UKC

Bosigran - "Wild" / van campers are leaving a lot of excrement in the woods and close to the path down from the car park to the crag and near the old mine workings closer to the crag. Concerns were raised about this at the recent SW BMC area meeting. Quite apart from the unpleasantness for everyone climbing at the crag, the National Trust are not at all happy about this state of affairs and this may well lead to the closing / gating of the car park and / or car park charges.

There are a number of inexpensive campsites nearby - please use these if you are unable to properly dispose of your poo.

Mark Kemball (BMC SW area secretary).

… not Bosigran I know but I was in the Britannia Inn in Elterwater (Langdale) a few weeks back - the locals are very unhappy about the amount of excrement in the laybys around the village that has appeared in the last couple of years or so... they are laying the blame firmly at the 'door' of the van campers; the National Park has been made aware of the problem... be interesting to see what happens or what action could potentially be taken over this issue...

… and as for the laybys on the road between Plas-y-Brenin and the Pen-y-Gwryd…

I'm sure it's getting worse everywhere

I've done my fair share of van camping, but it's not hard to leave no trace.

There seems to have been an explosion in roadside van camping in the last few years, over the summer if you drove over the Wrynose and Hardknott passes in the evening there was a van in almost every layby.

It can only be a matter of time before the authorities start to clamp down on it and idiots leaving litter and faeces will only hasten this.

I pick up other people's litter from the laybys but I draw the line at their crap.

FWIW if anyone reading this wants to avoid leaving their turds behind without having to drive off to a toilet, I carry an old plastic paint tub with a snap on lid, line it with a bin liner and 'go' in that, put the paper in it, tie it up and snap the lid back on for disposal in a bin elsewhere.

A portaltoilet is 50 quid from a lidl - less than the cost of the diesel to get there and back.  Christ human beings just shit the place up and then wonder . . . Why ?  Put one in the van then discreetly crap in it and take it home.  Despair 

As a new (3years) motorhome owner I find this totally unacceptable and with the 25% increase in ownership its going to get worse.  There was a warden  verbally abused recently when he found people dumping their crap in the dune's at Black Rock sands near Tremadog .  As  pointed out its not hard to bag it and put it in the box's provided for dog poo.

We always stop at camp sites every 3 to 4 days to empty & fill tanks wash clothes ect when on long trips but it seems there is a culture with some of the new owners that ive spent X amount of "k's" on the van ect and  im not spending any more to service its use.  It is not helped by the fact that the UK has not woken up and put in facility's  to service motor homes/ camper vans.  In France there are places every few miles to empty tanks usually free.   

I don't have answer lm afraid, its the same with dog owners and hanging their poo bags in trees!!!! The leaves fall off and we are left with bags of shit in the hedges. I had 1 start to leave their "little gifts" on the top of my boundary wall. I left them a little message that if i caught them they would be wearing it on their way home, seems to have worked its just dumped in the trees now.  

Well the dog poo boxes might as well get used for  something...

The laybys near here in North Lakes are kept clean by the locals. It is shocking what you can find. There is one regular who craps. The toilet paper blows everywhere. These are the places where the busy van and truck drivers eat their sandwiches, so not a pleasant experience if the phantom crapper has been. the paper can be flamed with a fag lighter. The excreta needs to be covered with a sod of soil and grass - quite time-consuming work. It is a sad reflection on our World that some people are so disgusting. They don't even laup into a field or go in the long grass - same with some dog owners of course but that is another topic.

DC

"Wild" camped for years in campervans and motorhomes, tend to find most litter is left by car drivers, take away wrappers etc which some how the seem to be unable to transport to a bin. There has been a marked increase in the last few years of campervans and motorhomes all congregating in the same places that they find on facebook etc, there seems to be a real lack of people using initiative and finding their own way. Obviously something needs to be done and it will probably end up the few spoiling it for the rest of ys with more no overnight parking signs going up. We always pick up litter where we stay, support the local economy and have a toilet on board. As with most people who love the outdoors, a leave no trace attitude must be taken wherever you go unfortunately some people still need educating to this. 

I noticed a fair amount of toilet paper there a few weeks ago and I don’t doubt it’s coming from van campers, but judging from how empty the crags were it’s unlikely to be from climbers.

Sunny day in August, two other teams climbing.

In New Zealand there's been such a problem with people in vans dumping everywhere that in some areas overnight van parking has been banned and in most areas you can only stay if your vehicle is certified as "self contained" and has toilet facilities.

If you are caught parked up breaking the rules you will be fined and moved on whatever the time of the night.

I can see it going the same way in the UK if the boom in van ownership and random crapping continues.

A good outside dump is undoubtedly one of life's great pleasures (who want's to squat on a smelly "bucket" in a vehicle when you could be out in the fresh air with a nice view?) Sadly, like many other things in life, if too many people are doing it (and doing it badly) it becomes unsustainable and a rethink is required.

Anyway, there is no excuse for not doing it properly. Look for a spot where it is very unlikely other people will go at all, cover it, and don't use bog paper (which is often the most offensive thing) - a handful of grass or whatever, even a stone, work perfectly well.

The plague of camper vans overrunning the country does seem to be an out of control problem which I really do think threatens our experience of the outdoors. Their visual impact in every layby is probably just the tip of the turd.

Driving home yesterday past Fox House, the vehicles parked up on the road we’re probably in the ratio of 3 vans to 1 car. There are some pubs around here (like the Eyre Arms at Calver crossroads offering free overnight parking and use of facilities as long as you buy beers and/or food. I know that this is the case in quite a few pubs, but they need to advertise the facility. This would help a lot I think

I was camping at St Petrox near Pembroke over the bank holiday. Got there at 1am and found someone had had a shit at the base of a tree and covered it with toilet paper...approximately 5 metres from the toilet. Ain’t no helping some folk. 

I was camping at St Petrox near Pembroke over the bank holiday. Got there at 1am and found someone had had a shit at the base of a tree and covered it with toilet paper...approximately 5 metres from the toilet. Ain’t no helping some folk. 

I was camping at St Petrox near Pembroke over the bank holiday. Got there at 1am and found someone had had a shit at the base of a tree and covered it with toilet paper...approximately 5 metres from the toilet. Ain’t no helping some folk. 

I'm not sure they can advertise the facility, or even offer it officially.  If they do, they're effectively running a campsite - what are the implications as regards their licence, planning permission, etc..

Besides which, I suspect anyone who did advertise would immediately be overwhelmed by demand from people just taking the piss, buying a shandy and a bag of crisps and expecting to park up their enormous 40k camper for a week.

There's an organisation called Britstops.

They charge an annual fee and publish a book full of pubs, etc where you can stay the night.