Lost confidence

[Tookey]

Having been confined to home exclusively for the last three months with only a couple of days out, I have found myself losing the confidence to free camp. This feeling has been exacerbated by the stories of people in Wales and Cornwall and elsewhere actively and in some cases physically discouraging visitors.
I thought I would book a couple of days in a campsite but school holidays are upon us and campsites are already saying they are likely to be full.
I expect a couple of short trips locally might restore my confidence but I wondered if anyone else was feeling a little shaky.
I certainly won't be going abroad this year.

Unfortunately your base in Sussex isn't really ideal but there are plenty of places that are not within the boundaries of our busy National Parks and coastline, but still have a lot to offer that will remain quiet even with the surge of domestic holidaying which we will see. I am based in the Pennines which is good example, I am north of the Peaks and south of the Dale's and there are carparks here where you could wild camp without bother as there is no 'anti tourist' vibes as so few visit and locals would be uninterested in your presence. Best wishes

 

[Tookey]

I am new to this site so I might be wrong but I do get the impression that if you requested to spend your first night 'back out' at a location where another member is planning to stay you may well be welcomed along. I appreciate that two vehicles at the same wild camp site isn't ideal but maybe worth a try

 

[Nabsim]

And a myth spread by the media, and the great il informed.
And sadly within our own community as post 16 highlights in here.
Apparently only folk in campers fill carparks, and crap all over the place.

I think the myth is spread by motorhome and Campervan owners more than the media. You are more likely to see a pic of a Van doing something wrong on a forum or Facebook group than anywhere else I would suggest. We are our own worst enemies.

Locally the Monsal Trail opened up when they allowed car parks to open a few weeks ago. I was initially surprised to see the cafe open until I took a careful look. They have marked 2mtr spots for anyone queuing, one door you go to and order paying with contactless. They have a second door that now has a table they place your full filled order from. They have spread picnic benches around well spaced. Toilets were immediately opened with outer doors propped open and signs informing you what to do.
I have seen it working as intended with everyone respecting social distancing, there are bins so no rubbish.

I have friends who full time in vans and I keep seeing posts of locals using the car park for a smoke, a bit of courting, eating takeaways. Rubbish is once again being dropped all over. Luckily due to some vans being in place for weeks during the lockdown local walkers have gotten to know some van lifers and know they have been clearing the areas they are in not leaving any signs of themselves either.

The virus isn’t going away society needs to come to terms of life with it. All it has ever needed is common sense but it does seem in short supply.

To the original poster, nothing has changed for wilding, if it doesn’t feel right then don’t stay. If you want to book a site then do so and enjoy it

 

[Fisherman]

I think the myth is spread by motorhome and Campervan owners more than the media. You are more likely to see a pic of a Van doing something wrong on a forum or Facebook group than anywhere else I would suggest. We are our own worst enemies.

Could not agree more. Post 16 on here sums
up your point perfectly. Reading that post reminds me of councillor Colins video on here. Accept it’s worse because one of us posted it. It seems that we have less rights to park in the car park, and most of us empty our cassettes into a bush. Of course there are idiots amongst us, but they are a minority. But we always get bad press, which is bad enough from outside, but even worse from within.

 

[Fisherman]

My reason for bringing in the Bournemouth aspect was to try and show that we may be wrongly assuming that the spotlight is always shining big & large on the motorhome community. Lots of other, non-moho, people are also getting flack during this whole fiasco.

Robmac is right about the fact that our vehicles are easy to spot and therefore easy targets when it comes to the 'blame game'.
And the 'blame game' is rife just now with the media (in all its forms!) homing in on anything that is headline grabbing and negative.

They also love to 'big it up' to make things into an even more sensational or emotion-stirring story.
No mention of the fact that probably 99% of the country is going quietly about their business as best as they can - that's not newsworthy!

We just have to accept the fact that C-19 has f*****d us all up good and proper and there will be all sorts of backlashes and reactions not just now but in moving on.

But again, the decision about whether you want to overnight in true 'wild camping' mode is very much down to the individual.
It always was and hopefully always will be.

Extreme caution and keeping an even bigger low profile than before would seem to be the sensible way to go in the coming weeks and months?

I will be travelling to meets, which is a different ball game, but I am planning to make my stop offs with friends and family as I make my way across the country. Any overnight stops will all be on private property. Won't be parking up in any POIs in parts of the country I've never visited before any time soon, unless I get my route planning and timing wrong, or something untoward happens!

Fingers crossed I will be fine. Life is permanently full of risks, I won't be worrying too much.

I agree with Rob Marie. We will only be wild camping in august and in remote discreet locations in Scotland were there is no one living. We were considering Arran in September, but we have decided to wait till next year. The last year I did not visit Arran was 1986

 

[trevskoda]

No bother here though i did not sleep out,we did get waves from other folk in vans and by some walkers and people in our car park how seemed interested in the van,i do think folk will buy into van life for hols as easy way to stay safe.
Many are surprised when they find the loo is self contained and holds its contents,never mind all the cooking gear /fridge etc,most thought there were just beds in a van and thats why we are ment to go stay on c/sites for loo and showers etc,silly sods need to get out more and open there eyes.

 

[oppy]

No bother here though i did not sleep out,we did get waves from other folk in vans and by some walkers and people in our car park how seemed interested in the van,i do think folk will buy into van life for hols as easy way to stay safe.
Many are surprised when they find the loo is self contained and holds its contents,never mind all the cooking gear /fridge etc,most thought there were just beds in a van and thats why we are ment to go stay on c/sites for loo and showers etc,silly sods need to get out more and open there eyes.

Don't forget, Trev, we also tarmac drives too (with a bit that we have got left over from a job around the corner !!) as well as selling clothes pegs and lucky white heather

 

[jann]

For first time out, keep to a distance from home that you can drive back home comfortably. We will probably stick to Brit stops or CLs for first few times..

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I am new to this site so I might be wrong but I do get the impression that if you requested to spend your first night 'back out' at a location where another member is planning to stay you may well be welcomed along. I appreciate that two vehicles at the same wild camp site isn't ideal but maybe worth a try

This already happens between small groups of people who have gotten to know each other over the years, many of them originally via this website.

Like all private arrangements between friends, you won't necessarily see any info about it posted publicly on any social media, including this forum

 

[Fisherman]

yes we will welcome visitors when the rules designed to prevent / mitigate the spread of the virus are lifted, The issue at the moment is folk who decide that the rules don’t apply to them.
BTW. I live close to the car park and have provided water and waste disposal facilities to some of the camper vans and the surfers. I have even loaned one camper a spare bottle of gas.

on what basis do you make the statement ‘...your belief that we are the main problem around Covid 19’?

Your comment about us filling the carpark, annoys me more than any other part of your post.
We pay for that privilege the same as car drivers. If the car park is full of cars and one of us can't get in/
Would you highlight this, I very much doubt it.

I did not state that we are the main problem re Covid, I have stated exactly the opposite. People coming to your village staying in hotels, and B&Bs pose a much greater risk. But no doubt your village will welcome them before us.

Here is a video already posted on here from councillor Colin.
Sadly your post reminded me of this video.
And he did not mention human waste.
I know we have inconsiderate idiots amongst us, but they are a small minority.
Your post failed to indicate this.
I apologise if I come across as hard line, but I feel our community gets a very biased unfair press without us adding to it.

Well done for assisting people with their cassettes.
But to be honest, they should avoid requiring your help.
We always wild camp for only three nights before either going to a site, or a chemical waste point provided.

 

[antiquesam]

I think there comes a time when you have to decide what is important to you. Personally I'd rather take some risks rather than confine myself to sitting in four walls. Throughout I've walked the dog three times a day while keeping my distance. We've had a couple of away days in the van and today we went to the farmers market in Winchester. I was amazed at the organisation. Hand sanitiser at the entrance, a one way system and everyone keeping their distance. Similarly in the city centre orderly queues at the shops, the toilets were open, but it was difficult to keep two metres on some of the pinch points on the pavements. Roll on my first night out in the van, in 9 days time, since my fortnight in Scotland just before lockdown.
Life won't be worth living if it means bricking yourself in, but then, as I reach the three score and ten I'm coming to accept that the end will come sometime in the not too distant future.

 

[barge1914]

As we are still in lockdown the hotels,B&B and holiday homes are closed. That’s how it works.
The car park is next to the Cleveland way and I and others have seen the van occupants nipping over the fence with toilets rolls and seen the infamous cassette roses,

I really don’t see the relevance of the Bournemouth statements nor the assumptions you make about what I would think.

i have been campervanning (much of that free camping) since the late 70s so I’m fairly sure I’m on the right forum.

Are those doing the’nipping’ in small campers or in self-contained motorhomes. If you are slinging s**t we need facts, if either however give ‘em a broadside from me.

 

[barge1914]

Could not agree more. Post 16 on here sums
up your point perfectly. Reading that post reminds me of councillor Colins video on here. Accept it’s worse because one of us posted it. It seems that we have less rights to park in the car park, and most of us empty our cassettes into a bush. Of course there are idiots amongst us, but they are a minority. But we always get bad press, which is bad enough from outside, but even worse from within.

Most of us empty our cassettes in a bush...do you really mean that, or is it irony?

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I think there comes a time when you have to decide what is important to you. Personally I'd rather take some risks rather than confine myself to sitting in four walls. Throughout I've walked the dog three times a day while keeping my distance. We've had a couple of away days in the van and today we went to the farmers market in Winchester. I was amazed at the organisation. Hand sanitiser at the entrance, a one way system and everyone keeping their distance. Similarly in the city centre orderly queues at the shops, the toilets were open, but it was difficult to keep two metres on some of the pinch points on the pavements. Roll on my first night out in the van, in 9 days time, since my fortnight in Scotland just before lockdown.
Life won't be worth living if it means bricking yourself in, but then, as I reach the three score and ten I'm coming to accept that the end will come sometime in the not too distant future.

Ditto

(Apart from the slight age gap! )

The majority of people I've noticed on my very limited excursions outside have all been behaving extremely sensibly & well.
Plus anyone 'open for business' seems to have grasped the nettle and are doing their very best to cater for the C-19 situation.

Like I say, all the good and positive stuff just ain't sensational enough to be newsworthy.

 

[antiquesam]

Ditto

(Apart from the slight age gap! )

The majority of people I've noticed on my very limited excursions outside have all been behaving extremely sensibly & well.
Plus anyone 'open for business' seems to have grasped the nettle and are doing their very best to cater for the C-19 situation.

Like I say, all the good and positive stuff just ain't sensational enough to be newsworthy.

Oh you are awful, bringing up the age thing and all

 

[Deleted member 34243]

Are those doing the’nipping’ in small campers or in self-contained motorhomes. If you are slinging s**t we need facts, if either however give ‘em a broadside from me.

They are mainly but not exclusively the smaller vans.

 

[Pauljenny]

You don't have to go to the seaside.
Use the POI.s to find a nice quiet carpark, off the beaten track.
Don't stay too long.

 

[Fisherman]

Most of us empty our cassettes in a bush...do you really mean that, or is it irony?

Its me barge, the guy that tries to defend our good name, the only guy that has bothered to question post 16. Post 16 seems to suggest that plenty if not most of us were emptying cassettes inappropriately. I was highlighting post 16 not stating that most of us do this.

 

[Fisherman]

They are mainly but not exclusively the smaller vans.

The very vans that can get under the barriers put up to keep us out and to stop this. Anyone caught emptying a cassette inappropriately should be fined heavily.

 

[Deleted member 34243]

let me have one more go and clarifying my original post.

the majority of the post was about folk breaching some pretty simple and clear rules about ‘no overnighting’ During the lockdown

Your comment about us filling the carpark, annoys me more than any other part of your post
We pay for that privilege the same as car drivers. If the car park is full of cars and one of us can't get in/
Would you highlight this, I very much doubt

I may have mislead you by the phrase car park. We live on an eroding cliff edge. There are two tiny parking areas that are clearly marked Permit Holders Only (multiple signs). Given this situation and the lockdown, would you be happy to see campers / MH at any time, much less during a lockdown.
Slightly off point but someone asked me if I could move the van from my allocated parking slot as it spoiled their view from the cottage they had rented for a week.

I did not state that we are the main problem re Covid, I have stated exactly the opposite. People coming to your village staying in hotels, and B&Bs pose a much greater risk. But no doubt your village will welcome them before us.

when the lockdown is lifted all are and always have been welcome.

Here is a video already posted on here from councillor Colin.
Sadly your post reminded me of this video.
And he did not mention human waste.
I know we have inconsiderate idiots amongst us, but they are a small minority.
Your post failed to indicate this.
I apologise if I come across as hard line, but I feel our community gets a very biased unfair press without us adding to it.

the waste problem is unfortunately real. It has reached such a perceived state that the local council, NYM and the local landowner are actively seeking to trench / boulder the approach road and to barrier the public car park.
i know this, to the point of boredom, because of the number of folk from the adjoining village who will insist on telling me ‘your lot have Left some £$%^ again‘

Well done for assisting people with their cassettes.
But to be honest, they should avoid requiring your help.
We always wild camp for only three nights before either going to a site, or a chemical waste point provided.

the wild camping (and my house). is at the top of quite a long 1:4 hill and if I see them trotting down the hill with the cassette I offer access to our disposal point. Not needed but just a gesture I would appreciate if I was in the same situation.