Camping in England?

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Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
byegad said:
One point to mention about rough camping is that every square inch of 'this green and pleasant land' belongs to someone so you could IN THEORY find the owner turning up to turf you off at any time. In practice this is not usually too much of a problem.

Not in Scotland. You have the right to wild camp there.

In England and Wales, unless you are well off the road / out of sight then you may get an irate land owner. If you're stuck then just find somewhere out of the way and pitch late, leave early and leave no mess.

As far as camp sites go, the vast majority of the time you don't have to book. Especially mid week. If you avoid honey pots then this is even more the case.

Where are you planing on going to?
 

pinkkaz

Veteran
Location
London
Plax said:
I can't stand my bare feet touching stuff (especially sand & grass, I'm just odd I think!).

Agree with you on the sand thing (akin to nails down the blackboard for me - gritting my teeth and shivers down the spine just thinking about it), but I love the feel of grass under my feet!
 
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samid

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
Chris James said:
Not in Scotland. You have the right to wild camp there.
Yes, I knew about that. While I will be going to Edinburgh, most of my route lies in England.
Chris James said:
As far as camp sites go, the vast majority of the time you don't have to book. Especially mid week. If you avoid honey pots then this is even more the case.

Where are you planing on going to?
I will go from Slough to Edinburgh. The route is not set in stone yet, but at this point I'm thinking of going through Cambridge - Wisbech - Boston - Mablethorpe - Grimsby - Humber bridge -Kingston upon Hull - York - Middlesbrough - Newcastle - Morpeth -Edinburgh. I will be going the 2nd week of August.

BTW, one other thing I wanted to find out - is it allowed to camp overnight on the beaches? This photo of a Mablethorpe beach shows some tents, but I'm not sure whether one stay overnight...?
 

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
You mean like I do?!





I think camping on beaches is pretty much a 'grey area'...I did do it last summer in Norfolk without to much problem, but I doubt it's 'legal'...I doubt Joe Public would have any issue, but there are some private beaches and beach wardens on public beaches will likely move you on. Best pitch out of site (dunes are best) and after dusk to avoid any problems.
Also be aware that many UK beaches are gravel/shingle and not sand so that might cause pitching difficulties....although I think those along the east coast tend to be sandy with dunes. Watch out for the tides though....what is beach in the evening is often the North sea at 3 am!!...also be ready for a bit of a struggle pushing a loaded touring bike across dry sand dunes...I did it and it's a pain in the arse.
 

Bodhbh

Guru
samid said:
I will go from Slough to Edinburgh. The route is not set in stone yet, but at this point I'm thinking of going through Cambridge - Wisbech - Boston - Mablethorpe - Grimsby - Humber bridge -Kingston upon Hull - York - Middlesbrough - Newcastle - Morpeth -Edinburgh.
First post here, hello etc! :ohmy: Also new to bike touring, having just done my first proper tour a week ago (the baltics, flat as a pancake, started easy).

I don't know much on the biking side of things, but I'm from grimsby so familar with some of the east coast. A long part of that route is very flat, from say Cambridge to across the Humber to York. Not much there, and it's pretty intensively farmed in general, not bucolic countryside. Not sure I'd want to do it myself, but never ridden that route on a bike.

On the plus side, you not hitting tourist hotspots there, so spots on campsites might not be a problem.

Give Skegness a buzz past on that side of the coast for the typical English Seaside town experience, but mebbe Mablethorpe ticks that box too. :blush:
 
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samid

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
Bodhbh said:
I don't know much on the biking side of things, but I'm from grimsby so familar with some of the east coast. A long part of that route is very flat, from say Cambridge to across the Humber to York. Not much there, and it's pretty intensively farmed in general, not bucolic countryside. Not sure I'd want to do it myself, but never ridden that route on a bike.
Could you suggest a more interesting (more bucolic :smile:) variation of that route? The only fixed points for me are Slough and Edinburgh, really... so any suggestions would be considered and very much appreciated.
 

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
I am from the south so am not qualified to suggest more northern routes. Slough isn't the best of Britain to be honest, however it is pretty well placed to pick up the Thames and the 'sights' so I might try something like this for the southern 'leg'.

Pick up the River thames, follow it east into London as close to the banks as possible. That way you'll get to see some of the more traditional sites. like Winsor castle, houses of Parliament and stuff like that. Then once you get to the City of London try and head north, north east and out (easier said than done that i reckon...London is a BIG place and whichever way you go it's gonna be grim in places. But somebody might know a canal route out or something (anybody??).
Then being an Essex lad I can only suggest heading up through north Essex, places like Gt Dunmow, Thaxted, Saffron Walden are reasonably nice places and there are nice small villages around that area. I might then head up to RAF Duxford where there is a cool military museum and airbase with airshows etc. Then head on up into Cambridge...maybe do some river punting etc...then up to the North Norfolk coast (perhaps via Thetford forest) around Wells & Holkham...then over to Kings lyn and up north from there ..which is where it all gets 'foreign ' to me;):smile:
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Bigtallfatbloke said:
Slough isn't the best of Britain to be honest,
Oi ... I grew up near Slough (Burnham the bit glued onto the edge) and oh yeah I left:biggrin:.

There are some nice bits around there ... just not Slough itself.
 

Bodhbh

Guru
samid said:
Could you suggest a more interesting (more bucolic :smile:) variation of that route? The only fixed points for me are Slough and Edinburgh, really... so any suggestions would be considered and very much appreciated.
I'm not sure tbh, like I said, I'm pretty fresh to all this. Perhaps it's possible to go up from slough >> oxford and the chilterns >> stratford on avon >> and somehow nativgate a reasonable route past birmingham >> take in the peak district >> one of the big northern towns if you want (leeds, manchester bradford) >> the yorkshire dales and either up thru the middle or pick up the east coast somewhere around newcastle depending if u want to avoid it or not.

I'm not knockign the east coast route, it has it's attractions, but it almost seems like a good return leg of a circular trip rather than a best route if u only have 1 shot at it. Will be fast going from cambridge up till you hit the york moors i imagine in any case.

Live in london and plan to cycle home along a similar route some weekend soon, perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut till I had ago myself :wacko:
 

MockCyclist

Well-Known Member
Samid posted:
Humber bridge -Kingston upon Hull - York - Middlesbrough - Newcastle - Morpeth -Edinburgh.


Hull is an OK City, but perhaps not one that I would suggest someone visit. If you went to the city centre, there is a route through the suburbs which eventually goes cross country to Beverley. From there you can take an ex-railway path, Sustrans route 66, to Market Weighton and then along the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds to York. An interesting route albeit quite rural.

From York it becomes sustrans 65 to Middlesbrough and skirts the edge of the North York Moors. All very pleasant.

Or, once over the Humber Bridge, take the Trans Pennine Trail West to Selby and then North to York.

Samid posted:
Boston - Mablethorpe - Grimsby

I haven't cycled in Lincolnshire but it is dead flat and sparsely populated.

A more Westerly route could see you join the Trans Pennine Trail near Doncaster and on to Selby and York. Actually that section is pretty quiet as well but to join at Doncaster you would have had to take a central route up North which must take in some of the industrial heartland and canal routes, I guess.

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/general/sustrans_2008_ncn_map.pdf
 

Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
It depends how much you like hills.

You could make a route through some of the best cycling in the country. However, it would be extremely hilly.

The Peak District, South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales then over towards Northumberland and through the Cheviots and over the border.

Dunno the best route to the Peak District from Slough....

The only problem with your suggested route would be that it would be rather flat and boring. Although the Northumberland coastline, for example, is very beautiful and would definitely be a good alternative if your legs were tired from the hills.
 
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samid

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
Ok then, seeing how my East coast pancake route was dissed ;), how about this:

Slough..Winslow..Milton Keynes.. then follow Sustrans 6 to Derby..

Here comes the Peak District, and the BIG question - what is a good way through it?

Then to York.. follow Sustrans 65 to Newcastle.. and then Sustrans 1 to Edinburgh.

Comments are welcome, and especially advice on a good way through Peak District.

Thanks.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
When I've cycled in the Peak District its mostly been on cycle trails... it would certainly give you a break from the roads, and steady gradients (old railway tracks), and there are definatelly campsites nearby. But some of the fitter folk probably know nice challenging hills to climb instead (push your bike up if you were me).

The Tissington Trail goes between Ashbourne in the south, upto Buxton.
 
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samid

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
I'd much rather ride a steady gradient than push my bike up a challenging hill ;)
Thanks for the pointer to Tissington trail, will look it up.
 

Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
samid said:
I'd much rather ride a steady gradient than push my bike up a challenging hill ;)
.

Mmm, perhaps the Peak District isn't for you then!

Lots of nice routes through the Peak District.

From Derby, taking in the Tissington Trail then, say, towards Bakewell, Grindleford, Bamford, Langsett, Should be loads of camp sites near this route.

Holmfirth, Meltham, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley?

I dare say there are plenty of cyclists on here who could advise on nice scenic routes that aren't too arduous near their patch.
 
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