Cabin in the woods

[king 11,664]

2 hours ago, mel b said:

North Wales is a beautiful part of the country . We looked at a few pieces of woodland up that way before I bought my little plot , a bit closer to home.

Living off grid doesn't have to be rough ( unless you prefer it that way) . Just a little bit of forward planning,  and extra graft , and you can be pretty comfortable. 

I'd guess that keeping cattle might be a bit more challenging,  but as long as you don't mind the extra effort, it would be great.

We rarely stay at our woodland for more than a long weekend , maybe a week at a push ,  but I'd love to try living off grid . Several things stop me from going for it full time . One is money . Ive been financially stable for years , but I worry that things could go tits up in the future ( think of all the end of the world covid hysteria) , and the other thing is going off grid on a piece of land , without the full permission of the local authority.  You'd be constantly looking over your shoulder , and waiting for a planning officer to hand you a letter telling you that you've got 28 days to remove everything you own .

I'd love to buy a decent sized smallholding,  but theyre well out of my price range unfortunately. 

1 thing to sum it all up mel..

He who dares wins..

You are a long time dead..just do what you want to do now..

The biggest prison we live in is In our own head...

[mel b 1,131]

1 hour ago, low plains drifter said:

You see the odd fenced off plots on roadsides on the outskirts of farmland, I don't know the legalities of that type of set up, but one of the places I pass on the way to work has a fella living on there in a little old caravan, I hear he's from the Highlands of Scotland, Hebrides or somewhere originally, and is hoping to get back up there, I've never talked to him myself, hear he does odd bits of work

I've seen the same . I'd guess that some of them are perfectly legit , and others are just chancing their arm at getting planning permission, and some are just living the dream.

I know that in the past , it was quite a common thing for people to buy a small/cheap plot of grazing land , then throw a couple of , donkeys, horses,llamas, alpacas,  on there , then put a caravan on there , as they need security,  then apply for planning permission for a permanent residence,  then sell the land with planning permission,  or build the house and sell it.

I believe that although it can still be done , things have been tightened up , and it's not very easy now . I think that you have to show that you're running things as a viable business , that pays you a living wage.

It's been a while since I looked into it , so things have probably changed considerably.

[mel b 1,131]

12 minutes ago, king said:

1 thing to sum it all up mel..

He who dares wins..

You are a long time dead..just do what you want to do now..

The biggest prison we live in is In our own head...

That's very true .

My problem is that I'm very comfortable these days , but in the past , I've gone to bed very hungry way too many times .  Its the thought of those bad old days , that has always pushed me to work hard and make money , and look after my wife and kids . The thought of ending up back in that situation, stops me from taking risks.

 

[ryaldinhio 4,139]

5 minutes ago, mel b said:

That's very true .

My problem is that I'm very comfortable these days , but in the past , I've gone to bed very hungry way too many times .  Its the thought of those bad old days , that has always pushed me to work hard and make money , and look after my wife and kids . The thought of ending up back in that situation, stops me from taking risks.

 

100% agree mate.

I haven't had a bad life at all, but still want to give better to my kids.

My kids and misus stop me taking calculated risks that I would on my own. Ultimately its all for them, whatever I do.

[mel b 1,131]

1 minute ago, ryaldinhio said:

100% agree mate.

I haven't had a bad life at all, but still want to give better to my kids.

My kids and misus stop me taking calculated risks that I would on my own. Ultimately its all for them, whatever I do.

Yep , that's me.

I don't go without a single thing these days , but nothing I have comes from my wages , every penny of that goes into the family pot(even though my kids are grown up).

Everything that I have , is either bought for me by the Mrs and kids (they really spoil me) , or bought with cash I make from buying and selling,  or from selling craft things that I make.

[ryaldinhio 4,139]

9 minutes ago, mel b said:

Yep , that's me.

I don't go without a single thing these days , but nothing I have comes from my wages , every penny of that goes into the family pot(even though my kids are grown up).

Everything that I have , is either bought for me by the Mrs and kids (they really spoil me) , or bought with cash I make from buying and selling,  or from selling craft things that I make.

What do you make?

[mel b 1,131]

1 minute ago, ryaldinhio said:

What do you make?

Only basic stuff like oak chopping boards, fishing priests ,or the odd bowl , nothing special really. 

I have made the odd unusual thing though . I was once asked to make a wand . A mate made me a bronze axe and knife( so that I didn't kill the fairy magic by using steel tools) , and I made a load of wands . I made them from , oak , copper wire , and , deer antler . I was gobsmacked when they all sold .

[ryaldinhio 4,139]

5 minutes ago, mel b said:

Only basic stuff like oak chopping boards, fishing priests ,or the odd bowl , nothing special really. 

I have made the odd unusual thing though . I was once asked to make a wand . A mate made me a bronze axe and knife( so that I didn't kill the fairy magic by using steel tools) , and I made a load of wands . I made them from , oak , copper wire , and , deer antler . I was gobsmacked when they all sold .

Thats where the future is at, making money at something that's a hobby.

[EDDIE B 3,120]

This all reminds me of an old friend of my Father's. Not a cabin, but a cottage, out in the middle of nowhere. 

 Back in the 90's, my father used to do a lot of hunting, and fishing, and got in with this boyo that lived in an old cottage on the banks of the river Shannon.

 It was a very old house, probably his home house, where he grew up. Maybe his grandparents house. Now, we are talking 1990's, not 1920's, but this place looked and felt like you were stepping into another era. Big open fire with an old crane for cooking over. No electricity, so no fridge. Gas lighting, powdered milk, tins upon tins of soup, corned beef etc. Had his own orchard, sowed his own garden. Hunted the bogs, and river. Pheasant, duck, hare. Poached the stream. Finest of wild brown trout.

 There was no road in or out of his place, so no use for a car. He did have a fishing boat mind, and would take a trip once a week up river, into town, for supplies and a few pints. 

 I remember one time as a youngster going duck shooting with the father up his way. It was bitter cold, with snow on the ground. We called in to the old lads, for a cup a tea, and just to get out of the cold for a while. We knew he'd have that big old fireplace lit. Three foot logs going into that thing at a time.

 He could see we were frozen so stuck on a big pot of stew. Threw in whatever he had at hand. Full onions, spuds as big as your fist, and some canned meat. I was famished, but see in those days, I was a fussy eater. Wouldn't eat onions, or veg, or anything that wasn't just meat or spuds. He hands me this bowl a "stew", and I look at me Father. Eat whatever ya can, he says. Well I bloody licked the bowl clean, and never turned my nose up to food from that day on.

 Funny the things that stay in your head. Sometimes the most insignificant things, linger as clear as the day they happened, just imprinted into the mind.

 

[low plains drifter 9,467]

56 minutes ago, EDDIE B said:

This all reminds me of an old friend of my Father's. Not a cabin, but a cottage, out in the middle of nowhere. 

 Back in the 90's, my father used to do a lot of hunting, and fishing, and got in with this boyo that lived in an old cottage on the banks of the river Shannon.

 It was a very old house, probably his home house, where he grew up. Maybe his grandparents house. Now, we are talking 1990's, not 1920's, but this place looked and felt like you were stepping into another era. Big open fire with an old crane for cooking over. No electricity, so no fridge. Gas lighting, powdered milk, tins upon tins of soup, corned beef etc. Had his own orchard, sowed his own garden. Hunted the bogs, and river. Pheasant, duck, hare. Poached the stream. Finest of wild brown trout.

 There was no road in or out of his place, so no use for a car. He did have a fishing boat mind, and would take a trip once a week up river, into town, for supplies and a few pints. 

 I remember one time as a youngster going duck shooting with the father up his way. It was bitter cold, with snow on the ground. We called in to the old lads, for a cup a tea, and just to get out of the cold for a while. We knew he'd have that big old fireplace lit. Three foot logs going into that thing at a time.

 He could see we were frozen so stuck on a big pot of stew. Threw in whatever he had at hand. Full onions, spuds as big as your fist, and some canned meat. I was famished, but see in those days, I was a fussy eater. Wouldn't eat onions, or veg, or anything that wasn't just meat or spuds. He hands me this bowl a "stew", and I look at me Father. Eat whatever ya can, he says. Well I bloody licked the bowl clean, and never turned my nose up to food from that day on.

 Funny the things that stay in your head. Sometimes the most insignificant things, linger as clear as the day they happened, just imprinted into the mind.

 

This is an outstanding post, overflowing with country lore, and will go into THL heritage archives 

[neil82 1,008]

On 22/07/2023 at 12:20, Born Hunter said:

Who remembers the lad on here who setup shop on a bit of local scrub land. Had a veg plot and an air rifle for meat. Eventually got evicted after the owner finally turned up with the police but not without a fight. Hard to figure out whether to admire his attitude or section him!

Miles something or other, couple of people on another forum had serious problems with him, deffo had mental problems, met him at one meet and he seemed OK but following his posts and then seeing things develope made me extremely glad things never went  any further than sharing a few on line messages.

[Qbgrey 3,987]

You would be throwing money after money trying to fight any woodland living, bad enough on a field . It is a lovely idea , I’ve often thought a nice clearing in the woods with a log cabin, fire on the go, a track weaving it’s way threw the trees. Just a dream I’m afraid

[EDDIE B 3,120]

Would you get away with something like this?

 

[DIDO.1 20,894]

5 minutes ago, EDDIE B said:

Would you get away with something like this?

 

I reckon it would just fill up with water like a ww1 trench

[MH1 1,805]

This was for sale near me, bit more than a cabin and a bit out of my price range

Check out this 1 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

WWW.RIGHTMOVE.CO.UK

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1 bedroom detached house for sale in New Mill, St. Clears, Carmarthen, SA33 for...