Parking for overnight Motorhome (Northumberland)

We have stayed overnight at Eyemouth Golf Club. Slightly further north than the OP asked but not much. We got safe secure parking for the night, they got customers who bought meals and a few beers. Win win.

The pub stopover model seems a great solution to the problem, if it’s not abused (e.g. by people staying but not paying, or pubs creating parking and noise problems by attracting extra numbers) which I’m sure the majority don’t. You get a decent, safe place to stop, and a local business gets some trade. As such, I’m sure those in power will clamp down on it sooner rather than later.

I don’t know if they allow it, but worth checking with the pub in Stannington (Three Horse Shoes?) if you want a quick stop – it’s just off the A1 and has a massive car park. Food is supposed to be decent too (not tried it).

The pub in Stannington is the Ridley Arms. The Three Horse Shoes is off the A189 Spine Road but could still be worth a try as there’s a bit of a lane leading up to it.

To answer the original question , Otterburn mill shop allow overnight camping in the car park, do a nice if slightly expensive breakfast. Further along the A68 before Byrness take the left to Borders holiday park and then left again, it’ll take you to Keilder Forest drive, half a mile along and before the drive stats in earnest there’s a toilet block, picnic area and around 4 spaces that will fit a motorhome on. Nice little waterfall walk close by as well.

If i remember rightly you have a legal right to sleep roadside in a camper van in Scotland,

I don’t think is true.  There is a long tradition of tolerance but no legal right

“I would be quite happy with banning all roadside camping”

Ban, outlaw – always the way here on the Isle of Schight.   As a cycle tourist, it’s not pleasant being collateral damage in the War On Vans.

Lomond Trossachs came unstuck with the roadside parking thing – they could not ban vans or motorhomes in laybys, but those of us on bikes were fair game.

@tjagain is correct – no vehicular rights, even for roadside camping.

https://www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot/practical-guide-all/camping/campervans-motorhomes-and-roof-top-tents

The Craster Arms in Beadnell as well as the Cottage Inn at Dunstan are good pub stopovers on the coast road. The main car park at Bamburgh has official overnight places.

Lomond Trossachs came unstuck with the roadside parking thing – they could not ban vans or motorhomes in laybys, but those of us on bikes were fair game.

Ermm – yes they can- no overnight parking in the laybys and no camping except intolerance zone.  doesn’t affect me on the bike because I will be miles off the road.  Its very hard to enforce and the rules are pretty toothless but those are the rules

There are big signs as you enter the national park and signage all over the popular camping spots. some of the spots that used to be used for van camping are blocked off completely IIRC

Didn’t a lot of lay-bys etc in Scotland lose the “no overnight camping signs” because …..and then my recollection gets wooly.

We do a bit of everything in our van, campsites, ‘wild’ camping and pub stopovers. We use all the various sites to choose our stops and avoid the popular ones and abide by Rule No1. I would be really rather miffed if we couldn’t do this because some people don’t know how to behave.

We also take pride in the fact that we ‘inject’ our cash into the independant business’s in theses area’s.

We also feel shame that others are so awful and often find ourselves tidying litter up while we are there but this also happens at popular mountain biking spots, perhaps we should ban them too while we are at it.

Mugboo – the problem is simply the number of vans.  Its not just those who behave badly =- the overall effect of roadside camping on highland communities is damaging.

Once a wild camping spot gets put o none of those sites it gets swamped.  a spot I used occasionally for a camper van over the years and never saw more than one other van there.  Last time I went past 30+ vans were on the site, machair all ripped up by tyres

<p style=”text-align: left;”>It’s not the number of vans, it’s the lack of parking. The more restricted it gets, the busier the remaining spots get.  If councils opened up their town car parks overnight (which often have facilities nearby), allowed parking on parts of the seafront rather than banning the whole lot because a few neighbours have kicked up a fuss and opened up the odd aire, the remote spots would be much less busy</p>
Banning it because a minority leave shite behind them or don’t respect locals by parking inconsiderately is like banning wild camping as a minority leave rubbish in the countryside and/or cause damage lighting fires.  And that could get much more problematic as ebiking opens up remote locations and allows you to lug extra beer to your mountaintop.

YOu are missing the point spooky.  there simply is not enough spaces for all the vans.  this leads to huge issues for locals even when the van lifers are thinking they are being considerate

Its not just about the dirty minority – its about the unsustainable number of folk that want to roadside camp

There is a car park near me that has been getting popular with campervans over the last few years. On top of the South Downs with great views. There were several regulars that were often there plus extras that had found it through forums.

Regularly cycle through there and only once ever saw any anti social behaviour (pretty tame but someone draining their sink/shower onto the floor leaving a big soapy puddle under the van). Never seen any human waste despite scoping out the odd wildcamping spot nearby (by bike).

Local landowner has now banned it all apparently due to a couple of complaints, it’s now a 24-7 ANPR controlled car park and I bet the complainers are now regretting it as they can’t walk their dogs for free.

Where are the vans? They are still here of course and arriving at the ferry port, they’ve just now been displaced to smaller less suitable car parks.

 If councils opened up their town car parks overnight (which often have facilities nearby), allowed parking on parts of the seafront rather than banning the whole lot because a few neighbours have kicked up a fuss and opened up the odd aire

Is this because campsites are full or because you dont think motorhomes shouldnt have to pay the prices that campsites are asking?

Again with a lot of the above comments, why is a camper van any different to a caravan and car which appear quite happy to use campsites

The only solution is to ban all vans, ban car parks, ban people and ban forums

Yep Tj I can’t argue with that. Everything I’ve read about your neck of the woods has put me off, might go up in early Spring or Autumn once we retire, have you got plenty of space on your drive? ;)

I live in an attic flat with no free onstreet parking – and the two local vanlifer encampments have been cleared so I am afrid I cannot help really  :-)

Its no problem camper vanning in Scotland so long as you use campsites or the “aires” that are springing up

I am not sure if it’s technically allowed here or not, but the roadside at Budle Bay is a lovely spot (if you don’t mind the road noise). We were staying in accommodation just down the road and there were a few people in motorhomes parked on the verges.

Some of the car parks around Bamburgh have allocated bookable parking bays for overnight use. Sorry see its already been mentioned

https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Parking/Overnight-Motorhome-Parking.aspx

I think there’s a difference between a motor home that’s self contained and a converted van that has no toilet etc. We need more Aire type places, and places to legally drop black waste etc in the uk but we also need to sort out the shitting in the lay-bye brigade who bought a van as they’ve seen someone on YouTube or insta doing it.   There’s nothing worse. You don’t seem to get that in France etc as municipal campsites are plentiful and cheaper than in the uk and aires seem to be self policing or there are other options like farm stays etc.

That Northumberland pilot is good but where do all the legitimate vans using sites like that dump their black waste? Someone will be moaning soon that it’s being flushed down public toilets or dumped down drains etc. we need to get on board and provide decent facilities.

Ermm – yes they can- no overnight parking in the laybys and no camping except intolerance zone. 

The only time I’ve seen the Loch Lomond camping ban in action the cops moved on a couple who’d pitched a tent and did nothing about the 30 or so vans in the car park.

You can book a ‘permit’ for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs,

Motorhomes and campervans in the National Park

the problem is simply the number of vans. Its not just those who behave badly

That is behaving badly imo, if there are several other people at a spot you shouldn’t go there.

I sleep in my panel van but for me it’s most useful for when I arrive late somewhere so I am off again before 07:00 most of the time. I think part of the issue is the way people treat park up spots like a campsite, i.e they stay there all evening, then cook breakfast then park all day, hang around etc

The Lomond Trossachs camping van is just that – a camping ban.   They could not enforce it on vans.

Touring on a bike – you have a problem.  I am really afraid of this spreading nationally.  I sometimes tour in England, but the consequences of getting caught are not criminal action.

@funkydunc

Is this because campsites are full or because you dont think motorhomes shouldnt have to pay the prices that campsites are asking?

I’m completely happy to pay a few quid for the reassurance that I’m not going to get asked to move on.  I would go to a campsite if it’s got space, allows you to turn up at 8 or 9pm and don’t want you to pay for a 3 night minimum stay.  That’s rare in high season.

Let’s just remember, the OP is asking for an overnight stopover, and that’s generally the only time I’d look for somewhere to stop overnight.  I don’t go away for a week of free wild camping, I’d rather be on a site where I can leave the van without worrying about it being broken in to.

I’m not looking to drive miles out of the way to a scenic location.  I want to drive into a town/village and see a car park welcoming campervans, then I can go for a meal, rest up, find a fryup in the morning and crack on/spend a couple of hours exploring if I’m not in a rush.

Regarding France, having walked the dog in a layby or two over the years, they are often littered with shitty toilet tissue.

As a responsible converted van owner with a portaloo I am often dismayed at others behaviour. We once pulled into the car park in Lytham on the front (camping allowed) to find it full of people sat around pissed up and cooking, very sad. Reviews of Saltburn suggest the same on the seafront. although its lovely, respectful and peaceful out of season.

As I said above, careful reading of the reviews means its easy to avoid these issues but that doesn’t mean these issues don’t exist.

I do agree though that its time that councils countrywide got on with providing facilities rather than legislating it out of existence. Put those in place then prosecute those that misbehave.

Same concept as banning cars from town centres. Put in great public transport, park and rides first then crack on with ban hammer (yes Bradford, I’m looking at you). Funnily enough, as Cambridge proves, this works in harmony with the motorhome brigade by also providing a place to take water on board, empty the loo and nearby toilets. Add in a cheap return into a town and kerching, helps keep those shops and bars open too.

Didn’t Penmachno get its trails to pull people into the area. Well some basic facilities would work in the same way.

Get the britstop book which is a legit source of info where landowners, pubs, cafes, farms shops etc allow you to stay the night. We keep the book in the van so always have an option for a stop.

https://www.britstops.com

Yep, Britstops is good too.

Alnwick Rugby Club – £25 with electric

Hogg’s Head Inn Alnwick – Free in their car park

Eat and Sleep Lindisfarne (Beal) – £20 which is reimbursed if you have breakfast the next day

That Northumberland pilot is good but where do all the legitimate vans using sites like that dump their black waste?

Campsites offer these services for a minimal fee.

kennypFree Member
We have stayed overnight at Eyemouth Golf Club. Slightly further north than the OP asked but not much. We got safe secure parking for the night, they got customers who bought meals and a few beers. Win win.

We stayed there in June and had a great meal in the Golf club. We just phoned ahead to the restaurant and booked on for the night. They even have a tap to get some clean water and a couple of EHUs. There were 5 vans there that night so they got 5 tables of people eating and drinking and spending cash locally.
The seafood was great, straight from the local harbour.

Thinking about heading up there soon as we’ve upgraded to a motorhome from the camper. Would make an easy tester place for me to get use to it.

Noticed this the other morning on a walk:

https://www.backworthhall.co.uk/motorhomes

Kielder campsite.

Newcastleton has a caravan / motohome site.

A few spots at various locations north of Kieder beside the minor road   but quite well known esp at weekends.

Waren Mill also has a few laybys in both directions beside the road after leaving Bamburgh.