A January night out

Having 24 hours available, I set out from home in the morning with a tent, a bit of food and my new sleeping mat, a Christmas present. This is a Nemo Switchback. With a longish hike coming up, I wanted to try an alternative to an inflating sleeping pad as these are prone to puncturing.

There was a lot of mud and water underfoot and, as I was using a tent, hadn't brought hiking poles. This was a mistake and, in a cleared coppice just outside Little Compton, I picked up a stripped branch which proved to be very useful when navigating muddy stretches as it helped me keep my balance.

I had identified a likely location for a wild camp about half a mile north of Long Compton, a wood with a public footpath running through it. I didn't expect anyone to be passing through as it is some way out of the village and this proved to be the case (as far as I know). My pitch was maybe fifty yards from the path on the edge of the trees with a view across a field, part of Weston Park. I was tucked away, well out of sight. My first little problem became apparent as I unpacked my tent when I realised I had brought the pole for the tent I intended to bring but had brought the wrong tent! Both are stored in green bags.

Anyway, with very little ingenuity I strung the outer between two trees to make a tarp and used my stick as a support at the front, not that this was really needed. The inner I rolled out on the ground to lay my sleeping mat on. Perfect.

I spent a peaceful evening and night. The pheasants were raucous for a while and I heard a distant muntjac in the early hours. In the morning, I broke one of my cardinal rules for wild camping, namely pitch late and leave early. I woke at 7.10, made tea and was about to make some porridge when I heard a vehicle approaching along the side of the field and it stopped right next to where I was pitched. Apparently, on arrival or maybe afterwards when moving around, I'd triggered a security camera so my exact location was known. It wasn't a great problem, however. The farm or park employee gave me a warning about shooting that goes on around here. I said I'd be gone in twenty minutes and he departed. I'm not sure that shooting would actually have taken place so near to a footpath but why were there cameras? Maybe to protect breeding pheasants nearby as the night before I'd spotted the same vehicle on the far side of the field going round to other woodland not far away and I'd heard sounds of possibly birds welcoming the arrival of a food supply.

Anyway, I packed up and went on my way, really annoyed with myself for not striking camp immediately on waking (and waking earlier). Had I done so, I'd have been well away before the visitation at around 8am.

There was plenty more mud on the remainder of my walk but it was a good outing. The sleeping mat proved to be a success. Reviews to these are mixed from a comfort point of view as they aren't quite as comfortable as an inflating mat but I was prepared to sacrifice a little comfort to have a mat which wouldn't let me down. In use, it was comfortable on the leafy floor of a wood except under my shoulder (I'm generally a side sleeper). However, I put the pad from my backpack under my shoulder and this was fine.

So, my wild camp location was good but, if anyone wants to avoid the place and possibly being discovered, it's at SP290343.