peak district local history, customs, wildlife, transport

On April 24th, 1932 the Derbyshire mountain of Kinder Scout, an area of private land, was invaded by approximately 400 people. These people were ramblers from the surrounding towns and villages. They had converged upon the mountain to launch a mass trespass in support of their access rights to the land.

Kinder Scout was the focal point of the ramblers' interest because it provided an opportunity to escape from the depression and unemployment of life at that time. Unfortunately the only paths that were open to the public were a few dozen tracks that crossed the open moorland of the Peak District; none of these paths even came close to the 2000-foot summit of the mountain. The only means of walking freely over the mountain was to join one of the rambling groups in the area. However this was rarely possible as they were almost always restricted to the middle classes. It needed money and social standing to become a member. These groups may have also been more of a hindrance than a help to people trying to earn access rights, as they were keen to defend their privileged positions and looked down on those who did not ramble ‘properly’ in accordance with their rules and regulations.

Trespassing had always occurred on the mountain and some people grew to regard it as a sport in itself as they evaded the gamekeepers to explore the forbidden peaks. However matters reached a head when on Sunday 24th of April the trespassers began their ascent of Kinder Scout.

As the advance continued up the mountain several small skirmishes broke out between ramblers and gamekeepers. However the trespassers succeeded in reaching the private land, and although they did not reach the actual summit they had achieved their objective and afterwards descended back down.

As they returned from the trespass, the ramblers were stopped by police forces waiting below. Several of them were arrested and later put on trial for public order offences but not for trespass. The leader of the trespass, Benny Rothman, later conducted a brilliant defence against these charges. However this did not stop the judge sentencing them to between two and six months' imprisonment.

The harsh punishment of those arrested was only to further unite the other ramblers and another mass trespass took place at Abbey Brook in the Upper Derwent. Significantly none of the trespassers was arrested.

The actions of the ramblers at Kinder Scout was to draw massive support and in 1949 legislation was made to give limited rights of access for ordinary people to important sites of interest such as Kinder Scout. This legislation was extended in 1951 when the Peak District National Park authority was created. Access rights were quickly addressed and within a year more than 5,780 acres of Kinder Scout and Broadlee Bank Tor were available for public use. Today more than 80 square miles of moorland are covered by such agreements and ramblers and hikers are allowed almost unrestricted access to the entirety of the mountain.

This article kindly contributed by Alex Hodgkins.

Want to know more?
A major new book about Kinder Scout has just been published by Derbyshire Libraries and Heritage Department.
Kinder Scout: Portrait of a Mountain, edited by Roly Smith. DCC Libraries & Heritage Dept. 2002 ISBN 0903463687.