Camping in the UK

Warlord_1011

Warlord_1011

Warlord_1011

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I was wondering are there areas in the UK what allow free camping, with access to water supplies, small scale hunting, also including open camp fires? (you should get the general Idea)


i was inspired by the idea of the Wildernesses in the US, where you can catch your own food make your own little campsites etc but in the UK.

anyone have any ideas?

and i know that the UK isnt exactly a inhospitable place but id like to put certain skills i have sort of learnt into practice in the field..
 
I'm not sure where you can do that. I think the easiest way to think of, is to get permission from a land owner/farmer asking for the above things.
 
if you went upto the highlands in scotland or the brecon beacons?

you cant really get much closer to nature then that ;)

just make sure you tell people where you are going,
in case something goes BOO in the night :p
 
There are loads of places you can wild camp for free. Most/all the national parks allow you to do this (with some strings attached) however open fires and hunting will probably be very frowned upon.

Unfortunately we don't have the same space as the US which means that every piece of land is kept meticulusly.
 
Legally you can only camp without the land owners permission in dartmoor and scotland, but realistically if you are high up, away from paths and don't leave any rubbish / don't light fires you will be left be.

Catching your own food may be a bad idea even in scotland, they call it poaching, we have no real wilderness in the UK.
 
Hard to say about 'free camping', but I'd suspect if you left no signs of your nights camp behind in the morning, some landowners would not be upset by that. On the other hand, if you're crossing privately owned land and deviate from a marked right of way, then you may have some explaining to do.
Also, 'living off the land' is considered poaching - especially if it's privately owned*... so fishing, trapping, hunting small game animals (even pest species like rabbits) could attract prosecution and a large fine.
Most folk that I know who do the ray mears thing, do so on land that they have permission to use for those purposes, or they own the land themselves.

If you had to stop for the night because you had not reached your destination for the evenings campsite (proper campsite) then I don't think there's be a problem with you bedding down for the night and leaving nothing behind to show you'd been there eg making a fire/shelter off the land.

Generally the UK does not have enough 'wilderness' to make what you propose easy or sensible - there's not much in the way of 'game' to be had on open moorland or high fells... examples of which are the peak district, the lake district and the scottish highlands.

Not much choice here in blighty tbh - too many people and not enough land, all of which belongs to somebody.

* these days even 'public' land is effectively private when it comes to hunting/fishing/trapping etc as most of it is owned by organisations like the national trust.
 
I don't think you can really be catching anything wild to eat, aside from maybe rabbits or birds like pigeons or pheasants. That said, to do so requires traps or a gun and it would obviously be up to the land owner, I'd imagine most campsites would be a no-no.

I'm not sure whether there would be anywhere that you could go about killing deer, which is probably the only real wild animal that you would want to properly use for subsistence.
 
Telescopi said:
Catching your own food may be a bad idea even in scotland, they call it poaching, we have no real wilderness in the UK.
Click to expand...

In Scotland, I don't think anyone would mind if you take the odd rabbit for tea, especially if you're in the middle of nowhere. Plus if you're on the coast there's a whole sea larder just waiting to be eaten, if you know what you're doing - Limpets are particularly nice cooked on the fire, a tad chewy though :p
 
Wild camping is generally accepted above 600m in the Lakes and in Snowdonia, but you can still be asked to move on by the land owner. Most other places are a bit tricky. As said before, the only places where it's legal are Scotland and Dartmoor.

I'd strongly advise against wild camping in most of the other National Parks. Open fires are a definite no-no too.
 
Don't forget - if you are thinking of (shooting) as your hunting.

You need permission to shoot on private land. You can only take your gun onto land over which you have permission to shoot, regardless of whether you intend to shoot it or not. If you trespass with your gun you are committing the offence of 'armed trespass' - this offence carries a maximum penalty of 3 months in prison and or a £2500 fine.

It's also an offence if your bullets/pellets leave the boundary of the said land - and you can't shoot less than 15m from a highway.

Also : It is a serious offence to kill or injure any bird or protected animal with an airgun unless you are a person 'authorised' under the wildlife and countryside act 1981.
 
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Some nice places around Kielder water (specifically the forest), a couple of marked rough camp areas (i.e. a stick with a logo on it stuck on the edge of a clearing :D)

Nice thing about Kielder forest is its man-made, so there are less restrictions as it isn't protected per se.

Aside from that, see if you can find a rough camp guide. Though I think you'll struggle with the hunting aspect.
 
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