Mass trespass of Kinder Scout

Mass trespass of Kinder Scout
Date24 April 1932; 92 years ago (1932-04-24)
Location
Kinder Scout
Resulted in
  • Increase in both public awareness and support for the ramblers.
  • Arrests and jail sentences for activists involved in the mass trespasses.
Parties
Gamekeepers for wealthy landowners
British government
Lead figures

The mass trespass of Kinder Scout was a trespass protest at Kinder Scout in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, on 24 April 1932. The protest sought to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open countryside which had been fenced off by wealthy landowners who forbade public access.[1] It was organised by communist leader and Jewish anti-fascist Benny Rothman, the secretary of the British Workers' Sports Federation and a member of the Young Communist League.[2][3]

Although the mass trespass was a controversial strategy at the time, the imprisonment of some of the trespassers led to public outrage, which increased public support for open access land. Some of the trespassers went on to become successful activists and politicians, and some later died fighting against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.[4]

Many details of the event such as the exact turnout of protesters, whether the trespass helped the cause of public access in the immediate aftermath of the event, and even whether some of the trespassers ever made it to the summit, have been heavily debated by historians.

  1. ^ Harby, Jennifer (24 April 2022). "Kinder Scout trespass: How mass action 90 years ago won ramblers roaming rights". BBC News. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  2. ^ Long, Chris (24 April 2012). "How trespassing 'crystallised' Ewan MacColl's songwriting". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference hey was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Warrender 2022, p. 10.