Cemetery's gates to close overnight

I guess if looking at it from that point of view I can understand why it would be frowned upon, but still don't see it as disrespectful. Many people have a genuine interest in the history that can be seen upon the headstones, and I enjoy a wander around too. My daughter had me parked up outside the public swimming pool in Fort William during our summer wander as she spent a couple of hours in a cemetery across the road. She has a lot of interest in old headstones.

Oh yes, & I Agree,,,
I can remember going to a few Grave stones of interest to me in my Youth and producing a Wax crayon rubbing or two. Even now I Have & Still Do visit ALL sorts of historic Buildings, (Churches amongst them) spending HRS wandering around.
I Guess its just that by the very nature of our Lifestyle, Our Vehicles are MUCH more recognizable and therefore attract MUCH more interest & Sometimes criticisms than maybe an Astra parked a few bays away, Even if they are changing a Wheel or doing a repair at the time..its not fair, But I think its Fact.
 
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Oh yes, & I Agree,,,
I can remember going to a few Grave stones of interest to me in my Youth and producing a Wax crayon rubbing or two. Even now I Have & Still Do visit ALL sorts of historic Buildings, (Churches amongst them) spending HRS wandering around.
I Guess its just that by the very nature of our Lifestyle, Our Vehicles are MUCH more recognizable and therefore attract MUCH more interest & Sometimes criticisms than maybe an Astra parked a few bays away, Even if they are changing a Wheel or doing a repair at the time..its not fair, But I think its Fact.

Yes, as you say, most MH's are conspicuous by there very size, happily mine just looks like a bog standard SWB low roof Trafic. I will say though, that the greatest majority of the general public would look upon a MH as being a bit of a status symbol which would/should speak volumes about the integrity of the people who belong to it. But of course, as in all walks of life, there is bound to be the odd bad penny who spoils that impression by their poor behaviour, but the chances are that the majority of the general public would assume ownership rather than the high number of rentals. I'm inclined to believe that it is the rental contingent that cause most of the problems through sheer thoughtlessness.
 
Please don't take this personally, but have you considered that you maybe feel more strongly or are more sensitive about the general public's conception of motor homers as a result of being a full timer?

I know that from an early age I always have had the tendency to frown upon the bad behaviour of others who indulge in my chosen hobby/sport/vocation etc.

That particular bias of my own is why I deplore bad drivers, ill manners, and a whole lot of other pre-judgements that I mentally heap upon ignoramuses in all walks of life.
 
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Please don't take this personally, but have you considered that you maybe feel more strongly or are more sensitive about the general public's conception of motor homers as a result of being a full timer?

I know that from an early age I always have had the tendency to frown upon the bad behaviour of others who indulge in my chosen hobby/sport/vocation etc.

That particular bias of my own is why I deplore bad drivers, ill manners, and a whole lot of other pre-judgements that I mentally heap upon ignoramouses in all walks of life.

YES, Absolutely I do, No question about it Matey.
 
YES, Absolutely I do, No question about it Matey.

We appear to be a couple of peas in a pod ... something I suspected for quite a while ...

I have a bit of a strange quirk ... They say that first impressions are lasting impressions and I believe that to be true. But I often find that, when I form the initial impression of someone being a bit "out of the box" it often turns out that i have a lot in common with them and thay usually turn out to be people who are very similar to myself.
 
Yep, With you on that.
Its a cherished 'Life Skill' I have too. But i find it doesn't appear to work on women !
 
We appear to be a couple of peas in a pod ... something I suspected for quite a while ...

I have a bit of a strange quirk ... They say that first impressions are lasting impressions and I believe that to be true. But I often find that, when I form the initial impression of someone being a bit "out of the box" it often turns out that i have a lot in common with them and thay usually turn out to be people who are very similar to myself.

Get a room !
 
I wild camp regularly in a cemetery in Manchester, at the the cemetery keepers invitation. I do not think it is disrespectful, in the slightest.

Obviously, I have prior permission and take care to leave, not a trace. I also do a little litter sweep , for rubbish that has been dropped by others, or simply blown there.

I do hope this post does not cause offence to anyone but I do think there opportunities, to be taken.

A good example, at a recent Mini Meet at Botany Bay, on the last (official )day one of our members, lets call him 'Roger' picked up a bin bag to litter sweeps (none of the litter was from any Wild Camper, btw) In no time, he was joined by many others and bags were filled, collected and disposed of.

Wild Camping then received a very nice email and an invitation to return, anytime.

What is the link ?

Well I will leave that for you all to ponder
 
I wild camp regularly in a cemetery in Manchester, at the the cemetery keepers invitation. I do not think it is disrespectful, in the slightest.

Obviously, I have prior permission and take care to leave, not a trace. I also do a little litter sweep , for rubbish that has been dropped by others, or simply blown there.

I do hope this post does not cause offence to anyone but I do think there opportunities, to be taken.

A good example, at a recent Mini Meet at Botany Bay, on the last (official )day one of our members, lets call him 'Roger' picked up a bin bag to litter sweeps (none of the litter was from any Wild Camper, btw) In no time, he was joined by many others and bags were filled, collected and disposed of.

Wild Camping then received a very nice email and an invitation to return, anytime.

What is the link ?

Well I will leave that for you all to ponder

We always try to leave a camp cleaner than we find it.... we even have a litter picker thingy on board.
what we collect is deposited in the first layby bin we find.

seems like the least we can do in return for a free camping spot.
 
I wild camp regularly in a cemetery in Manchester, at the the cemetery keepers invitation. I do not think it is disrespectful, in the slightest.

Obviously, I have prior permission and take care to leave, not a trace. I also do a little litter sweep , for rubbish that has been dropped by others, or simply blown there.

I do hope this post does not cause offence to anyone but I do think there opportunities, to be taken.

A good example, at a recent Mini Meet at Botany Bay, on the last (official )day one of our members, lets call him 'Roger' picked up a bin bag to litter sweeps (none of the litter was from any Wild Camper, btw) In no time, he was joined by many others and bags were filled, collected and disposed of.

Wild Camping then received a very nice email and an invitation to return, anytime.

What is the link ?

Well I will leave that for you all to ponder

Hi ya,
I think the 'Disrespectful' Comment thingamajig that some made came about more in reference to the OVER use & Thinking its their personal Site by Staying for Days on end & all that entails as the OP suggests. lets assume its things like Someone Hogging or using the Water Tap for a while to Fill up the Tanks on the Motorhome, Filling up the Rubbish bins, Heaven knows about the disposal of Toilet waste & Whatever els. Not so much for staying in a Cemetery or Church Yard occasionally or overnight. Could be wrong though.
 
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graveyards are usually very peaceful places to spend a night, apart from the wildlife which makes their homes there, finding these places a good place to avoid humans . i imagine they'd be a good place to have a thermal imaging camera
 
round where i live nothings left unlocked at night,it's also probably close to a mile before any parking can be had without cpz's.luckily i'm off down the a303 tomorrow,
seasons greetings,one and all.
jan
 
I wild camp regularly in a cemetery in Manchester, at the the cemetery keepers invitation. I do not think it is disrespectful, in the slightest.

Obviously, I have prior permission and take care to leave, not a trace. I also do a little litter sweep , for rubbish that has been dropped by others, or simply blown there.

I do hope this post does not cause offence to anyone but I do think there opportunities, to be taken.

A good example, at a recent Mini Meet at Botany Bay, on the last (official )day one of our members, lets call him 'Roger' picked up a bin bag to litter sweeps (none of the litter was from any Wild Camper, btw) In no time, he was joined by many others and bags were filled, collected and disposed of.

Wild Camping then received a very nice email and an invitation to return, anytime.

What is the link ?

Well I will leave that for you all to ponder

This is something that is regularly organised by geocachers ... it even has a logo, virtual badges (souvenirs) for those that join in and is called a CITO cache or meet ... CITO being an acronym for Cache In, Trash Out. Usually organised by a local with the object of the exercise being a good tidy up of local woodland, ponds, canal bank, etc. You name it and someone will have cleaned it as a CITO event and this goes on worldwide.
 
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You would have no chance of overnighting at our local cemetery. The local gypsies would see to that!

They feel VERY strongly about respect being shown for the dead, (as do I). They regularly kick out gangs of teenagers who congregate there at night.

One of them spoke to me when stuff was stolen from my sons grave. You do not want to know what he would have done to the thieves if he got hold of them.
 
You would have no chance of overnighting at our local cemetery. The local gypsies would see to that!

They feel VERY strongly about respect being shown for the dead, (as do I). They regularly kick out gangs of teenagers who congregate there at night.

One of them spoke to me when stuff was stolen from my sons grave. You do not want to know what he would have done to the thieves if he got hold of them.

I just don't consider it dis-respectful to wander through the stones soaking up the obvious love and sentiment that people held for their loved ones and chose to share these sentiments through the inscriptions and sometimes ornate memorial. Personally I find this usually results in a wonderfully fulfilling sense of peace and tranquility within myself, but reminding me of my own mortality and smallness in this world.

The fact that I am a MH'er who might choose (which I personally wouldn't, as said before, I'd find it too creepy) to stopover at the location is happenstance. Nothing in the least dis-respectful about it, if anything I'd probably feel, and act, more reverent in the location.
 
I just don't consider it dis-respectful to wander through the stones soaking up the obvious love and sentiment that people held for their loved ones and chose to share these sentiments through the inscriptions and sometimes ornate memorial. Personally I find this usually results in a wonderfully fulfilling sense of peace and tranquility within myself, but reminding me of my own mortality and smallness in this world.

The fact that I am a MH'er who might choose (which I personally wouldn't, as said before, I'd find it too creepy) to stopover at the location is happenstance. Nothing in the least dis-respectful about it, if anything I'd probably feel, and act, more reverent in the location.

I'm not saying don't visit cemeteries Ron. But to my mind it is a place of grieving and remembrance. I can't think of anything which would wind up the locals more than somebody holidaying where they go to remember their loved ones.

I just don't think we do ourselves any favours by staying in such locations. I know for a fact that there is a lot of anger at our local cemetery because cars park there when they are shopping rather than visiting.
 
I'm not saying don't visit cemeteries Ron. But to my mind it is a place of grieving and remembrance. I can't think of anything which would wind up the locals more than somebody holidaying where they go to remember their loved ones.

I just don't think we do ourselves any favours by staying in such locations. I know for a fact that there is a lot of anger at our local cemetery because cars park there when they are shopping rather than visiting.

I guess I can sympathise with those that feel this way and I do respect everyone's feeling on the subject, but I tend to look upon it as showing respect by spending some time acknowledging the passing of my own loved ones and acknowledging other's similar sentiments. Which is why I visit my mother's grave site even after 30 years. Yes, I don't like to see the disregard shown by litter louts and such, but I have no objections to people enjoying the location for their own purposes, although I would assume that they possibly held similar sentiments to my own. I'd welcome them to stay, within reason of course, but that would vary from person to person depending upon our own sense of decency and propriety.

In the case of the cemetery my mother is interred in, it would take several days to explore the entire area as it is huge. I still occasionally get lost trying to find my way in and out and that is after 30 years of practice! Many of my dearest friends have now departed but their families believed in cremation rather than internment and I feel that is a greater loss as I cannot show my remembrance of them by visiting.

I guess we all just have to accept that it's a very personal choice and agree to dis-agree on the fact we have differing opinions.
 

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