Well fans I been camping for 40 years and do like to chill out "wild CAMPING". this night in june 2019 I bivvied 100m in a field somewhere between the A66 and CROSSFELL , pennines about 10 miles from appleby. Snoozing away at 4 am pitch dark I was shocked into conciousness by 2 bright torches in my face, voices said its allright its the police!!!!What I said??Its your car the police said, its in the road, no I said its in the layby , the 2 police officers said, but you are in the middle of nowhere!, yes I said thats the idea , to get some peace and quiet....How did you find me? I asked <100m from the road in dark> POLICE you put a mark on your map and left it open on the passenger seat....Im fleeing back over the SCOTTISH BORDER for the safety of the LAND REFORM ACT!!!!!!FREEDOM!!!!!!
That must have been a shock. Ah well, look at it like this - you've improved the education of those policemen on the phenomenon of wild camping!You don't say if they moved you on or let you stay once they realised you were alright?
Just read this thread so thought I should say it is not illegal to wild camp on Dartmoor so come to Devon next time we are very friendly and even provide maps to show which areas you are permitted to camp in and you cannot fault the views and quiet 😂
The police followed the correct procedure as you were breaking the law. Secondly how ere they to know that everything was okay. We are quite happy for you to return to Scotland if you don't like the rules and regulations in England.
Why leave a map with your location on visible in your car? All this does is tell thieves you're away from your car overnight, plus your location so they can raid your car then come find you...
Wild camping is legal if you had the landowner's permission - which obviously you got, right? The Police have no powers to move you on if the landowner hasn't requested it (and you've refused).
100m from the road isn't really an adventurous wild camp. Get up in the hills - so many lovely ones to choose from in the North Pennines
Common practice in Scotland if heading into the hills is to leave notice of route and time of return in your car. That way the mountain rescue can be alerted. Granted 100m from the road isn't exactly heading into the hills but it is still good practice.
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The Op is not the first person to wild camp in England.
Its common practise by many English hikers and in some cases they leave their car in a layby.
I would take a look on Youtube,lots of videos on there and many more who do not video their stay. Generally true hikers will leave as found and cause no problems to anyone or the environment.
I am sure some police officers use common sense unless the law breakers are causing damage etc.
You can't send them back to Scotland as one poster said as most live in England. I have chatted to quite a few of them on other forums over the years.
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