The drum up spot thread.

In summer we often have a beer (or two or three) in a park at the end of our rides, normally in winter we'd move to a pub where we can sit in but pubs up here aren't really open at the moment and I'm in no rush to return to one. Just sitting out in the cold having a beer seems like a miserable undertaking right now so we've been trying to find an ideal burn up/drum up spot. Somewhere we can have a fire and sit around with a beer or a tea and have a chat etc.

Tried a couple spots so far, first one had a good supply of standing dead wood which we could use as fuel for the fire but a farmer came round and while he didn't move us on or anything, just asked what we were doing, I reckon he'd quickly get pissed off with us being there.

Next spot was much more out of view so nobody bothered us but there was precious little wood around to burn.

How many of you have a regular drum up/fire spot that you visit?

Do you stash stuff there?

Whether you have a regular spot or not, if this is the kind of thing you do, what is in your 'fire kit'?

Is 'drum up' a known term for you lot south of the border or is it a Scottish term?

Few snaps from our latest spot...

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Ace stuff. Does 'drum up' refer to lighting a fire specifically then? I think I first saw in a CTC mag article about a Glasgow(?) group that rode up into the hills for a drum up; without context I'd have presumed it was a synonym for 'brew up'.
Alas, the West Mids are built up enough that our group rides pretty much always stop at a cafe or somewhere else not conducive to pyromania. On solo rides I sometimes take the Trangia or a meths stove at this time of year, but might have to ask around if there are any local spots suitable/amenable to fire; I can think of a couple of potential candidates, but don't know if they're on farm land.

I think the name's a Scottish thing. I first heard about it in a book about Robert Millar. Billy Connolly used to occasionally turn up at the same drum ups as Millar.

edit: I got the book out and have seen that I misremembered it. Connolly gets mentioned in a paragraph about drum ups but there's nothing them meeting. And I guess he must be a fair bit older than millar anyway.

I think really yeah it is meant to relate to getting a brew on rather than the fire.

We tossed the 'burn up' label around a bit but dunno if that'll stick.

This Herald article talks about a spot which is just off a road we regularly ride but I think it's the kind of place where you really need to be invited in. One of the guys I work with is a bit more familiar with it and says the farmer/landowner has helped the guys build wee sheds and stuff. Current climate doesn't really seem conducive to inviting ourselves to this spot.

I think if can find a spot where we could stash stuff then it'd become more of a proper 'drum up' spot rather than just a fire and beers. I canny drink instant coffee and I'm not really a tea fan so a couple cans of beer is the easiest thing to carry.

Found the article I was thinking of - it was a Glasgow club: https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/documents/magazine/pdf/cuk201805036.pdf

I'd love a spot like this.
I was a fairly regular user of bothies before covid and have been looking around locally for possible spots where I could get my fix of relaxing with a tea by the fire in an evening when I'm not able to get to a hut in the hills.
I'd guess that the problems that "dirty camping" has caused over the last couple of years probably won't help with landowners attitudes towards gatherings like this, even if we are being responsible.

Yeah, keeping out of farmers' hair is definitely the best idea I reckon.

We never did revisit the spot where the farmer came round and we've now found a new spot (quite near that original one) that's about as good as it's going to get we think.

It's got some ruined remains of farm buildings which we set up round the back of. The buildings and the lie of the land keep us hidden from the road, there's no buildings over looking the spot either so other than the smoke and smell of the fire there's really nothing to give us away.

Bit of standing deadwood/windfall around for fuel but I've gotten a mini incinerator bin from b&q and if I take the cargo bike I can carry it out. I might invest in one to leave/hide at the spot.

This makes getting the fire going really easy, I feel its a bit safer as its much more contained and I also find that you don't burn through fuel so fast.

I've been using one of these recently, which is brilliant for brewing up quickly (albeit once you've got the suitably small bits of wood): https://wildstoves.co.uk/product/wild-woodgas-budget-model/

Because it's so efficient, it doesn't chuck out much heat other than straight up, but it satisfies the pyromaniac urge to stare at the flames and leaves pretty much no trace - I've seen people suggest a plumber's mat will prevent any scorching below the stove even on wood picnic tables etc.

There's a spot like that south side, near a Lochan with some sheds next to it, about 45 min ride, really quiet road (often nothing all evening on it) and shielded from road too

That’ll be the one!

That’s pretty cool.

Might pick one up.