To camp in random fields without permission in England

[feellikeahugefailure]

I'm thinking about doing a solo trip around Devon and Cornwall in a car. Campsites seem expensive, you have to book and often there aren't any where I need them

I've got a pop up tent.

Would it really be so bad to just pitch it at 9pm in some quiet field out of sight (and without animals) spend the night, then come 6am pack it up and move on?

Obviously I wouldn't litter or leave any sign that I was ever there.

I see this isn't the place for a grown up conversation on the idea of ownership.

Petulant teenager talk, dear.

Considering the farmer I'm thinking of, he'd hitch up his harrow just to run over your tent. He has a very, very short fuse. Ask him, however, and he'd probably invite you in for dinner.

Thinking of another landowner I know, you'd probably be shot when he lets his mates on to bag bunnies and pigeons.

Horrifyingly, a friend decided it was ok to walk her dog through a herd of cows with calves at foot. She needed a double hip replacement after being trampled. Cows are bloody dangerous when they have calves.

I did this hiking from Swindon to Bournemouth once. Walked all the way along the back roads through Wiltshire and Dorset. Took 5 days. We just pitched up at the edge of fallow fields, in woodland copses, recreation grounds, playing fields, etc. Half the fun was traipsing around finding somewhere to camp.

Beside which, ... have you heard the racket a combine or tractor makes in the dead quiet of 1am? Not to mention the lights. The ground will shake. Disclaimer: boyfriend was a farmer. I've been sat in an ear deafening midge and moth infested tractor at 2am on a summer night. They've got headlights like a supernova sunrise - they ain't going to miss a tent!

Also did this traveling around Cornwall. National Trust cliff top car parks. As long as you pitch after dark and decamp before the tourists arrive, nobody cares.

I'm a fabulous camper if I have a loo and a shower nearby, can get good coffee and the weather is nice. Then the campfire and tents are lovely. YA probably NBU, but your are a braver camper than I.

We wild camped all over Cornwall as teens. There are loads of non farmed scrappy bits of land where you won't be at risk of crazy farmers or livestock. I think your biggest problem would be parking your car rather than parking your tent.

We often camped just above beaches.

it never crossed my mind it could be dangerous. We hitched everywhere too. We didn't shower and we used pub or cafe toilets. I don't think we would have been too bothered if we had to poo al fresco but I wouldn't do that now.

Wild camping.. not legal, but its civil rather than criminal unless you actually damage something.

In a car, really, not that practical - the places you'd be able to discreetly camp, you wouldn't discreetly park a car anywhere near and its going to be a long old walk from where you can park a car.

On a bicycle, it is much more do-able and I know a couple of people who do this for two or three weeks every summer and are very discreet, very self contained and have only been shouted at a couple of times (neither occasion by a land owner but by dog walkers who thought they were homeless/rough sleepers).

You run the risk of - being shouted at, animals (cows are NOSY sods and horses are too both can be very dangerous even when just mucking about let alone frightened or feeling territorial) er and the general dangers of being in an isolated place on your own..

Whoever said the land owner is liable for any injury/damage etc to a trespasser/their property..

Not strictly true, the Occupiers Liability act was challenged, see Tomlinson v Congleton BC - the short version of that is, if the trespasser should have reasonably predicted the danger - ie, a field may contain large nosey animals that kick people/bite people, the occupier is NOT liable.

If however the trespasser could NOT have reasonably know the dangers - ie, your land has a concealed 100ft mineshaft or is filled with land mines and theres no warning signs indicating this and the trespassers gets his legs blown off or falls down a hole - the occupier IS liable.

S'all about reasonable, common sense, so you are not going to be successfully sued by the wild camper who gets trampled by your nosey horses.

I think it depends on the area, but I've done this before as have a few people I know. That said, I grew up in a wooded area where the land generally was unowned or just owned by council, or it was military training ground open to the public. Long and short - no one cared, the worst you would get is a grumpy squaddie falling over you at 5am on maneuvers.

That said, I did go for a picnic in what I thought was the woodland/civilization border and it turned out I was in someone's back garden, basically. And I fell asleep in the grass, and I got woken up by the police. So...yeah. Feel free to not listen to me. Even then though I just apologized, told them I didn't realize where I was, and was moved along. Not sure I'd want to camp there, though.

I think the gist is, if someone is gonna be annoyed don't do it, if no one cares go for it, and be ready with £20 and an apology if you annoy someone. Not always easy to predict, but works in theory.

Good luck with your trip and let us know either way :-D

On the interminable camping holidays of my youth, we used to go & find the farmhouse to ask. The vast majority were lovely and showed us where to pitch, a few charged us a couple of quid (but some threw in a cooked breakfast at the house) and one geezer chased us with a shotgun!

That was a long time ago, but I doubt much has changed. I think you should ask, unless you're on public land that's well-known for camping.

Dartmoor permits free camping for "a couple of nights", so that's some of your trip covered :)

Yabu.

Einna, love your story about someone's garden!

I once meandered into a gorgeous Maltese park with my lunch in a paper bag. After about quarter of an hour, a small but fearsome attachment of heavily-uniformed & armed guards arrived to usher me back out - it was the Presidential Palace garden and they were very upset I'd got in

Where on earth are you actually going by car that has no campsites?

OP you have given me some laughs! Sincerely hope you are accessing t'internet through a communal device in a non-owned/rented property (if can call it that as 'property is theft dontcha know' and agree with pp who says hope farmer uses the car in which you travel as a plough- I mean it's not YOURS is it...

Olennas. I think op just wants to save a few bob and make a point because she's thinks she's doing something really mature and meaningful. It seems she feels entitled to sleep anywhere as according to her, it is unfair anyone should own land. Quite how her disgruntled attitude sits with building all levels of infrastructure, including her house as well as feeding the population, I'm not sure.

It'd be weird if farmers didn't own their land. What if they decided to plant a load of potatoes in a nice looking bit of land then the next day another farmer decided that would be the perfect spot for their sheep? Then someone else rocks up and starts building a house there. It'd be chaos!

This thread should be moved to classics.

Hilarious! Hope you don't find any unmarked mineshafts

How can a human 'own' land. Who can prove their provenance without implicating themselves of theft? Too right I don't respect it.

I do have some sympathy with this argument, having done a lot of research in the past into both the levellers and the diggers, inspired by Billy Bragg's version of World Turned Upside Down. However the fact is we do now have a society in which people do own land and in most cases have bought it fairly. To decide you prefer the levellers system is basically theft now.
However I'm more than happy for you to practise what you preach OP so I'd like to just nip along and use your car cos it's not really fair it belongs to you. Just leave the keys in the ignition and pm me with directions. Cheers. Don't worry, my kids won't leave too many signs of the picnic they will have on the back seat.

agent provocateur it's entirely different in Scotland. The law is different regarding land ownership, and wild camping us permitted.

Oh, OP, you don't seem very clued up on what wild camping is or anything, really so just a word of advice: if you do decide to wild camp on Dartmoor, make sure you've checked the live firing times on the ranges before you go. I'm absolutely certain the military don't give a shit about your beliefs on land ownership.

You really shouldn't, obviously. Plenty do though.

Dh and I did it many, many times before we had dc...(in Wales though) would camp up in the Beacons, on beaches, (hidden) Countryside fields. We've got a picture of us about ten years ago, camped on a beach and using the 'no camping' signpost to hang our stuff off .

Dh and I did it many, many times before we had dc...(in Wales though) would camp up in the Beacons, on beaches, (hidden) Countryside fields. We've got a picture of us about ten years ago, camped on a beach and using the 'no camping' signpost to hang our stuff off blush.

Aha you see I wouldn't camp anywhere where it has a no camping sign. I live in a small place in Somerset and plenty do camp at this time of year, and many places have up no camping on the fence and people seem to respect those / or have been chased off.

*I blame William the Conqueror. Coming over here, killing our king and making ALL the land his. Then giving some to his mates. Who does he think he is?

If you look at the history of some big estates, it's interesting to see how the ancestors acquired them.*

It certainly is interesting, got any book recommendations?

I read a fascinating book on the indigenous Americans last year and how their issues with land tenure and how it conflicts with their culture.

Machikoro, I know it is. My response was really to all the people horrified at the thought of pooing outside etc (and all those who equate a garden with the wilderness!) Done properly, wild campers leave no trace of their presence and don't cause a nuisance.

Feellikeahugefailure (I'm sure you're not, BTW) if land ownership interests you, read The Poor Had No Lawyers; Who Owns Scotland by Andy Wightman, or check out some of his blogs.