On Sunday 23 April 2023 a walk will be held to commemorate 91 years since the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass . The original Mass Trespass, which took place on 24 April 1932 saw hundreds of people trespass on the land owned by the Duke of Devonshire, and was the most dramatic event in the long history of campaigning to open up the hills to ordinary people. This led in 1951 to the Peak District becoming Britain’s first National Park.
The walk starts at 10AM in the Sett Valley Trail car park in Hayfield, Derbyshire and will be led by Glossop-based environmental campaigner Martin Porter, whose grandfather was on the original walk in 1932, and Boff Whalley, the former guitarist from the band Chumbawamba who, along with Commoners Choir , will be providing a musical accompaniment to the event.
Martin said “The Mass Trespass was quite an event. A third of the Derbyshire police force was deployed to try to stop them, and five men went to prison as a result, but ultimately, they won. I want to people to remember this walk as part of the tradition of protest in Britain. The original organisers went on next drive Oswald Moseley’s blackshirts out of Manchester and some subsequently went on to fight as volunteers against fascism in Spain. Myself and some of the other organisers will have been with Greenpeace in London for a big Extinction Rebellion rally the day before , so I like to think I’m keeping that tradition alive.”
On the walk Martin will tell the story of 1932, and of how an unemployed car mechanic called Benny Rothman ended up the leader of the protest. The mass trespass eventually resulted in people getting access to the hills, but Martin sees this as a campaign that is not yet over.
Martin continues “Whilst it’s true access to the hills was won, when people were able to legally reach the plateau of Kinder they found a landscape than had been completely transformed by people: deforested, scarred by acid rain and drained and cleared for grouse shooting. However, here too Kinder Scout is a story of hope. Thanks to the work of Moors for the Future and the National Trust nature is returning to the summit. Last time I was there at night I even saw bats, which weren’t there even ten years ago.”
The guided walk will finish at Williams Clough, where in 1932 the walkers left the footpath and trespassed on the Duke’s land. People will then be free to exercise their ‘right to roam’ and explore the hills.
Martin said “This is a chance to remember some real heroes, learn some history but above all, to enjoy the wonderful countryside we have on out doorsteps. That is what my grandfather, Benny Rothman and the other trespassers, would have wanted.
