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Places to explore/wildcamp

Woodlander

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Iniel the new year I'm going to do my best to go and wildcamp new places. So on the back of that I thought I would start a thread where people could recommend places that folk should visit. A couple of places I am planning to go is Grimes Graves, Cheddar Gorge, New Forest, Forest of Dean to name a few. Where would you go and why?
 
Am currently looking for a new place to camp, searching google earth at the moment, few potential spots for next year, unfortunately there not as wild as I would like 😁
 
I continue to explore the North Yorkshire Coast , next year to spend more time in the lakes and into Northumbria .
 
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I may be wrong, but I would consider the places you named as places to visit, rather than wild camp. Of course at certain times of the year it's a little quieter but places like Grimes Graves can be like Trafalgar Square at times, and I've seen traffic queues in the New forest when the Ponies wander up the road.
A few winters years back I spent some time in the Forest of Dean, but I camped on a farm site as a base for exploring the beautiful Wye Valley.
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I am sure there are places to wild camp there, but I needed somewhere safe to leave my tent because I crossed into Monmouthsire a few times and had a totter round the Welsh Mountains, bivvied out and came back to the forest the next day.
It was cold in the forest but obviously more sheltered than up in the mountains.
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January, and most days I met people out on mountain bikes or walking the forest rides.
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Met a few of the Rangers who patrol the forest too. They have a culling programme of the numerous Wild Boar that live there. I stumbled across these remains one day.
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The Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean are well worth a visit. As to wild camping... local knowledge would be useful otherwise you could find yourself challenged by a Ranger or even a school party on their way to visit some of the strange folk who live in the forest...
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A lot of places are busier than you would expect but there are a few places in Powys where you may not see anyone else all day if you put a little bit of effort into getting off the main trails. Over the Christmas holidays some of the quiet places that I normally frequent with the dogs were absolutely seething with people out walking off their gluttony ....sometimes I saw as many as six people in a day!
If you are talking about very low profile camping with no smoke or fires then most people are far too dozy to notice you anyway. Most rangers keep office hours so pitching your camp late and moving on early (leaving no trace) will mean that you're less likely to disturb them with your presence. There is a lot of good advice on this forum in other threads on how to avoid conflict with landowners. As a landowner one thing I would recommend is to have an obvious legitimate purpose such as bird watching or following a national hiking trail such as the coast to coast or Wye valley walk, it's also a bad idea to be seen wandering around with an axe, saw or fixed blade unless you have explicit permission.
 
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I know I'm preaching to the converted here, but someone should point out that it is still against the law to Wild Camp in England , Wales and N Ireland without the Landowners permission. (Dartmoor being the exception)
There are certain areas where the wardens and rangers actively seek out wild campers, destroy there kit and see them off the premises. Just something to be aware of.
There is a website called Nearly Wild Camping that has a list of landowners who allow it for a fee of course.
 
There are certain areas where the wardens and rangers actively seek out wild campers, destroy there kit and see them off the premises. Just something to be aware of.
There is a website called Nearly Wild Camping that has a list of landowners who allow it for a fee of course.
Technically that would be an act of criminal damage and assault to treat a wild camper in such a way while trespass on unenclosed land is only a civil matter unless you're seen wielding an axe, brandishing a knife or causing criminal damage...definitely a good idea to stay off country estates though...they're a law unto themselves sometimes.
That is a great website Brambling with a lot of sites near me.
 
I may be wrong, but I would consider the places you named as places to visit, rather than wild camp.
It's because my hero has camped in some of those places, uncle Ray lmao. You are right but was considering trying my luck at some wildcamping
I know I'm preaching to the converted here, but someone should point out that it is still against the law to Wild Camp in England , Wales and N Ireland without the Landowners permission.
I know, but someone's got to break the rules every now and then😉
 
I appreciate and respect the law and of course there are consequences to breaking it . I treat other people’s land respectfully, ask permission if I’m able but if not I pitch late , leave early and take all my rubbish with me .

Act responsibly and thoughtfully and I generally don’t have a problem 👍🏻

Also most of the National Park Authorities offer sensible guidance which if followed should keep you out of trouble .



Worse case scenario , if your asked to move on do so respectfully but it’s all about keeping a low profile and not being a knob 😳
 
Well I got 2 new places to explore this year, one fairly local Near the town I got dragged up in, and today a friend called round and invited me to a meet, and this March I'm off to Blinkbonny wood in Scotland! Always wanted to go to Scotland and wildcamp! Eagerly looking forward to both.
 
Well I got 2 new places to explore this year, one fairly local Near the town I got dragged up in, and today a friend called round and invited me to a meet, and this March I'm off to Blinkbonny wood in Scotland! Always wanted to go to Scotland and wildcamp! Eagerly looking forward to both.
Have a good one Jon, it might be a bit damp up there but at least you shouldn't have any trouble with the midges
 
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