RUMBLINGS…

This afternoon the Government released its response to the petition, on the Prime Minister’s own website, for wild camping to be legalised in England and Wales.

Guess what? The government is going to do nothing.

Ho hum.

Let’s have a look at what the Government says, bit by bit. Along the way, purely for the sake of interest, I’ll compare it with the response I received from Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, via my local Tory MP, David Curry, way back in February.

“This Government appreciates the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland,” says the Government today.

Compare that to what Mr Benn said in February: “I do appreciate what Mr Manning says about the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland.”

Spot the similarity? There’s more…

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Steph and I arrived back home in Stainforth at the end of May after spending a fortnight on the TGO Challenge, that annual west-to-east crossing of Scotland that is, quite simply, the finest backpacking event in the world.

Chances are that if you read this blog you already know about the Challenge but for latecomers I’ll summarise: every May, over two weeks, around 300 good folk backpack coast-to-coast across Scotland. They start from more than a dozen check out points on the west coast and make their way, via a route of their own devising, through the mountains and glens of the Highlands, to the eastern seaboard, where they finish at a point of their own choosing between Fraserburgh and Arbroath.

Your route can be as sociable or as lonesome as you like: I make no excuses for having taken the sociable option one each of the nine Challenges I’ve completed to date – the folk who take part are some of the most friendly types you could wish to meet and stories, advice and beers shared along the 200-and-odd miles that most routes involve shouldn’t be missed.

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