Not happy - But what to do?

Stealaway

Stealaway

Free Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Posts
8,496
Likes collected
11,562
Location
Dronfield - Derbyshire
Funster No
24,202
MH
Burstner Lyseo 690G
Exp
Happy FLT since 2011
We're up in Fort William and the place is packed with motorhomes. We last came here in June four years ago and there was hardly any M/H's . Today we have seen hundreds. There now seems to be far to many and we are quickly becoming the scurch of society.
I think we have seen the best times and it's going to get worse and it's all down hill from here.
But I just don't know what else to do, we still love traveling and wild camping but we are becoming less and less welcome - every where.
Any suggestions?
 
Wild camping kiss it goodbye , unless you are right out of season , or travel a lot further afield , ie the continent , and even then the further from UK the easier it gets if you are in season .
 
That world championship mountain biking event there this weekend ....... Have been there at times of previous biking events and it was packed with the bikers and their back up up teams and vehicles...A heck of a lot of the back up vehicles were motor homes and camper vans etc. When the event closes you will possibly see a lot less motorhomes in the town.Thats what happened when we were there. One night the loch facing car par park was chokker , next morning loads of space
 
Last edited:
Well i go along with your feelings..
Ive just completed my journey home from skye...
The number of motorhomes on the road is certainly increasing and will put pressure on us all if we dont try and act responsibly...
I go out of my way to use local facilities as much as possible and let folk know im a motorhomer..
The car park on the water front at fort william has been great for an overnight whilst travelling but you do get vans using it for extended periods which as you say will eventually cause problems as the numbers increase...
I also called in at kinlochleven to enquire about mh parking...spoke to 3 long term locals who were very helpful and pointed out a few spots where mh could park .. but a move to provide a proper facility failed to get off the ground because of a couple of objections...
Andy.
 
I really understand your feeling on this issue. :cry:

The only way around it is to wild camp in really out of the way places, but even that can be ruined by irresponsible campers. :mad:

The motorhome fraternity are easy targets for uneducated councils & as you say it'll only get worse.

We're very lucky in that our area isn't very well known & most people slip straight up the A74 & miss Dumfries & Galloway, but god knows why?

Wild camping is in my blood, I've been camping this way for over 50yrs & I think that wild camping is the very cornerstone of our passion, the trouble is that if we only had proper campsites (dare I say it) we'd be as well reverting to caravans. Lets face it who'd want to do that? :eek::eek::eek:
 
Last edited:
Yeahbut ignoring that there are so many many more MoHo trying to find isolated spots and failing - me included. There are more vans abroad but there is so much more room. That seems to be the only answer. This country is too small and too packed even in the north of Scotland.
 
We've just been around the coast of Dumfries and Galloway and wild camped all the way - it was stunning, unfortunately now we've mentioned it will never be the same again.
 
Is it as bad as you say or have you just picked a terrible time to be in Fort William. If there is a big event going on then it will be much busier than usual
 
I'd love to hope you are right, but I see to many new MoHo's on the road.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
ambulancekidd said:
the trouble is that if we only had proper campsites (dare I say it) we'd be as well reverting to caravans. Lets face it who'd want to do that? :eek::eek::eek:
Click to expand...

Us..

just sold the van and bought a caravan...

and for the very reasons being discussed,

we use mainly small sites and CLs so we may as well have a caravan and the practicality of a car for going out..

not new to the game.. had caravans for 20 years before getting a motorhome.. 18 years on, gone full circle ..
 
In the north of Scotland the NC500 seems to have been the death knell for motorhomes, just too busy now.
 
Stealaway said:
Yeahbut ignoring that there are so many many more MoHo trying to find isolated spots and failing - me included. There are more vans abroad but there is so much more room. That seems to be the only answer. This country is too small and too packed even in the north of Scotland.
Click to expand...
The NC500 is part of the issue too, when it was devised they had no clue that it would take off the way it has.

Edit: Sorry WillH, just saw your post and of course you’re absolutely right.
 
Being a newcomer to motorhoming (last year) I find all this very disappointing..

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
I am going up to the very North of Scotland on the motorbike at the end of the month with a group of friends. We have done this every year for the last 15 years. We have enjoyed some absolutely brilliant riding but, and it is a big but, the advent of the NC500 has pretty much spoilt this fantastic area. I think this may well be the last time we ride this part of Scotland. Last time we went the riding was pretty much spoiled for us by the amount of traffic. Unfortunately I got a load of stick from the other lads (being a motorhomer) as most of the problem seemed to be motorhome preventing us from ahem, making progress. I really hope the popularity of this route deminishes in the near future. Sorry if this comes across as a bit negative but I am sure the other motorcyclists on here will understand.
 
We've toured every inch of the highlands for the last 35years. Always go up in September but last year it was heaving with motorhomes and just not the Scotland we have come to love . Sadly we've decided to concentrate all our travels over the water in Europe. We're really thinking the touring option for our island is coming to an end.
 
Satellite maps haven’t helped either, it’s a good way of finding those out of the way places....
 
This week we ha e been on Anglesey, we visit Lligwy often, I know that this week has been half term and the owners of the beach have been tollerent of motorhomers, even the 'no overnight' signs were being ignored. The beach also has no launching of boats rule.

This week the owners set up a mororhome area, set out pitches to keep them together and reduce the taking I dr the best bits with all the awnings out etc , all ignored, they have placed big boulders to prevent mororhomes driving onto the dunes as they were damaging the land.

Two tractors had been brought in so that the boat owners could launch their boats, it would appear that the steel anti parking post had been disabled and one muppet even too a quad on to tow his jetski off .
None of these appear to be local people. So they must have either brought their own tractor!!!!

I have been on this, beach on Christmas day and seen motorhomers wild camp but I suspect all this will change. The quad did some damage to the beach.

As has been said it's all being destroyed by a few. I am not a fan of wild camping but, I see the attraction and the damage and the consequences .
We will be back soon and I'm hoping the owners don't take action in preventing me walk Tilly on the beach and yes there was dog poo on the beach.
 
This article is from a couple of months ago, just one of half a dozen similar ones I found when updating my web site a few days ago.
The more that abuse such as this happens the more restrictions will be brought in.

Abusers won't care, just complain about their "human rights" being restricted rather than admit they brought it upon themselves. Then go and pollute somewhere else rather than camping legally.

If they put as much effort into constructive communication with councils to achieve official off-site camping places (e.g. as has happened in Fylde/Blackpool/Wyre in recent years) then a workable solution for all could be found.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
It’s a great shame but not surprising.

We travel on the continent....we find travel there a pleasure, not so here in the UK. We live in the south of England and you can’t go anywhere without sitting in traffic... obviously not just motorhomes but it’s just too congested.

It’s a shame that the U.K. can’t provide Aires but the UK and France have pretty much the same population, yet France is three times bigger so it’s not surprising that there isn’t the provision of Aires, etc to accommodate motorhomes - there just isn’t the space.
 
Southdowners said:
It’s a shame that the U.K. can’t provide Aires but the UK and France have pretty much the same population, yet France is three times bigger so it’s not surprising that there isn’t the provision of Aires, etc to accommodate motorhomes - there just isn’t the space.
Click to expand...
Space is obviously a factor but that doesn't preclude the provision of Aires in the UK.

The trouble is that, for too many councils, their main experience of motorhomers is of the abuse mentioned in earlier posts rather than of people wanting to work with them. The result is that motorhomers as a whole are seen as undesirable and treated accordingly.

The only people that can correct that impression are motorhomers - and those who continue to camp at unlicensed sites or in defiance of other legal restrictions undermine the argument.
 
GJH said:
Space is obviously a factor but that doesn't preclude the provision of Aires in the UK.

The trouble is that, for too many councils, their main experience of motorhomers is of the abuse mentioned in earlier posts rather than of people wanting to work with them. The result is that motorhomers as a whole are seen as undesirable and treated accordingly.

The only people that can correct that impression are motorhomers - and those who continue to camp at unlicensed sites or in defiance of other legal restrictions undermine the argument.
Click to expand...

I can see that councils would be pretty fed up with motorhomes parked inconsiderately but I can’t see how motorhomers themselves can correct that impression.

Once restrictions come into force the problem stops - job done as far as the council is concerned. That in itself doesn’t bring about the idea of providing Aires.

A bit of coastline near us has overnight camping restrictions in place now as a result of inconsiderate MH parking. It’s obviously a serious issue. I would think that providing Aires would be a big help... but how?
 
I suspect there are two types of wilcampers.
One who wish to be away from everything, tranquility etc
Two. Freeloading parasitic scum.

I feel that my beloved Lligwy will be hammered again. No different to the divers who come down on the 1st day of the scallop season, take as much as they can, leaving very little behind and go home sell the scallops and don't add anything to the local economy. One of the guys I worked with. The came all the way from Liverpool with his mates, slept in the back of a van brought all their own food beer too back no end of scallops, three transit vans came down.
And they wonder why there was friction.

He admitted they are made thousands. Now the scallop beds are virtually dead.
 
Seeing the photo in the newspaper article in post #20 I now fully realise the pleasure that FLT enjoy in wild camping , it must be so nice to be surrounded by like minded folk within a few feet of you so conversation can take place with others without leaving your van and the neighbourly wafting from sogs to sweeten the night air and all this for nothing, idyllic (y)

Perhaps I have got it wrong paying money to pitch on sites with my neighbours at least 6metres away surrounded by neatly cut grass and power, water and waste dump on my pitch and heated shower and toilet facilities should I need them.;)

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Ha ha! :D

It’s not ‘wild camping’ though Is it? It’s inconsiderate camping!

Edit: actually I wouldn’t call it camping at all... it’s parking
 
Slightly different perspective on Fort William. Was there in March and there was only 2 or 3 (1 might have been a van) campers on the car park at the waterfront and 1 in the car park behind Morrisons.
Touring around the North we did see a fair number of others with, probably, around 50% of them being rented vehicles.
The C&MC site at Dunnet Bay, where we stayed for a few nights had on average 10-12 rented units every night. The large car park at the gate of the site which is clearly signed "No Overnighting" had 1 or 2 parked vans there every night. One of them even had the temerity to drive onto the site to dump his grey and fill with fresh and was miffed when the warden asked him what he was doing!:rolleyes:
 
I’m writing this sitting on my pitch 20yrds from a crystal clear sea with water electric and waste on my pitch, I have a swimming pool,very clean toilets and shower. There is washing up liquid in dispensers on every washing up sink and they have one of those machines that you put your cassette in and it does it all for you with added fluid Free...! I have a restaurant and bar where I’m welcomed for my custom..... people respect one another with a good morning in whatever language....

I have all this for €17 = £14.91 per night.... this is in Croatia but is also available throughout Europe....

I used to go on a cc in a corner of a field with one tap and a drain cover for £15 in the uk ....

Sometimes it doesn’t surprise me that some people just don’t care about RIP OFF BRITAIN ...(n)
 
Hmmmm , i have to admit , i've been thinking about this one a lot myself recently , trouble is i only started motorhoming last year . A couple of months ago , i learned of something that i was a bit unhappy about , and it's been building since . I've come across several other thing's that have thrown my original plan of full timing in doubt , to a point where it seemed every week i would find something that make's that even more unlikely .
Now i love my little van , despite it's age , it's in really good condition and it's upgrade/overhaul is coming along nicely , though a little slower than i would like . I've already spent quite a bit of dosh to achieve this , but to be honest , a couple of week's ago , i began to considering a major change in direction .
 
Southdowners said:
I would think that providing Aires would be a big help... but how?
Click to expand...
Get in touch with the council for the area in which you have identified a likely spot.
This article and this template are a few years old now but the principles still hold true.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top