Motorhome attacked while sleeping

[busby]

PTSD? My mate reckoned he suffered from AHDI, funny enough he came home from school, his old man sat him on the kitchen drainer, gave him a clip round the ear and surprisingly enough he was cured.
Mind you that was the the early 60’s so science has moved on since then!
One of my school friends once called me a nasty name, now nearly 70 and I don’t think I have ever recovered.

AHDI,,,is someone who should have had his or her arse or legs smacked at an early age...BUSBY.

 

[busby]

Some are a little quirky but ones I like are

Camper vibe - good quality photography, production and humour
Tread the globe - down to earth likeable couple
Extreme Motorhome Adventures - only found this one recently but they seem enthuiastic and have a lot of fun

Agree Tread the Globe,,ExPawers and Kinging it.BUSBY.

 

[Stealaway]

I'm sure we would never make a video of the experience. It would be enough for us to report the incidence just to give people the head's up.
It won't change our wild camping at all.
We have had so many wonderful night's in so many remote locations.
This is an unfortunate experience but a very unusual incident.

 

[Swifter]

I'm sure we would never make a video of the experience. It would be enough for us to report the incidence just to give people the head's up.
It won't change our wild camping at all.
We have had so many wonderful night's in so many remote locations.
This is an unfortunate experience but a very unusual incident.

I kind of wish I had never seen the video now . We don’t wild camp but that’s not to say we would discount it as an option . Most campsites don’t allow late a arrival so if we hit traffic we may have to spend a night somewhere unexpectedly.

 

[Gina M]

That couple have long gone now. I don't think they will venture on here again. Sad, but true. They are very popular on the other side though and good for them

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[Gina M]

I kind of wish I had never seen the video now . We don’t wild camp but that’s not to say we would discount it as an option . Most campsites don’t allow late a arrival so if we hit traffic we may have to spend a night somewhere unexpectedly.

choose Tesco or Asda car park if that happens

 

[Swifter]

That couple have long gone now. I don't think they will venture on here again. Sad, but true. They are very popular on the other side though and good for them

I thought they seemed really nice . Unfortunately lots of people can’t get their head around having to pay a membership fee for a forum . Obviously we all know it’s much more than just a forum and what a fantastic club it is

 

[Minxy]

I've read the posts on here, those who thought it was fake, words fail me ... it's certainly NOT something you'd want to fake! Having been through this myself I can confirm you do NOT know how you'll deal with it until it happens. We had a lot more damage that this when it happened to us in Holland on an 'aire' and, even though we knew it was local youths at their 'witching' hour* (* we didn't find out that they cause 'mischief' until later), it didn't take away the upset etc that we felt even though we tried to keep cool and were just grateful that our dogs who had been sleeping on the dinette seats hadn't been injured by the flying 'plastic' from the window as fortunately the blind took the force out of the thrown bricks that came through it.

I suggest those who are making the flippant comments desist, it's not nice no matter why it happened, you don't go looking for trouble and unfortunately sometimes it finds you. We were very cautious about using aires and wild camping etc after our experience and took a long time to get back into feeling comfortable enough to do so. It's not necessarily when it first happens that's the problem, but for a long time afterwards as every little noise can make you paranoid.

This is what happened to ours:

 

[The Old Man]

I have in over therty years had one problem
Thay are few a far between
Bill

I Freedom Camp a lot and have been disturbed a few times. All but one was just noise maing and I have no reason tobelieve that it was directed specifically at me.

One time though, at an exposed place, near to a valley town, overnighted there there for over 50 years without incident but I had noted that there were an increasing number of overnighters.

Then one night a small group took to rocking the van. Yhey stopped and disappeared when I shouted that I had called the Police.

I hadn't called them, but it worked.

There was no damage and I estimated that there was no intent to.

Conversations in the local pub, the next day, highlighted an 'organised' campaign to deter overnighting because of local fears of Travellers moving in!

 

[DumfriesDik]

wizardinthewild so sorry about your attack. Very shocking. I hope you can find a way of falling in love again with the van and go on some adventures. It would knock us for six and question if it is worth it. Stay strong.

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[barsteward]

A little bit of sparkplug ceramic and a catapult. Will break any glass.

Most of the scroat's nowadays wouldn't have clue what a spark plug is let alone a catapult.
So it begs the question, Tam how did you come up with that cunning theory were you a naughty boy?

 

[chaser]

Agree Tread the Globe,,ExPawers and Kinging it.BUSBY.

Strange though , I don't know but it seems we haven't got anyone on here who also does one of these YouTuber things.
Wonder why?

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Personally ,I wouldn't let it put you off Wilding, we have stayed overnight in similar places and fortunately had no issues. Having the van vandalised by brick throwing yobs must surely be a one off extreme situation ,distressing and inconvenient.I assume you have put a note on the park4night website.
As they say ,"carry on camping" and enjoy your travels.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Strange though , I don't know but it seems we haven't got anyone on here who also does one of these YouTuber things.
Wonder why?

We had a couple of utubers ,no names, and they are a pain in the ar*e. I think they got the message after a couple of posts and disappeared into the ether.

 

[chaser]

We had a couple of utubers ,no names, and they are a pain in the ar*e. I think the got the message after a couple of posts and disappeared into the ether.

That was travel trolls, they are at present touring in Spain thanks to folks sending them money .

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[EuroTrotters]

Our video is authentic. Sorry if you found it too long and tedious. Just hope that the people who do believe it is authentic don’t park there. It had good reviews on search4sites and was a car park. No reason not to park. Safe travels

Hi, that must have been a terrible experience you went through. Even after the shock, there is the inconvenience and the fact its affected you personally and the way you feel about roaming and free camping.

I am from Manchester and I know that area very well. I work all around Manchester and it is one of the most affluent suburbs of Greater Manchester (Cheshire). Just Like Prestbury, Alderley Edge etc. It is home to a lot of Premiership footballers, famous TV Stars and some extremely wealthy people.

However, that route through the huge Dunham Massey estate cuts through to Partington and Carrington, a Huge area where a lot of land is owned By SHELL and a lot of undesirables who live on the estates there. That said, who is not to say its not some rich kids out joyriding. Its easy to point the finger, its an area where this poor lad lost his life https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...conduct-inquiry-following-yousef-makkis-death.

One of the problems with this country is, especially in Greater Manchester, where Until this year, the force was in Special Measures. We don't have a big enough Police force with the resources to deal with these issues. Rewind a few years and you could barely turn a corner without seeing a Police car. Now, there are a lot less Police officers and this that are around are dealing with social issues. Or as witnessed twice locally to us, just lazy.

I am sorry you had such a bad experience in my home town. But, don't let it stop you. In 2005, we had three incidents in two weeks in Spain. But we still come here and are just as vigilant as ever.

I know its maybe of no use to you now. But we carry two dash cams. One front and one rear. If we stay in places like you did, or even on some campsites. We put them on overnight in the windows around the van. May not of caught a clear image of the vehicle involved. But, even if it just got vehicle colour and type. The police would have something to go on.

Despite what I said above. Greater Manchester and Cheshire Police operate a lot of unmarked Police cars in that area. That circulated on Police communications could help. There may have been a Patrol who had spotted or even stopped the vehicle earlier. Or, even a small chance it is spotted afterwards.

 

[VXman]

I've read the posts on here, those who thought it was fake, words fail me ...

I suggest those who are making the flippant comments desist,

There really weren't many (if any people) suggesting it was fake. User '68c' was the only one and it isn't clear whether he was referring to the original video of the 2 videos relating to the guy in a small van (post 4 and post 17).

The only othe negative post I saw suggested it was exaggerated. I think this could be an interpretation gained by an overly long video that repeats itself a number of times. To me it come over as not just a report of an scary incident but more of a YouTube vlog. (Edit -Yes - they are 'professional' YouTubers with lots of videos online) Hence the lengthy video of the the damage and extended filming of the journey home.

 

[Northernraider]

Most of the scroat's nowadays wouldn't have clue what a spark plug is let alone a catapult.
So it begs the question, Tam how did you come up with that cunning theory were you a naughty boy?

In my youth it was the way to get movie posters out of bus stops lol .

I'm not sure you even required the catapult just a good throw did it lol

 

[Northernraider]

I Freedom Camp a lot and have been disturbed a few times. All but one was just noise maing and I have no reason tobelieve that it was directed specifically at me.

One time though, at an exposed place, near to a valley town, overnighted there there for over 50 years without incident but I had noted that there were an increasing number of overnighters.

Then one night a small group took to rocking the van. Yhey stopped and disappeared when I shouted that I had called the Police.

I hadn't called them, but it worked.

There was no damage and I estimated that there was no intent to.

Conversations in the local pub, the next day, highlighted an 'organised' campaign to deter overnighting because of local fears of Travellers moving in!

I've read a few reports on park4night here in Ireland that have made suggestions that local campsites have paid youths to throw eggs at campers wildcamping . Whether true or not who knows but nothing would surprise me.

 

[Stealaway]

I kind of wish I had never seen the video now . We don’t wild camp but that’s not to say we would discount it as an option . Most campsites don’t allow late a arrival so if we hit traffic we may have to spend a night somewhere unexpectedly.

It seems to me all that actually happened is that some oiks raced up to the van in a car, threw three bricks at it and raced of.
Just mindless vandalism aimed at a parked up van.

We have spent almost 1500 nights over the last 11 year in various often remote location around Europe and the UK without any incident - at all
Don't let this one put you of - its incredibly rare.

Let me know where you are going next and I find you a safe wild camping spot

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[Northernraider]

It seems to me all that actually happened is that some oiks raced up to the van in a car, threw three bricks at it and raced of.
Just mindless vandalism aimed at a parked up van.

We have spent almost 1500 nights over the last 11 year in various often remote location around Europe and the UK without any incident - at all
Don't let this one put you of - its incredibly rare.

Let me know where you are going next and I find you a safe wild camping spot

Likewise I'm on wild spots every night and fortunately haven't had anything like this. .its just very bad luck and not something that happens often.

 

[chaser]

Just another thought I have had, seeing as aparrently the op has a big presence on YouTube, has someone taken offence at something they may have said or done on there, and the culprits have just happened to see them parked up.
Far fetched I know but stranger things have happened by coincidence.

 

[Mrs Drago35uk]

I would be wary of anywhere near the M60/Greater Manchester area - I know its a sweeping statement but unless you have local knowledge, it’s perhaps better to find a proper site. What ”appears” to be a nice place in the day is not always so in the evening.

 

[Kevin R]

Although I haven’t camped in the UK, I’ve wild camped in Europe since the mid 70s up until about 5 years ago. Unfortunately over the years the experience has deteriorated so much due to low life, that I now use campsites or recommended ‘Stellplätze‘. I fully recommend the Stellplätze directory from the German Reisemobil magazine which is a must for European travel and understandable for non German speakers.

 

[Nigel Thomas]

Really sorry to hear this, but please put this into perspective, you are OK and your dogs are OK, it's just money to get your van fixed. Don't let this incident drag on you.

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[Kingskids-2022]

This is quite worrying and would certainly put some people off wild camping .

This is quite worrying and would certainly put some people off wild camping .

Really, really sorry this happened to you. Hope you won't allow it spoil the joy of using your cv40.

 

[WallyWalnut]

Read through the whole forum and felt awful about those attacks…frightening and hope it doesn’t stop what we all love doing by the cowardly minority.
Reminded me of a very good TV series by Warren Clarke in The Locksmith who turned vigilante against junkie youths who terrified his mother burgling for money etc several times and frustrating with the police he turned all the locks and doors to ‘electric’ when they burgled again inside his mothers house and they couldn’t get back out! You can imagine! Wondered if you can hook-up a decent battery to the vehicle for anyone trying to get inside anyone’s Motorhome?

 

[EuroTrotters]

Like I said in my replies, I’m. Very sorry to learn of your horrible incident. Don’t let it put you off. Pity there were not 6 soldiers on board and the thugs got trapped in.

But I’m going to say this, 39 mins of video is far too long for a lot of people to either have or take the time to watch.

 

[Dognahalf]

I have never wild camped overnight alone except on an organised event or at a ferry port. We did stop all night once at a motorway services on the M6, coming back from Arran and it cost £10. I hear it is now £30. Money well spent, as it appears from this video. Very unfortunate.

 

[MillyMoHo]

This is quite worrying and would certainly put some people off wild camping .

So sorry to hear this. Really makes you think. Wonder if it’s worth reporting to the Local Authority where the car park is. Hope you get to go on lots more adventures. Take care.

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