Rona Dougall: Go wild in the country, but please respect it and take the litter home

The sunny weather we’ve enjoyed this summer has made for perfect conditions for camping in Scotland’s glorious countryside.

I can’t get enough of it and love nothing better than a night under canvas. Especially if it’s on top of a mountain with glorious views to wake up to. And after Covid more and more people are experiencing the simple pleasures of a holiday at home. Why put yourself through the torture of the airport and dealing with the hideous stress of queues and delays when you can have a grand old time in your own country?

My daughter took herself off on a little camping mini break with a friend this week. She sent photos of the tent she’d painstakingly erected (after an intensive tutorial from me) but in the background I could see bottles and crisp packets strewn around.

“It’s not rubbish yet, Mum”, she explained, obviously about to fire into a very unhealthy and boozy dinner. I knew she’d tidy up after herself, but so many don’t.

Volunteers from the National Trust for Scotland recently came across a large abandoned camp site in a beauty spot in Glencoe, where the ignorant campers had left their tents, blow up mattresses and a portable toilet had even been tossed into the river. They’d just upped sticks and left piles of rubbish, which took half a day to clear up. It makes my blood boil to see such utter selfishness. What goes through people’s minds when they do that? Some friends of mine own and run a very popular campsite in a particularly spectacular area of the Highlands. Right on a stunning beach, it’s in an idyllic setting and has fantastic facilities, but they say its horrifying how some visitors behave. Quite a lot of the following is poo related, so if you’re enjoying a delicious fry up, maybe finish your breakfast before you read on.

They have on occasion had to deal with something called “waffle-stomping” which involves bodily functions and the drains in the showers. You’ll have to use your imagination here as I can’t even begin to explain how disgusting this is. They’ve found a blow up doll and empty bottles of vodka in the men’s showers and half-eaten fish and chips too.

Wild campers flock to the nearby stretch of white sands and there the horror really begins. My friends told me that not only do folk leave poo everywhere, but children have been known to build castles out of it. I know! Last year two dogs died in the area having eaten human waste contaminated with various drugs.

National Trust for Scotland campaign highlights scale of dirty campers and irresponsible visitors at country’s beauty spots

Broken glass and used BBQs are buried in the sand and tents and sleeping bags abandoned, like the aftermath of a festival. They’ve seen vans arrive laden with beer, generators and chainsaws, used to cut down trees to have bonfires.

It’s heartbreaking for them to see the area they love treated with such utter contempt, and lots of locals secretly hope for terrible weather to keep these clowns away. That’s just the tales from one campsite but I’m sure there are similar stories all round the country.

It must be infuriating when city dwellers just don’t get what the countryside is all about. I felt for the farmers down in Newbury this week who had to deal with an angry man standing in the way of a combine harvester. He was furious because he and his family had been having a picnic nearby and dust had got into their sandwiches.

I mean, where do you start with this one? He seems to have forgotten that the countryside isn’t a theme park but a working environment for these farmers trying to harvest their crops. The video of the confrontation has been viewed more than 400,000 times, with many quite rightly pointing out that if it wasn’t for the farmers bringing in the wheat, he wouldn’t have a sandwich to eat in the first place.

It’s about time more respect was shown for the countryside and those who live there.