Camping on The Coast to Coast

I want to do the Coast to Coast walk with my daughter next summer but we can't afford the cost of B&B. Does anyone have experience of doing this using campsites and if so, what campsites are there along the walk that you could recommend?

Rosemary Steadman-Allen, Gillingham

A. Walk to somewhere where you have friends! For instance the coast path around North Devon is fantastic & you have friends in the area!

Garry Reed, Barnstaple

A. Did c2c last july camping each of the days great fun and cheap. 1st night very late so wild camp near start St Bees, next wild camp Ennerdale Water, next NT campsite Seatoller farm, next Side Farm near Ullswater - great site, next pub Bulls Head at Shap - not great, on to Kirkby Stephen Pennine View - great site, to Reeth Orchard camp park - great site, on past Richmond to St Giles Farm - 1 of best, next Blue Bell Inn Ingleby Cross, next great views Lord Stones cafe, next great pub Lion Inn Blakey Ridge, on to someone's garden at Little Beck, last Middlewood Farm Robin Hoods Bay

Richard Manning, Suffolk

A. Wild Camping and The Law in England, Scotland and Wales.

Tents cannot be pitched just anywhere because every piece of Britain is owned by some individual or some organisation and according to the strict letter of the law permission must be obtained prior to pitching tent and camping.

In practice however, this is often impractical and wild camping is usually tolerated in the more remote areas - typically, more than half a day's walk from an official campsite or other accommodation providing you:

Keep groups small
Camp as unobtrusively as possible
Leave camp as you found it
Remove all litter (even other people's)
Carry out everything you carried in
Carry out tampons and sanitary towels (burying them doesn't work as animals dig them up again)
Choose a dry pitch rather than digging drainage ditches around a tent or moving boulders
Toilet duties should be performed 30m (100ft) from water and the results buried using a trowel
At all time, help preserve the environment
And if you are in any doubt about what you're doing, find out more

In Scotland, the current access legislation (which came into effect in early 2005) is explicit about your right to wild camp on hill land. However, there are exceptions. Since March 2011 you are not permitted to wild camp between Dryman and Rowardennan on the shore of Loch Lomond. See Loch Lomond Wild Camping Ban for more information.

There appears to be an exception to this with respect to camping in Dartmoor National Park where the right to wild camping is actually enshrined in the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act, 1949 amendment Dartmoor Commons Act, 1985 - see Wild Camping in the UK for more details.

For the definitive answer with respect to wild camping in Scotland see the answer supplied by the Scottish Natural Heritage

For a few (tongue in cheek) tips on wild camping see Some Wild Camping Tips.

NB. go4awalk.com cannot offer any advice on suitable locations for wild camping - but click here for walks from exisiting campsites.

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

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