Post by alan on Sept 5, 2009 0:49:39 GMT
The last time I camped alone was rather off putting !
I had chosen an area on Dartmoor to visit two stone circles, as I am very interested in Bronze Age culture. My destination was at the end of a country track which petered out onto the moors. I had walked to the first site of interest, which by chance was near an ongoing military exercise. I could hear gun fire all day, and been on the flight path of some military helicopters.
I returned to my camper to make tea, when about twenty cars turned up, containing about fifty moor runners. Off they went returning about an hour later, covered in mud, some off whom jumped into a nearby stream to clean off. The reason I mention the runners is to illustrate that the spot I had chosen to camp, although off the beaten track, was obviously well known and used. There was also an outward bound center nearby used by scouts.
As I was about to settle down for the night, I heard the roar of a powerful engine and the screech of brakes. A Land Rover pulled up about twenty feet from my camper. Two military men jumped out of the front doors, opened the rear door, and pulled a man with a sack over the upper half of his body, roughly out on to the ground. They dragged this person to the side of the lane, made him kneel down and shot him in the head with automatic weapons. They carried him back to the vehicle,stuffed him in the back, and drove off.
Now I guess this was some part of the ongoing military exercise, but I found it rather sick and disturbing. I was only feet away, if I had been more of a "delicate nature" it could have had a profound effect on my mental state, if I had arrived and had not been aware of the military exercise, I don't know what my actions would have been. It shows how supposedly responsible people (Army), can can act with total disregard for others. Had I been elderly and weak of heart, the consequences could have been tragic.
Now I guess these events were out of the ordinary, but scary none the less. I do think that I should have complained to the Army, after these events !
I had chosen an area on Dartmoor to visit two stone circles, as I am very interested in Bronze Age culture. My destination was at the end of a country track which petered out onto the moors. I had walked to the first site of interest, which by chance was near an ongoing military exercise. I could hear gun fire all day, and been on the flight path of some military helicopters.
I returned to my camper to make tea, when about twenty cars turned up, containing about fifty moor runners. Off they went returning about an hour later, covered in mud, some off whom jumped into a nearby stream to clean off. The reason I mention the runners is to illustrate that the spot I had chosen to camp, although off the beaten track, was obviously well known and used. There was also an outward bound center nearby used by scouts.
As I was about to settle down for the night, I heard the roar of a powerful engine and the screech of brakes. A Land Rover pulled up about twenty feet from my camper. Two military men jumped out of the front doors, opened the rear door, and pulled a man with a sack over the upper half of his body, roughly out on to the ground. They dragged this person to the side of the lane, made him kneel down and shot him in the head with automatic weapons. They carried him back to the vehicle,stuffed him in the back, and drove off.
Now I guess this was some part of the ongoing military exercise, but I found it rather sick and disturbing. I was only feet away, if I had been more of a "delicate nature" it could have had a profound effect on my mental state, if I had arrived and had not been aware of the military exercise, I don't know what my actions would have been. It shows how supposedly responsible people (Army), can can act with total disregard for others. Had I been elderly and weak of heart, the consequences could have been tragic.
Now I guess these events were out of the ordinary, but scary none the less. I do think that I should have complained to the Army, after these events !
