RUMBLINGS…

The debate over whether or not to legitimise wild camping is catching fire.

Various forums are debating the issue including this one,  here, which I visited tonight and was sufficiently roused to compose a lengthy response.

The post hasn’t appeared yet, presumably awaiting vetting or the site’s administrator to authorise my posts as a new member, so I’ll post it here to give it an earlier airing. Please read it in conjunction with the original thread here.

Well, I just had to register in order to respond to some of the comments here which leave me feeling pretty cold.

I’m being overwhelmed by the “I’m alright Jack” attitude (“if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”) of most posters who seem to prefer the idea of sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring the fact that, according to the law, you’ve no legitimate right to be woken in the morning by the song of skylark or the call of curlew.

If the law is to be adhered to, as it stands, you’d all be tucked up in your own beds at night waiting to be woken by the grumbling sound of traffic every morning. Will you be happy simply to dream of wild places?

Most of the arguments being wielded here in favour of maintaining the status quo are the very same arguments that landowners used to lobby against the increased RIGHTS of access that the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2001 gave us.

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This is Darren Christie – and he might just have started a big ball rolling.

Blogger “Weird” Darren has set up an e-petition at the government’s website calling for the legitimisation of wild camping in England and Wales.

Full marks, and thanks, to Darren for seizing this issue by the throat, and to all those bloggers and websites that have moved to urge their readers to support the petition.

It’s a curious and incomprehensible wrong that while we can camp in Scotland’s wild places without fear of prosecution, we can’t do the same in England and Wales.

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It’s a while since I finished a walk by torchlight!

As is becoming the norm, we set off a little later than most sane folks would (plenty of excuses available, though really we’re just settling comfortably into the lifestyle that says we live here so we can set off when we bloody like!) and ended up coming over the shoulder of Fountains Fell as the sun set; not that there was anything much to report, as gathering cloud denied any light show.

A grand walk, though, from home in Stainforth over the crag behind the village to Jubilee Cave, then across the moor to Malham Tarn and back along the Pennine Way, dropping off the trail before Fountains Fell to head home over rough pasture, in the dark.

What almost spoiled the walk was the pair of motorised persons riding trail bikes on the moors above the village and on the Pennine Way near Malham.

We met them twice. On the first occasion I thought I might be developing killjoy attitudes; afterall, the bridleway we were following was quite hard-surfaced and their motorcyles weren’t, it seemed, going to cause any damage.

Was I being Capt Selfish in wishing them elsewhere?

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Very sad last night to learn that outdoor legend Sir Ed Hillary has died at the age of 88.

It doesn’t really need me to say that the first guy to climb Everest was a hero, one whose legacy will continue to inspire generations of folks into the hills and mountains for decades to come. Kiwis recently voted him their most trustworthy figure but he was more than that - he was an ambassador for mountaineering and exploration, and an example to all those who love the outdoors.

But it also seems a trifle sad that news of his death came through last night, just after I’d learned of a competition being run by a French outdoor firm in which you could win – wait for it – the chance to summit Everest.

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A slightly altered look to the website – which will enable me to update these inane ramblings more frequently.

But not this morning!

Have fun,

John