Camping dilemma since fire alert

Seen reference to other sites with a no naked flame policy. If people asked they were told it applied to Cadac and similar gas barbecues.

If you didn't ask and just used it no action taken.

Did you go OP and if so how was it?

And lose the deposit for something not her fault ? Why do you think OP should give in to the campsite who clearly know they are wrong /

Yes this 100%. Did you pay by credit card? If so ask them to reverse the payment as you are not getting what you signed up for..

We forget that Scotland and the north of England have not had the months of next to no rain in the south.

In the lakes a week ago we had a night's worth of 'stair rods' albeit followed by four days almost cloud free.

Not sure where you are going, but there is a campsite in the Scottish borders allowing fire pits (using their pits & fuel) or your own usual stove /cooking

You can purchase a USB kettle which will boil off your car battery and give you hot drinks. You could also get Chilly Bottles which keep hot water hot for 12 hours (and they really do) and get them filled at a cafe for a nominal cost. Cold food in hot weather is fine, you'll not die for not having a hot meal for a few days. Go and be inventive.

People cant always change the dates though. OP might have booked time off work, the kids might be booked into other things on the other weeks etc. She said this was their only holiday so maybe just wanted to talk it through and come up with a way to manage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VOBOR-Car-Electric-Kettle-Stainless/dp/B0BTD1NQ8S/ref=asc_df_B0BTD1NQ8S?mcid=8859190ad69639d1897a7e028c46d388&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697238879038&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12937723788511041877&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9209553&hvtargid=pla-2197269456423&psc=1&hvocijid=12937723788511041877-B0BTD1NQ8S-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1

This sort of kettle to be run off car cigarette charger looks good.
We usually take lots of pain au chocolates for breakfast when camping. Sorry op - sounds difficult but would also look at noodles etc things to cook with boiling water from a kettle.

A deposit for a campsite will not be a lot. I repeat, just change the dates.

Unusual choice you made there, given that I have never ever heard of French campsites banning camping stoves, and that they are usually full of French people enjoying lavish dinners they have cooked on gas stoves and BBQS.

But you do you I suppose 🤷‍♀️

The link I saw was about the Forestry Commission's camping in the forest offer.

I suspect they've gone for the 'thick red lines' approach of just saying no rather than getting in debates over how one might manage a gas stove safely.

The link is about the whole of the New Forest, not one particular campsite. I assume (could be wrong I guess) that it’s the parks authority that looks after the NF that has set these rules and the campsites within it will have to follow them?

I said myself I'm going camping next week. You must surely know that eating cold baked beans and cold tinned spaghetti wouldn't be acceptable to most people. We're outdoorsy people friends with lots of other outdoorsy people and that's not something anyone I know would even consider. Most people who go camping, unless carrying their stuff hiking or whatever, enjoy little treats like coffees. As you say it's a holiday and for most people that would mean food that is at least as pleasant (or close to it) as what they could eat at home.

Having said that, I wasn't trying to upset anyone and I'm sorry if I did. I just felt your suggestions were quite extreme.

Do you really need to drag me down for making suggestions? Take the piss out of my main holiday? Couldn't just add your own ideas?

This. It substantially alters the holiday offered and paid for, so they should be offering refunds. Which is probably why they’re not answering emails.

I can't believe some people are not taking the fire risk seriously and feel so entitled that they think having being able to cook their own meals and make their own coffee is more important than the risk of setting fire to trees, fields and buildings and giving the overstretched fire service more work than they can handle. I spent two months each summer for three years camping in France without taking a camping stove and with hardly a hot meal in the entire time. I got coffee in cafes, but only after I had cycled to them in the morning, then lived on their fabulous bread and cheese. Surely wherever you are going cannot be that far from a garage or shop or cafe. Get a grip and resolve to take on the challenge. Kids love an adventure. Either that or stay home and be miserable.

I'm in the South and not anywhere near New Forest. Contacted the campsite (in Sussex) we are going to next weekend to double check exactly what we can use. My T2 probably won't be finished in time (having a lot of work done on it to get it to MOT standard), so we'll use tents. I've got a Trangia and a Cobb Pro, so double checking with the site if we can use these. No EHU at the site, but I'm lucky enough to have a good setup for leisure battery and solar (like OP, camping is our main holiday method!), along with a small low wattage travel kettle. We're doing 5 nights, and I'll have 3 teens to cater for! Takeaways would be prohibitively expensive, so I normally pre-make/cook and freeze meals in advance. I'm brainstorming alternatives that I can use with my leisure battery setup whilst I wait to hear back: bringing my IP, getting a Wonderbag, looking at low wattage grills/hobs (would be used when we go to EHU places)...

I completely understand the rules in place, but I would have thought that OP's campsite would have put in some suitable alternatives to help the campers who are using the site. Really hope you can figure something OP. The rules are very understandable but I know how tricky it can be to sort catering with several days camping if you aren't able to heat things up easily.

Nothing screams holiday like cold tinned food and squash

the @SaturdayGiraffe isn’t on the run in the 1950’s

I would probably take an empty flask and ask someone in a campervan/motorhome if you can have a flask of hot water for drinks as they will just have a kettle to boil water like we do in our caravan.

My dd, her family and large group of friends are in this situation and they are all putting their heads together to cater for bank holiday weekend. I live close to the New Forest and I absolutely agree with the ban. Imagine a fire on a camp site like the ones in the New forest doesn’t bear thinking about.
treat it as an adventure.

Just returned from Northumberland. It was cold at night, so we used hot water bottles. Beautiful scenery; definitely no fire alerts there.

Does the sight have no electric hook ups at all? I would give them a chance - they are
probably being inundated with questions and they can’t reply to everyone at once.

Hopefully they can sort a shared electric supply so people can boil a kettle/use an electric hot plate - they may even decide to provide these 2 things to be shared by the campers (which could be messy or could mean you make lots of new friends!)

We are camping this weekend and have obviously not had a campfire since the alert. We have a gas stove on legs, where the flame is enclosed within a bowl, so have used that. It's surrounded by water so if knocked, it would go out. The definition of a naked flame is 'any visible, exposed fire or flame that is completely out in the open and not enclosed, shielded, or protected by a glass, metal mesh, or other barrier.' you cannot see the flame at all in our stove. It would be tricky with no cooking facilities at all, I would look at a kettle I could plug into the car, then it opens up a few options. I think it's a challenge but would probably still go.
Lots of campsites have no shared facilities other than showers, so I don't think that's too unusual. I do like the facility to refreeze ice blocks though, it's really hard having to shop everyday!
Edited for typos.