Off grid living

knightstyle

John Seymour was certainly a great inspiration for many of us back in the 70s to try to live what is now called "off grid" we and others did it in Wales we were in a small wood with a decent stream near Pantperthog. There was also a group in caravans up the road at what is now the Alternative Energy Centre.
John came a few times and there was a guy who had a house/hovel up near Snowdon, he wrote a couple of books about trying to survive up there.
In the end, I left as it was becoming known to local police and there were certain cultivations which were not allowed.
It was hard work, fun and a sort of free love experience. But not one for bringing children up in if they are to live productive lives in the modern world.
As others have said you can make much of what you need but at some point you will need things you cannot make, good footware is one example, plus health and dental care.

lincroft1710

knightstyle wrote: »

John Seymour was certainly a great inspiration for many of us back in the 70s to try to live what is now called "off grid" we and others did it in Wales we were in a small wood with a decent stream near Pantperthog. There was also a group in caravans up the road at what is now the Alternative Energy Centre.
John came a few times and there was a guy who had a house/hovel up near Snowdon, he wrote a couple of books about trying to survive up there.

There was a married couple living in an old house near Snowdon in the 1960s - 80s. But it was the wife, Elizabeth West, who wrote the books - "Hovel in the Hills", "Garden in the Hills" and "Kitchen in the Hills. May not be the one you were thinking of, though.

knightstyle

Hi lincroft1710 yes that's the couple, they got divorced in the end though. I think the constant battle with the elements just got too much for Alan, I seem to remember he liked our home made distilled Plum spirit when he came.
Just had a rethink and it was mid 60s to early 70s that we were involved. We also made a wind turbine using a car dynamo and an oil drum cut in half that actually worked up the hill where we would lug the batteries up to charge. A water turbine was not so good, it was a tube with an archemedies screw in it again driving a dynamo from a car. It would work for a few minutes after assisted start but wasn't worth the effort!

ProDave

There is one way you can legally do this off grid living thing.

Buy 13 parcels of agricultural land and a large caravan. You can legally use a piece of land for 28 days without planning permission in each year, so stay 28 days on the first, then move on to the next.

The astute will notice that in fact you will be a day short (2 in a leap year) so spend that day or 2 on a caravan site.

AG47

ProDave wrote: »

There is one way you can legally do this off grid living thing.

Buy 13 parcels of agricultural land and a large caravan. You can legally use a piece of land for 28 days without planning permission in each year, so stay 28 days on the first, then move on to the next.

The astute will notice that in fact you will be a day short (2 in a leap year) so spend that day or 2 on a caravan site.

Could you not buy a pice of one and so,it it up on land registry into 13 or 14 separate bits of land?

AG47

With all the changes in planning permission coming in, it looks like it will be far easier o buy some land and get permission to build multiple properties.

The government would love to say next year that a record number of properties have been built under their watch

barkerross

Ohh that's really a cool idea.

AG47

With all the uncertainty that brexit no deal is bringing about, the government is trying to claw back a bit of respect by announcing thousands of affordable homes to be built on top of all the homes previously promised.

The next step is slackening planing regulations and encouraging self builds and making it easier

They are talking about 30% fall in property prices nd rents with the uncertainty of brexit debacle

Council are cutting back to extremes degrees, much smaller personnel and much greater work load of each council employee.

In the past people didn't get away with building off grid with no planning, but in the future it's looking more likely to get away with it for the four years needed to get right to remain or lawful development.

It's easier to just do it and apply for retroactive planning than to ask for planning to start with and have to jump through all those hoops.

With smaller busier council staff the chances are you wouldn't need to have to apply for retro active planning anyway if nobody ever questions what you have built

DaftyDuck

No, just no. I simply don't know where to bother to say how wrong you are, but that is bilge.

Nowadays, you stick a shed up in a field in the countryside these days, and you will be checked up within weeks. Try and get away with it, and you will get a restrictive order, limiting far harder anything you can do with the land.

As to the "they say..." bilge; you and a couple of others are always telling us there will be a crash, and there very rarely is. Considering the utter sh1tstorm that is our Brexit so far, the lack of a crash should indicate how firm the housing market is... Prices have not really fallen, neither have rents. If there is a crash (highly unlikely but just possible), it won't be 30%, and it will be caused by a lack of jobs and money in the economy, so rent and mortgages won't actually feel any cheaper.

The countryside isn't a free-for-all woodland for adventurous (ha ha ha) types to set up mud huts and yurts. We have broadband, cars, even understand writing and speech! We also tend to have jobs, work hard, and pay Council Tax - and object to those who don't!

Councils actually cover us with satellite imagery too.... I moved a ditch by a couple of feet, and got checked as to why (and approved, and corrected on the map...). A neighbour put concrete in front of a stable block.... was shouted at within the month!

Planning out here is far, far more restrictive than in towns, partly because it's easier to spot, partly because it's noticed by neighbours who tend to care.

But, I'm glad for the entertainment coming back. It will give me a chuckle when I go out to tend to the animals, check my solar output, and look over my borehole. All of which came about through hard work in the past, saving harder, not going into debt, and actually pulling my bloody weight for society in general, not whinging that it's all soooo unfaaaiiir!

Davesnave

Davesnave wrote: »

As they're a living example of 'how not to do it,' I'm reporting that the mud house couple were still in residence this afternoon. I didn't need to visit them to discover this; I just drove along the A377.

Mind you, they've stretched the council's 'out by Christmas' quite nicely, but then, which council evicts people at Christmas?

Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll quote myself and update....
'The Mud Hut Two' demolished their home and moved to Ireland last spring, intimating to the press that they thought things there would be easier for unplanned self-builds of their variety. They never had a sustainable lifestyle here. I noted that despite the lady being 'allergic to modern life,' she got through quite a few canned soft drinks whilst on her market stall!:rotfl:


We still have the couple caravan-dwelling in a lay-by a few miles away. The council continue to turn a blind eye, so long as their child attends the local school regularly, which he does. Perhaps the council aren't keen to promote illiteracy .... Who knows? If they move them on it'll only be to another lay by.