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Original poster

Camping dilemma since fire alert

391 replies

SaturdayGiraffe · 15/08/2026 07:27

Off camping next week but been told no cooking stoves allowed now - so no hot water, no hot food.
There’s no pub or shops nearby either.

The site is saying we are inside 14 day cancellation so they are charging to move the dates back and we’ll lose full amount if we go elsewhere (although not even sure where else since the phone alert).

Camping with kids, with no hot food or drink - would you do it?

Does anyone know a site where we could cook still?

OP posts:
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11
Gengha · 15/08/2026 13:19

Morepositivemum · 15/08/2026 12:10

Sandwiches and cereal and goodies would do the job surely? We had to go a week without electricity in the storm last year

Fine but this is someone’s booked holiday and precious time off work. Most people don’t want to just make do and rough it

forthelasttim · 15/08/2026 13:17

I'm old enough to remember the miners strike with no gas or electricity in the home and somehow my mum fed us.

I wouldn't miss a camping trip unless I got a full refund. Cereal, yoghurt, fruit, sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. If I could afford to eat out in a pub/restaurant every evening I would but otherwise it would be different sandwiches for dinner. It's not forever.

thelegacyofdragons · 15/08/2026 13:09

LakieLady · 15/08/2026 13:03

This made me laugh. But wouldn't you still need to pee?

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Bring lots of champagne, then you’d need to at least pee. 🍾⛺️🚽

crackofdoom · 15/08/2026 13:08

I have proper coffee from my Italian moka pot every day when I'm camping! It's one of the reasons why I had such a visceral reaction to the prospect of an (imaginary) camping stove ban. You will prise my coffee pot from my cold dead hands.

thelegacyofdragons · 15/08/2026 13:06

Rpop · 15/08/2026 12:45

You’re nicer than me 😂
they are good suggestions.
I need proper coffee and Egyptian cotton 😂

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So do I.

I am such a hotel snob it’s embarrassing. 😂

penelopepocket · 15/08/2026 13:05

MrsBatshitRatshit · 15/08/2026 12:36

Why not just have cold food? It's not really much of a hardship in this weather.

How much enjoyable cold food also doesn’t require a fridge, though?

LakieLady · 15/08/2026 13:03

Rpop · 15/08/2026 10:40

If I had to eat food like this for more than a day, let’s just say I wouldn’t even need a camping toilet. My insides would stop working!! I personally wouldn’t go on a holiday if I couldn’t cook / easily eat out…..

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This made me laugh. But wouldn't you still need to pee?

PuzzlingRecluse · 15/08/2026 12:53

Tableforjoan · 15/08/2026 12:45

We are planning on getting a caravan at some point this year I might need the details. Since we can then go off grid with solar.

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It’s cocos wild camp in llandindrod wells - amazing views ❤️

Edenmum2 · 15/08/2026 12:46

assuming you’ll be out and about in the daytime so can’t you just try and have a good lunch out every day and then cold stuff for dinner?

freely admit I don’t know what I’m taking about though, camping is my idea of hell.

Tableforjoan · 15/08/2026 12:45

PuzzlingRecluse · 15/08/2026 12:42

My favourite is a massive farm, composting toilets, bring your own drinking water, no electric or shop for miles - it’s heaven

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We are planning on getting a caravan at some point this year I might need the details. Since we can then go off grid with solar.

Rpop · 15/08/2026 12:45

thelegacyofdragons · 15/08/2026 12:26

😂 True. If Armageddon only lasts for three days. It would probably only take one tbf.

Camping is not for me but OP is determined to go, so just a few suggestions that would work.

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You’re nicer than me 😂
they are good suggestions.
I need proper coffee and Egyptian cotton 😂

crackofdoom · 15/08/2026 12:44

PuzzlingRecluse · 15/08/2026 12:42

My favourite is a massive farm, composting toilets, bring your own drinking water, no electric or shop for miles - it’s heaven

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Blimey, at least mine boasts a tap. Luxury! 😆

PuzzlingRecluse · 15/08/2026 12:42

crackofdoom · 15/08/2026 12:12

Probably- I suspect- people who have never camped.

Some of these suggestions are making me hoot. "Surely there's a Dominoes nearby...just get an EHU...just get Reception to fill you up a flask...." My favourite campsite is a field in the middle of Dartmoor, and boasts a toilet and a tap. The farmer turns up every evening for his tenner in cash 😆

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My favourite is a massive farm, composting toilets, bring your own drinking water, no electric or shop for miles - it’s heaven

JulietteHasAGun · 15/08/2026 12:38

penelopepocket · 15/08/2026 12:35

But it’s the campsite saying no cooking stoves allowed. So yes they could take one then get chucked out for breaking the rules.

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I’d cook inside the tent with good ventilation and my back to the open door and hope they don’t notice. Pitch the tent carefully so if you have a side door it’s put away from any throughfare and have that open.

Missingducks · 15/08/2026 12:37

Pimm's and pringles for a week sounds bliss

Ineffable23 · 15/08/2026 12:37

penelopepocket · 15/08/2026 12:35

But it’s the campsite saying no cooking stoves allowed. So yes they could take one then get chucked out for breaking the rules.

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And if the campsite has chosen to make a material change to the contract after booking, they need to offer the OP a refund.

Owninterpreter · 15/08/2026 12:37

JulietteHasAGun · 15/08/2026 12:27

Completely agree. I’d take a stove, use it on a suitable unit and carry on. I’ve camped for over 30 years doing this including in hotter and drier conditions on the continent with no issues.

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But if the campsite has said no it doesnt really matter what you have done elsewhere. Its thier land and they have chosen to say we saw the alert and think this is a risk, so no camping stoves. They might change thier mind on reflection but it us up to them.

MrsBatshitRatshit · 15/08/2026 12:36

Why not just have cold food? It's not really much of a hardship in this weather.

penelopepocket · 15/08/2026 12:35

JulietteHasAGun · 15/08/2026 12:27

Completely agree. I’d take a stove, use it on a suitable unit and carry on. I’ve camped for over 30 years doing this including in hotter and drier conditions on the continent with no issues.

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But it’s the campsite saying no cooking stoves allowed. So yes they could take one then get chucked out for breaking the rules.

MrsSlocombesCat · 15/08/2026 12:34

PuzzlingRecluse · 15/08/2026 07:53

I agree with others for a weekend I think I could make it work, but I couldn’t do longer, I can’t afford to eat out daily & wouldn’t want a week of cold food & no coffee in morning.

Im camping bank holiday weekend & hoping to use my gas stove (off ground, supervised, with fire blanket) as the site has no electric.

its hard going all round. For a week I’d take the hit & move my dates if I could

This is literally playing with fire. I hope it rains that weekend.

Airyfaerie · 15/08/2026 12:33

You can get kettles that plug into your car via USB. Also food warmers/coolers. I'd probably be eating lots of salads and sandwiches etc in this heat anyway!

thelegacyofdragons · 15/08/2026 12:31

Don’t you get fined in the UK? Where I live one of my neigbours had a fine or 2K for having a bbq in his garden a few years ago when there was a ban (with a big pool next to it filled with water).

LakieLady · 15/08/2026 12:30

watchingthishtread · 15/08/2026 09:18

You've lost the money whether you go or not. If you think you can still have a good time then go but if you think it'll ruin your holiday why pay for a horrible week away? You'd be better off paying not to go.

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If there was no way of even making a cuppa, I wouldn't go, I'm afraid.

I absolutely cannot function without several mugs of tea in the morning, and being able to boil a kettle would at least give you an option of cuppa soup and sandwiches now and again rather than eating out.

JulietteHasAGun · 15/08/2026 12:27

crackofdoom · 15/08/2026 12:20

Yes, I double checked the wording of the emergency alert. People are urged not to "undertake any activities that could cause fires", and disposable BBQs, firepits, garden incinerators and fireworks are mentioned.

I don't see how a gas cooker, off the ground, that is by its nature constantly monitored while on and goes rapidly cold when switched off, constitutes a risk.

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Completely agree. I’d take a stove, use it on a suitable unit and carry on. I’ve camped for over 30 years doing this including in hotter and drier conditions on the continent with no issues.

thelegacyofdragons · 15/08/2026 12:26

Rpop · 15/08/2026 10:52

This sounds like prep for Armageddon, not a holiday.

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😂 True. If Armageddon only lasts for three days. It would probably only take one tbf.

Camping is not for me but OP is determined to go, so just a few suggestions that would work.