11 Replies to “Trespass with us?”

  1. Yes it is very interesting, I fail to understand the attitude in this country that we are excluded if we don’t own. It’s not the case in most of the rest of Europe and shouldn’t be here. I also see the post has already attracted a dislike but as ever they are too shy or cowardly to justify their position.

  2. I have always been astonished by Englands willingness to be
    subservient to a sign.

    1. Do you include signs on nature reserves saying, ‘no dogs’ or words to that effect? This whole issue has been over simplified, particularly by people with their own agendas.

  3. Whilst I agree with the cause and quite like the idea of a day of mass trespass, that letter is awful and I would be embarrassed to leave it…
    “We trespass today because we know, in body, mind and soul,
    that nature can heal us.” Really!!

  4. Should the right to roam be extended to your back garden? Why not?

    I have a great deal of experience being in wild places and find that too many park, picnic and leave their rubbish behind. They let their dogs run free through livestock and are generally inconsiderate of those who own and maintain the countryside. Footpaths and bridleways are quite another matter and must always be kept open and cared for; that is part of responsible land ownership. But the claim “it’s my right” is absolute rubbish and anarchy. When the public starts to demonstrate a majority responsibility then perhaps the rules can be relaxed.

    I shall be picnicking on your lawn at the next opportunity.

  5. I love to go wild camping but the nearest place I can go legally is at least 90 minutes drive away.
    The only other option is 4 hours away.
    Even then your not allowed a campfire. Ridiculous!
    I have found numerous places to go within a short cycle or walk from my house for a sneaky over nighter.
    If you genuinely leave no trace and are mindful of livestock and wildlife. If your lucky enough to find any, then what is the harm?
    Lockdown has been awful and a nice bike ride with a night under the stars is an amazing escape.

  6. I vividly remember a Thelwell cartoon from the 1960s as the day out in the car took off of a farmer and his family picknicking in a tiny suburban front garden. It was meant to highlight what it was like for farmers having people picknicking in their gateways as was increasingly common at the time. And, at the time, it would have been seen as a rebuke to the townie and was generally accepted – and, as Austringer puts it so well, lives on to this very day.

    But looking back I can only wonder at how owners of hundreds, maybe thousands of acres could see any equivalence in their efforts to keep people out of even one square inch of their land with that tiny front garden. But they did, and more pertinently, still do today. It is wrong, and it is doubly wrong because these independent spirited landowners are actually financed by the very people they are keeping out – ‘Give me YOUR money – now get of MY land’ pretty well sums up the English countryside our fathers and grandfathers fought for.

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