Filling up drinking water in campervan

It is actually illegal to connect to hydrants unless you are licenced to do so and can pay for the water used

Adrianab, read up on the laws/new laws of wild camping in England before you get a visit from the old bill. The laws are very stringent & could be costly. The clever thing is to book into an official site & co-ordinate your water & waste needs👍🏻

since when have legalities concerned that particular community? 🙄

We are recently back from a very different touring holiday for us, carefully researched I might add. We decided to try a mix of a CL and legal stopovers in D&G. We are seasoned travellers, so went well prepared for most things, but even so, the unexpected did occur.

First stopover, a tiny seven pitch pull in, was idyllic. Gorgeous quiet location, water, waste and CDP point, all functioning and available. (Note though, no litter bins) A great start to our adventure, and all for £5. Drove across via Galloway Forest, and had lunch at Clatteringshaws. Remote but beautiful, with stopovers allowed. A very new CDP point, but no drinking water, litter bins or grey waste empty. We didn’t stay but moved on. Next stop was 4 nights on a carefully chosen CL, right where we wanted to be on the Rhinns of Galloway. Everything we needed, (except wifi, very rural area, but we had a good phone signal to tether), very relaxing and our adventure base for some serious cycling. £20 per night, but worth it for location and surroundings. Back East but via the coast, we could have stopped in a field car park on the Isle of Whithorn, but we had a good look around and went further on, using the huge Forestry overnight stop at Kirroughtrees near Newton Stewart. £8 per night, rubbish bin for small amounts, but no taps or waste services. However, you can get a shower in the visitor centre when it opens. (No idea if it costs though). Next move was our favourite, a community set up Aire adjacent to swimming pool in Kircudbright. 3 pitches with everything, hook up, bins, water, drive over grey waste. £10 per night. There are free spaces, with no services nearby as well. We stayed two nights, then moved on. Another Forestry Commission stopover, Dalbeattie 7Stanes. Should have been £6, but meter wouldn’t accept coins, and no card or phone payments. This had toilets open all night, but nothing else. On to last stopover, and we decided to go back to our first. Got there early at 2pm, in time as planned for a bike ride. Only to find CDP point out of use, as full. Luckily, tanker came as we were pitching up. Now this is designed for 7 outfits. By 9pm that evening, no less than 15 outfits had shoehorned themselves in, much to the annoyance of those who were using the legitimate pitching areas. We were lucky, we had loads of space around us, and when one cheeky so and so asked if they could park a bit closer to us, I simply said no, as they weren’t supposed to be on there as the 12th vehicle in. It was plain as well that the services were being abused by lots simply pulling in, dumping waste of all kinds, filling up and not paying a penny, or staying. Our second night was similar, too many MHs chasing too few pitching areas. Many were rental Vans, and they were happy to block footpath access, block access to water and waste points etc…..

At Kircudbright, we had a big MH try to park up next door, way too close, after pool and payment had closed. CCTV cameras sorted them out, and they were moved on, but not all places are managed, and there is some selfish and unsavoury behaviour going on. Councils, local communities and estates are trying really hard to make provision, but a tiny handful, as with other walks of life, are abusing what is provided. We toured, including four nights at £20 per night, for an average of £12.30 per night, and bought gifts and food locally. It’s definitely something we would do again, but it needs some planning, and it needs timing right to avoid the sheer number of outfits out there during Summer months. Scotland was easy, but I very much doubt England or Wales would be the same.

From London your not that far from the tunnel. Once in France it’s much easier to operate as a free spirit. There are hundreds of Aires, some in or on the edge of small villages, some in towns and a few miles from anywhere. Some are totally free, some charge for water others are have a barrier and charge 10 / 14 euros depending on time of year. Although for that fee you normally get a 6 amp electric connection. If you really want to wild camp rather than stop on designated Aires there are also lots of service ones where you can refill water for about 3 euros, with waste dumping free. There are several apps and websites which list the various Aires and there facilities. Although not always accurately.☹️

Beware of cemetery water taps etc some are linked to rain water tanks.

You forgot to mention the Ferry/Tunnel fees, and the extra insurance costs Steve. If folks are looking to have a cheap break, ie, wild camping, I am not sure that paying hundreds of pounds extra to do it overseas is going to be seen as a bonus.

What are you suggesting? I was pointing out to those who have also posted where to get hydrant connection equipment 

I don’t suppose keeping a MH in London is a particularly cheap option in any event TDA, particularly if storage is involved. Unfortunately from the OP we don’t know if the object is to save money or just be more spontaneous about where they stop. Even if the former a lot of the additional costs could be covered, since arriving 8 nights ago our nightly cost is £9.48 and that includes the last two nights on a very nice campsite.

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