I Love A Cozy Campfire, But Purists Now Frown Upon Them. How Can I Still Enjoy This Indulgence?

In the past, building a huge "white man's" blaze was de rigueur for campers. Aside from the fact that it's illegal in many backcountry areas now to make a fire, it's simply uncool to risk starting a wildfire or to deny soils and animals the decomposing timber they need for reproduction and shelter. If you must build a fire, use pre-existing fire rings. Build a small fire on as nonporous a surface as possible, extinguish it completely (until you can put your hand on it), then broadcast the ashes.

In the UK it's also much harder to find camp sites which allow camp fires but some still do. The ones that do allow camp fires are most commonly the ones which are private camp sites, ie sites run by land owners that have fields to spare.

I love camping and camp fires. It's not quite the same huddled around a gas stove!! Luckily I know a private camp site in Norfolk which allows camp fires. This is a farm by the sea with little risk of any forest fires but make sure you quash the fire appropriately before going to bed - especially important if you have all your tents surrounding the fire. Make sure there's a safe distance between the fire and any tents.