Mass trespass of Kinder Scout

The 1932 trespass was a coordinated protest involving three groups of walkers who approached Kinder Scout from different directions at the same time. Accounts of the numbers involved vary widely; a Times article at the time suggested that they numbered about 100, whilst Benny Rothman has claimed the trespass numbered between 600 and 800 and Ewan MacColl has been on record purporting a figure of over 3000.[3][4] The generally accepted figure is that reported by the Manchester Guardian at the time, of an estimated 400 people.[3][5] The trespassers began at Bowden Bridge quarry near Hayfield. It proceeded via William Clough to the plateau of Kinder Scout, where there were violent scuffles with gamekeepers. The ramblers were able to reach their destination and meet with another group at Ashop Head. On the return, five ramblers were arrested, with another detained earlier. Trespass was not a criminal offence in any part of Britain at the time, but some would receive jail sentences of two to six months for offences relating to violence against the keepers.[note 1]

According to the Hayfield Kinder Trespass Group website, this act of civil disobedience was one of the most successful in British history. It arguably led to the passage of the National Parks legislation in 1949[7] and helped pave way for the establishment of the Pennine Way and other long-distance footpaths. Walkers' rights to travel through common land and uncultivated upland were eventually protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW Act) of 2000. Though controversial when it occurred, it has been interpreted as the embodiment of "working class struggle for the right to roam versus the rights of the wealthy to have exclusive use of moorlands for grouse shooting."[8]

The Kinder Mass Trespass was one of a number of protests at the time seeking greater access to the moorlands of the northern Peak District. What set it apart from the others was it marked a new and more radical approach to the problem which was not universally popular with rambling groups. The harshness of the sentences imposed on the leaders of the protest was headline news in local and national newspapers, resulting in the issue gaining public attention and sympathy. The subsequent access rally staged in Winnats Pass attracted 10,000 people to attend in support of greater access to the adjacent moorland.[9]

An unintended consequence of the mass trespass was greater interest being paid to ramblers' behaviour and potential ways to regulate it. This resulted in a 'Code of Courtesy for the Countryside' being produced, which was a forerunner of the modern Countryside Code.[10]

A number of writers have criticised the narrative that hails the Kinder Scout Trespass as being, according to historian David Hey, "a simple explanation of the triumph of the 'right to roam' movement" when, on balance, it did "more harm than good".[3] They point to the real controversy over the Trespass at the time that was commonly used by opponents of the access movement as an argument for denying access even into the 1950s and 1960s which, according to Philip Day of the Manchester Ramblers' Federation, brought a "positive hindrance" to the efforts of the movement.[11] Other writers such as Tom Stephenson have challenged the assertion that the Trespassers had even reached the summit of Kinder Scout and only made it so high as Ashop Head.[12] John K. Walton has questioned the absolutism of this revisionism and advocated for a post-revisionist stance on the Mass Trespass which might acknowledge some of the positive effects that the Trespass' publicity had for the access campaign in both the short term immediacy and its symbolic role in the access campaign over the rest of the century that led to the CROW act.[13]

Commemorative plaque at Bowden Bridge Quarry, unveiled in 1982

Poet and folk singer Ewan MacColl (then known by his real name, Jimmie Miller) celebrated these events in his 1932 song "The Manchester Rambler";[4] he had organised the publicity for the trespass. The events form the subject of the song "You Can (Mass Trespass, 1932)" on Chumbawamba's 2005 album A Singsong and a Scrap and inspiration for "Walking in the Footsteps of Giants" by northern folk band Harp and a Monkey.

Each year a combination of wardens and rangers from both The National Trust and the Peak District National Park Authority hold a walking event to mark the anniversary of the trespass.[14] A commemorative plaque marks the start of the trespass at Bowden Bridge quarry near Hayfield, now a popular area for ramblers. It was unveiled in April 1982 by Benny Rothman (then aged 70) during a rally to mark the 50th anniversary.

The Young Communist League hikes up Kinder Scout every year on their annual Communist Summer Camp to commemorate their own involvement in the trespass.[15]

• Fell running
• Freedom to roam
• G. H. B. Ward
• Open Country

• Newspaper report of the mass trespass
• Right To Roam Act of Parliament (explained by BBC News)
• Article on Benny Rothman from WCML website
• Details of Benny Rothman archives at WCML