Keith Gooden:
Welcome along to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden, and here we talk nothing but motorhomes with our expert, Matt Sims. Matt, how are you doing today?
Matt Sims:
Very good, thanks Keith. How are you?
Keith Gooden:
I’m fine, thanks very much. I’m very happy being here with you today because we’re going to talk about something we touched on a few podcasts ago, which I’m actually very interested in doing and interested in knowing why more people don’t do it – wild camping!
What is wild camping?
I’ve got this dream. I get in my motorhome. I drive, say to Devon or Cornwall, and instead of going on to caravan sites, I just put over by the side of the road, or somewhere picturesque with a nice view. I have a meal or barbecue, and I settle down for the night with the family.
Matt Sims:
Sounds great.
Keith Gooden:
It’s not as easy as that though, is it?
Matt Sims:
It’s not as easy. You can do what you’ve just described. The issue comes when you want to stay the night. There’s this – I guess it comes from a sense of perhaps entitlement, I don’t know – misconception of what we’re allowed to do. The sense that you can just rock up at a lay or a beauty spot, anywhere – it could be in the grounds of a castle in Scotland or the edge of a loch. The reality is you’re not allowed. It’s illegal. You can’t do it.
Keith Gooden:
I don’t understand that. Why is it not allowed? We live in a beautiful country. We’ve got the right to roam. I’ve got my motorhome. I’m responsible. I’m not going to do anything naughty. Why can’t I just pull up if it’s not private land?
Matt Sims:
Well, even if it’s public land, it’s owned. So all land in the United Kingdom is owned by someone and you are deemed to be trespassing if you rock up on that land to stay the night. Now, there are areas where it’s permissible to do this – they are on advertising apps that you can download. There are places you can do it, but otherwise you have to assume that land is owned. And without permission of that land owner, you are trespassing and therefore potentially committing a civil offence.
Keith Gooden:
Let’s talk about the positives. What can I do?
Matt Sims:
The official definition of wild camping is turning up with a tent in a backpack on foot. You pitch your tent, you get in the tent and go to sleep. You arrive late and you leave early, okay, this is key, with a tent on foot. Then you get up in the morning as the sun rises, you pack up your tent and you leave and you leave no trace.
Leave No Trace
This is a really important phrase which has been embraced by hundreds of communities around the UK that have suffered sadly at the hands of folk in motorhomes, campervans, and even caravans who’ve turned up and spent the day there with the barbecue and all the family and friends having a party, having a wild time and leaving mess behind. You would never do that of course, Keith. I would hope not.
Keith Gooden:
I never would, but where I’ve had my barbecue, there’s a couple of scorch marks on the ground, but I’ve cleared away all the tins and stuff. You really wouldn’t be able to tell I was there at all apart from those few little marks.
Matt Sims:
Scorch marks are a no-no. That’s somebody’s grass. You have to leave no trace. So if you are in a motorhome, you are not on foot in a tent, are you? To stay in that spot in a motorhome or caravan, or in any type of leisure vehicle, you have to have the landowner’s permission. That’s really crucial. Then, and only then, could you stop in that spot.
What’s been happening in the last couple of years, of course, is motorhomes have been really prolific on the roads, particularly in Scotland and around the Lake District, and Devon and Cornwall near us as well. They’re everywhere. People have been hiring them, they’ve been buying them and people have struggled to get onto a campsite because the campsites are full.
For a time, of course, they were only operating at half occupancy because of creating additional space between pitches and so people almost had no choice but to go what was known as wild camping. The rules were abused.
The vast majority of people weren’t there to cause harm or cause damage. People did conduct themselves very well – nonetheless, they didn’t have permission to do it. For the residents of these beautiful spots in our country, where perhaps it’s their daily dog walk or it’s sort of their back garden, if you like – to turn up and there’s half a dozen motorhomes or campervans there, you imagine if that was you and that was your back garden. They haven’t got your permission to be there.
It is a civil offence and you can be prosecuted. Just doing some quick research before this podcast, I found you can be fined up to £2500 for spending a night. If the land owner wanted to, they could take you to court. Normally you’re just going to be asked to be moved on, but the key is you leave no trace if you do stop in a beauty spot and you’ve got permission to do so.
Planning a wild camping experience in a motorhome or campervan
So, prepare – that’s the key. Phone the council. If you’re going to Herefordshire, phone them up – I have no idea what they would say. Maybe we should have rung them before we did this podcast! But if you ring the council, I’m sure they would be delighted to help you get it right. It’s in their interest that you do. They’ll tell you where the spots are that you can stop.
You’ll notice increasingly, and particularly it’s true in this part of the country (the Southwest), lay-bys have got bars over the entrances that restrict height at two meters so a motorhome or campervan can’t even get in the car park. Sometimes, annoyingly – and I’m not going to say where, but it was true of a car park not far from where I live – the bar was placed across at night. So people went in during the day and then couldn’t get out. Trapped!
Keith Gooden:
That’s a guaranteed fine!
Matt Sims:
Or they tried to get out and did untold damage to the roof. So you have to be very mindful. There are restrictions put in place. Just Google it.
If you’re on social media, particularly Facebook, you’ll see it is filled with people who’ve been doing this for years. They’ll have an opinion on where you can stay or perhaps know a place where they’ve always stayed and it’s been taken away – that entitlement or that right has been taken away by the council. That’s happening a lot, particularly on sea fronts, where councils are removing the permission for motorhomes to stop overnight. If it says no overnight stopping, don’t do it.
The other tip I’d have, if you are stopping in a motorway services, where of course you can – that’s what the car parks are there for, for your safety to stop overnight – there is often a cost. Read the sign. If there’s a £20 cost or whatever the cost is, make sure you pay it. If you don’t, there is a fine and they’ve got cameras. Do your research and be sensible. Be aware of where you’re stopping. Wild camping in that sense of ‘free roaming’ – you can’t do it. It’s illegal.
Keith Gooden:
I must say, actually – you mentioned Herefordshire and the Wye Valley. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of the country you could possibly go to. Having started doing this podcast with you, Matt, I’ve been looking out for motorhomes and caravans and they generally don’t abuse the countryside.
I was in the Wye Valley not so long ago, driving down there between Hereford and us. It takes you through some stunning countryside. Not a motorhome or a caravan in the lay-bys anywhere. We’re not talking about the depths of winter. Actually the community members are very responsible aren’t they?
Matt Sims:
Indeed, as with any community or group, it’s always a minority that spoil it for everyone. That’s sadly true, isn’t it? Generally that’s the case, and unfortunately that has been very true of this pastime of stopping in a ‘wild’ sense.
I would add that there are lots of pubs that open up their car parks to motorhomes and campervans, often for free. There’s a book called Brit Stops, which advertises these places. There’s apps too – Search For Sites and Park4Night are two.
We do it on the way down to Cornwall. We’ll leave at half past four or five o’clock on a Friday afternoon to head down to wherever we’re off to in Cornwall. We’ll stop at a pub called the Jamaica Inn on the A30. Last time it was £10 to stay the night there.
Keith Gooden:
Very famous pub, that one.
Matt Sims:
If you’re into pirates, you’ll know it. Great food, great beer – we can have a few drinks because we’re not driving. And then back to the motorhome – of course, once the blinds are shut, you could be anywhere. It doesn’t matter. But actually it’s not a bad place to stop.
And then in the morning, we’ll head off onto some of the lakes around that part of Dartmoor and have breakfast at the side of a lake or reservoir, and then head on down to Cornwall on Saturday morning, nice and early. So it breaks the journey, it’s a very convenient place to stop and it’s not expensive. And if you like, we are ‘wild camping’, leaving no trace that we were there, but with the landowner’s permission.
Keith Gooden:
I’m old enough to remember the old Central Office of Information films – the Countryside Code, which was the same as ‘leave no trace’. There was a cartoon of the family going out and having a picnic in the countryside and leaving all the rubbish behind. This ‘leave no trace’ is basically the same thing, but just for the 21st century.
Matt Sims:
Yes, it is. Be respectful – obey any local bylaws, which is where doing your research is really important. Don’t block a view. If you’re going to park on a cliff edge and people are walking by to admire the view and all they’ve got is a big slab of white plastic, that’s not going to go down well. You’re not going to make friends. You’re going to make enemies.
Keith Gooden:
You have to understand that when you are looking out the window of your motorhome, you can’t actually see the motorhome you are sitting in and it might not be people’s idea of a lovely view as far as they’re concerned.
Matt Sims:
Exactly. No, that’s right. Be respectful in every way. Don’t leave any rubbish. In a motorhome of course, you’re very self sufficient. You’ve got your own fresh water. You’ve got heating, you’ve got your own toilet and your shower. You kind of could just park up with permission and be completely self sufficient.
Discarding waste product
Matt Sims:
Where it goes wrong is when people start to decide to discard their waste product. The grey water, which is the water you’ve had a shower in, or you’ve washed your hands or brushed your teeth with – it contains soap. It contains body fat. It might contain saliva. It’s not a very nice fluid. So emptying that on the side of a road on a grass bank is not very respectful. Emptying it down a rain drain is fine. I’d say that would be acceptable.
Keith Gooden:
Can I do that in the context of my toilet as well?
Matt Sims:
No! A hundred percent not, Keith. That’s chemical waste. That’s poo, wee and toilet paper dissolved into a blue liquid. It’s toxic and it can only go down a sewer. Now, the way to get it in a sewer is by lifting a drain cover to a sewer. They’re normally very hard to open. Otherwise just put it down the toilet.
Find a local toilet and very carefully empty it. There is a knack to doing this. If you aim it straight down at the water, you’re going to get a splash back. You are going to get covered.
Keith Gooden:
Ergh…
Matt Sims:
It’s good advice, this! Aim at the side of the bowl – it will go round and down. Then there’s no splash back and you won’t leave any mess in the toilet. And if you do, please, for goodness’ sake, clean up after yourself! That’s really the whole ‘leave no trace’ thing – it still applies when you’re in the motorway services emptying your cassette. You may get stopped if you’re dragging a toilet cassette into the motorway services. It’s not something that many motorway services want you doing because it does make a mess.
Empty it down a sewer point, or head to a campsite and just empty it on the campsite into their Elsan point. I always say to anyone heading off on a motorhome holiday, if you’re going to try and wild camp, obey the law and get permission, but plan every few nights to use a campsite. You can plug the motorhome into the site’s electricity, recharge everything, empty and refill your water and empty your toilet. They are fit for purpose and designed for that reason. That’s my advice – every few nights go to a campsite, get everything sorted, and then on you go.
Keith Gooden:
So the motto is – ’round and down, if it’s blue or brown!’
Matt Sims:
Yeah, you can keep that one!
Keith Gooden:
So you’ve put us right. I suppose, to conclude, the message is research, research, research. Do your research before you leave.
Certified locations
Matt Sims:
Absolutely, as it is with everything to do with a motorhome, frankly. Do your research when you’re buying one, hiring one and planning where to go. Research it well. Heading off with no plan in the United Kingdom – I don’t think it is a good idea. On the continent, it’s very different. I would encourage people to have no plan.
One of the great things about motorhoming is that you can just wake up, look where the sun is on your weather app and just head there. Why not? Follow the sun or follow your heart and just say, ‘well, let’s see where this road takes us!’ You can hop from campsite to campsite without planning. I’ve done that many times on four wheels and two, but if you want to try a European experience using Aires is very, very different to being based in the UK. We’re just not as geared up for it. You have to plan using either a book or an app that will help you find locations that maybe aren’t a campsite.
People don’t want to go to campsites for lots of reasons. Maybe they’re busy or they just want that exclusive feel. There are campsites known as a CL, meaning a certified location, or a CS, meaning a certified site, depending on the club. These often have only five pitches. There’s a huge number of these types of campsites that have cropped up over the last year or two as farmers have diversified.
The reason they only have five pitches is you don’t have to have planning permission. So there are five simple pitches, they might have fresh water and a means of emptying your toilet. That might be all they have, but those five pitches are often very spaced out and they’re often in a beautiful location on the edge of the sea, or on the edge of a lake. They’ll be very basic, but they are often lovely.
There are lots and lots of new locations like this that have cropped up over the last couple of years as farmers and landowners respond to the demand, which has just been overwhelming. Just remember that you can’t wild camp. You have to have permission. It is illegal.
Keith Gooden:
That’s the message. Don’t wild camp. It’s illegal. Do your research. Thanks for joining us on the Motorhome Matt podcast with Matt Sims and me, Keith Gooden. We’ll see you back here soon.
Keith Gooden:
Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
