Day of events to mark anniversary of mass trespass at Kinder Scout in the Peak District

To mark the 91st anniversary since the mass trespass the Hayfield Kinder Trespass Group with Spirit of Kinder will be leading a day of celebration on Saturday April 22 at the village hall and green from 1pm.

David Toft, chair of Hayfield Kinder Trespass Group, said: “This is an important event for anyone who cares about our hard-won rights to enjoy open spaces in town and country.

“Since the 1932 Kinder Scout Mass Trespass took place in Hayfield, there have been significant gains in our access to the countryside and urban open spaces – yet even this amounts only to 8 per cent - now even that is under threat.”

The government has quashed a review into the right to roam in England’s countryside.

This means there are fears the right to roam over the other 92 per cent of England’s land which is privately owned will not be realised.

Following the First World War, a generation of young factory workers began visiting Hayfield and the Pennines by train in large numbers, to escape the smoke-filled cities and their hard industrial lives.

David said: “By the 1930s, the railway company reported an average of 6,000 day-trippers every weekend in Hayfield, with 13,000 there on Easter weekend in 1930.”

At Easter 1932, a group of political activists were camping near Rowarth.

On a walk they were stopped and turned back by gamekeepers. They decided enough was enough and began organising a mass trespass.

On April 24, 1932, hundreds of people gathered in Hayfield and marched up Kinder, despite police efforts to stop them.

Their actions caused people to address the access problems in the county.

In 1951 the Peak District became the first area designated as a national park.

David said: “The overarching theme of this year’s event will be encouraging diversity – in terms of accessing open spaces and rights of access – urban and rural; and diversity in the strategies we adopt to defend and extend our access.”

There will also be a variety of panel speakers and outdoor-based groups and on Sunday people will be walking Kinder again.

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