Campsite Fires

[Tony]

we are compiling a list of campsites that allow people to have fires. I know of a few that allow them out of the main season and it is slow work trawling through the phone book!

If anyone knows of anywhere that allows fires let us know via this thread or mail info@bushcraftuk.co.uk

Thanks guys and girls

Tone

[Martyn]

What about campsites that allow BBQ's (perhaps a sub-section)? I'm thinking fireboxes, kelly kettles and such.

[Tony]

Yeah, I figured to list those that allow fires and those that allow BBQ's It's amazing how many sites will not even allow you to have a BBQ. I figure the best places are scout campsites, on some of them they give you quite a bit of freedom to do what you want......I have to say though that some of them are really bureaucratic and it's a right pain

My tent is big enough for a fire box which I think is an advantage. When are you due to get your Tepee Martyn?

[Gary]

Tone,

Debden house, Debden Green, Essex always fires and is right on the edge of Epping forest.

I have run courses from there its a good spot

[Martyn]

When are you due to get your Tepee Martyn?

Got it mate, arrived in marvelous condition a couple of days ago. Have yet to erect it (aside from opening it out in my living room - it's been raining here quite heavily).

(Cheers Gary )

[Tony]

I hope you have a long and successful life together :biggthump

[Kev P]

Fisherground campsite in Eskdale, Cumbria lets you have fires all year round. It can get a bit busy in summer, but I was there at Easter and we were the only ones there.
Also Scout campsites can be ok, it depends on the warden :wink: . I use a small wooded scout site locally which is fine and is empty most of the time.

Scoutbase at http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/cgi-bin/...ng&uid=default
lets you find youre nearest scout camp.

[Tony]

Hi Guys - I have got together about 15 sites so far, I will get them up here when I have checked the details. Then at some stage I will put it up as information in the main site. Gary has already had success with the scout sites.

[Anonymous]

The Only one I know of is Lower Rocks East, north of Bath near Marshfield.
Its a great venue, woods, grottos ponds etc, heard someone had done courses there? I was there at winter Solstice for friends handfasting, and they didn't seem to mind the burning of a 50 foot wicker man full of fireworks!
I prefer hedge mumping. As my friend calls it. Those quiet country lanes where you can pull off the road and tuck yourself away under the hedge.
A favorate is a Drove near Avebury, favoured by horsedrawn travellers. You can usually find a pile of firewood tucked in the hedge by the previous occupant, so you can get a brew on within minutes of arriving.
I travelled with a horsedrawn friend briefly one year, who had a map passed on by an old Gypsy with such places marked on it. It made our travels far easier. So I have now started marking them up (I was taught never to write on maps at School!!!!). Although my girlfiend threw the last one away cos it was falling apart !
Enuf Ramblin
Rich :shock:

[giancarlo]

... i can tell you somewhere where you won't have one.
Over here in Jersey in the Channel Islands...

It's illegal to wild camp...
you can't have fires anywhere, even on the 4 or so proper camp sites..

Doesn't mean it doesn't happen tho
Kinda spoils it a bit, whenever i go out, i'm always expecting the old bill to turn up in the morning ready to take me off down the cop shop

[Ed]

What about BBQ type and woodburning stoves in Jersey.... can they be used on the campsites?

Also, what is the score with private land over there..... any chance of getting permission to camp there... maybe have fires, or is the fire thing an Island wide law?

:-D
Ed

[giancarlo]

Yeah, well bbq's are fine, as long as they are "traditional bbq's",
have to look posh etc... bit like that over here at most camp sites.
I don't think they'll take too kindly to brazier type, hobo stoves if you know what i mean.

Private land, well it's only 9miles x 5miles here, every square inch is owned by someone, and they don't take kindly to it.
but i'm guessing if you knew someone with some land and they were friendly then they may let you.

Just have to find a friendly old Jersey farmer..... hmmmm, easier said than done ;)

[george]

What about on the foreshore?

I don't know about the law in Jersey but in Scotland you have the right to make a fire on the land that lies between the high tide mark and the low tide mark. the tide mark determined by usual spring high tides.

That means that unless it is a high spring tide theres always a bit of ground you can get a fire going on.

George

[giancarlo]

Hi George,

TBH, i think they'd still try and have a few words with you for it.
well at least the "honoury police" we have over here would.

Saying that, during summer, a lot of people have BBQ's on the beach so maybe they turn a blind eye to it.. but then they are "controlled" BBQ's... not the roaring bonfires i'd be making ;)

I think you could be right, it probably is within the law to do that..
have to go and find out really :)

Would be especially useful over here, Jersey has one of the biggest tidal areas in europe / the world (i think), nearly doubles in size when the tide's out..... although saying that, it does come in blinking fast too! :)

Cheers
Carlo

[stevec]

not been here myself but, according tot he website, fire's are allowed. was going to go over the summer, but work got in the way, it always does. not had a holliday this year, unless you call a weeks Boy's Brigade camp a holiday!

opps almost forgot the site!http://www.doonevalleyholidays.co.uk/pages/camping.html

[grumit]

we have the same problems here in guernsey ci as they have in jersey
your even exspected to ask for permission to have a bbq on the beach and as for country side apart from the cliff walks or golf course there isnt
much but on a brighter note the boss owns 20 acres of private land on the
south coast and 20 more inland near the airport

[shaggystu]

someone was asking about camp fires at the scout camp at beaudesert in cannock, can't remember who it was doing the asking though, sorry! i used to work for the princes trust volunteers and i took teams of students to beaudesert, we had camp fires on a number of occasions there always with the full permission of the camp warden and never with any problems at all. there's a specific campfire area there in a great spot with logs to sit on, trees all round to keep you cosy, and plenty of space to keep the beers far enough from the firs to keep them cool!! there's also a very good sheltered bbq area.
hope this helps whoever was doing the asking!!

stuart

p.s. on a slightly different topic i also happend to be wandering round the woods there on one occasion and i came across half a dozen "debris" shelters, i don't know who built them as i didn't really get chance to ask, but their presence there would seem to indicate that whoever is in charge of the woodland there is pretty sympathetic to bushcraft activities, don't know if that's of any interest to anyone at all but i thought i'd tell you anyway.

[Fallow Way]

Hi there,

It was I who posted about waiting to hear from the beaudesert manager in Cannock Chase. Thanks for the info, seen photos of the site you mentioned, does look impressive.

[shaggystu]

it's a pretty nice site altogether actually, secluded enough, right on the edge of a big area of woodland, still close to a local pub and not far from a shop. i've spent some very happy hard working weeks there. hope you enjopy the place if you end up using it at all.
stuart

p.s. and if you happen to see a white beadered bloke walking round smoking cherry tobacco from a meerschaum pipe, his name's graham, tell him i said hi!!

[Duncan]

It is possible that wardens of some smaller youth hostels who allow camping might also allow fires, though it would be their choice not YHA policy.

[larry the spark]

Tullymore Forest Park in Northern Ireland has a youth campsite that allows fires, though they have to be extinguished before 11pm I think. i used it during my years in the Boys Brigade and with my dad who knew the warden so allowed us to use it. The warden may be sympathetic to those who approach him and explain their case.

[Fallow Way]

Finally got an asnwer of my local Scout owned woodland, they are only for youth groups also.

I`m getting quite disheartened in trying to find places where the simple activites of bushcraft can be enjoyed. I have been in contact with sooo many places in my county (staffordshire) and not one is open to members of the public.

I still go off into Cannock Chase on the quite, but it would be nice to find just one place where poeple with this interest could meet up locally.

Paul

[gurushaun]

Nomad

I think from my dealings with places that the biggest worry to most landowners is the risk of damage or litigation arising from injury. What we need is some form of third party/damage protection insurance, similar to that offered to airgun shooters, a collegue who is a keen shot has managed to get permission to shoot over land when he has bought the fact that he carries insurance into the conversation. Anyone with underwriting experience out there?

Cheers

Shaun

[Great Pebble]

George, who was the ranger in Tollymore for as long as I can remember retired during the summer. I had a hate/love relationship with him, having had the odd run in with him as a teenager. Later I came to appreciate his "less than politically correct" sense of humour. He was always very friendly, unless you happened to be an "unaccompanied" teenage fella.

That said I was there towards the end of summer with SWMBO and the guys (there seem to be two) who have taken over couldn't be friendlier.

Nick in Belfast

[Andy]

woulkd it be possible to maker a note of which camp sites are easy o get to by train?

[maddave]

I'm looking forward to this list.. are there a few up North?, sort of Derbyshire/Lakes way :shock:

[Chopper]

Dont be supprised if you get the big NO from Scout camp sites or similar its not the association being nasty, but the child protection act comeing in to play.
All people have to be checked by the criminal records bureau before being allowed on to such areas and that can take up to 3 months, and you also have to be a member of the Scout association before you can use them. :biggthump :biggthump

[Lithril]

Would that still count if you arranged it at a time when there was noone else using it, or would that be at the Wardens discretion? I'm going to phone up a few places soon and try to find somewhere in this area..... unless theres anyone else in the area that knows of somewhere??? I don't mind travelling but it would be nice to find a site that could be used on a regular basis.

[Chopper]

Strictly speaking the warden should say no unless you are a Scout association member as you would not be covered by the insurance.
But haveing said that its always worth a try, or why not join the Scout association.

[EdS]

The Red Squirel campsite in Glen Coe alway use to allow small fires in the pits.