bit more space and 'easier' beds.
We had good weather for most of the trip although the gales were 'interesting'. Even with the rear steadies down it was more like sleeping in a dinghy. We stayed at a couple of bigger sites and we won't be doing that again. We also used a couple of small 'CL' sites and they were much better, and useful/easy places to empty loos and fill with water. We haven't yet worked out how to do that when we're wild camping: any tips? Lastly, we met so many friendly people, which I am sure is not news to any of you. The live-aboard owner of Blodwyn at Avebury was lovely. The advice from the Autosleeper veteran at Treen was useful. And the waves from other vans as we drove past made us feel part of the tribe!
