“Cadw (Welsh Govt Historic Environment service) policy does not allow drone flying from or over its guardianship sites, except by contractors commissioned for a specific purpose, who satisfy stringent CAA criteria, have the correct insurances and are operating under controlled conditions.”
As a newbie am I right in thinking I can TOAL on adjacent non-Cadw land and fly around the perimeter of e.g one of their castle sites, taking photographs, subject to general CAA airspace rules applicable to my aircraft / training /experience ?
I’ve read some of the older, similar posts (Historic Properties and Their Drone Policies) just wondered if anything has changed since . . . ?
You are correct @jon1 - the CADW can decide (as part of their by-laws) that you cannot launch/land a drone from their property. You can indeed TOAL from adjacent land as long as there are no restrictions on that land.
The CADW however does not regulate the airspace (the responsible body for this is the CAA) - so as long as there is no CAA restriction (you can check this using either DroneScene or this map) you can legally fly over their property (as long as you operate within the drone code and given you are flying a sub 250g drone) and take pictures/videos.
You do need to consider of course the peoples right to privacy (as you do when taking pictures with a mobile phone on the ground) but I would argue that sites run by the CADW are public and therefore visitors/staff don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy in this space.
As with all things in life, I recommend to be reasonable and polite when challenged!
At Kidwelly Castle in south Wales, CADW have their captive Karen dragon who can and will shout abuse over great distances. Best to take off from the other side of the river and just let her rant - I swear to God one day she’ll explode.
Needless to say - these events have never resulted in the police turning up despite all the threats.
The only blue lights likely to turn up will be those of the ambulance to treat her for spontaneous combustion
as others have already stated above - TOAL off Cadw land and “be happy - don’t worry”
I’ve tried to explain to her that CADW are responsible for caring for Welsh relics - so at my advanced age she should be giving me a cuddle not hurling abuse at me - didn’t work - thank God
They don’t but the rules regarding A1/A2/A3 still apply (and realistically, if the castle is open, A1 is the only legit way to operate over it).
So basically an open castle is going to be only really legal with <250g mini drones. Over that the 50m/150m rule from people kicks in and you’re unlikely to be able to guarantee that if its open for visitors (or staff).
The CAA did recently clarify that if you’re able to approach where everybody is inside and it’s not an obvious entry/exit point where people are going to likely quickly exit the building you can use your common sense about whether to fly there under A2. If it has roof areas where people are often outside as many castles do though then probably not suitable for A2 while open.
I have flown over CADW land but generally not over castles etc as high enough up gets you an aerial view and shouldn’t get you any grief, as ever common sense and not making a nuisance of yourself plays dividends.
