Spirit of Kinder speakers: from left, Dave Morris, Ann Beedham, Chris Sainty and Chris Townsend. Photo: Keith Warrender
A former Ramblers boss urged outdoor enthusiasts to start stepping off rights of way in a quest to erode the concept of trespass.
Dave Morris, ex-director of the walkers’ charity in Scotland, was speaking at an event commemorating the Kinder Scout Trespass in the Peak District.
He told the Spirit of Kinder Day that if English walkers wanted to enjoy the same rights to roam as their counterparts in Scotland, they must be prepared to start a ‘steady erosion of the concept of trespass in the countryside.
The celebration of the events of 1932 that were a turning point for access in Britain took place at Edale at the weekend, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the country’s first national trail, the Pennine Way.
Mr Morris said: “It applies whether you are walking, cycling, horse-riding, skiing, birdwatching, botanising, star-gazing or doing whatever non-motorised activity appears to be appropriate.
“As long as you take responsibility for your own actions, respect the interests of other people, and care for the environment, you will eventually demolish the concept of trespass.”
He also proposed the production of an English version of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, which had been in effect since the passing of the Scottish Land Reform Act in 2003.
The former director of Ramblers Scotland said: “We currently have the absurd situation where in Scotland, I can walk down the edge of a field, along a tramline made by a tractor, or along the bare ground between vegetable crops, and know that I am complying with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and have the statutory right to do so.
“Suppose, however, that halfway across the field I cross the border into England. Suddenly many will claim that the landowner can accuse me of being a ‘trespasser’, order me to leave the field and use so-called ‘reasonable force’ to compel me to do so.
“How is it,” he said, “that I am apparently doing no damage to the crop north of the border but appear to be creating havoc with the same crop in the same field when I step into England.”
Other speakers were Chris Townsend, the British Mountaineering Council’s first-ever hillwalking ambassador; Chris Sainty, chairman of the Pennine Way Association, who reflected on the Pennine Way from its origins to its inception, and Ann Beedham, Sheffield author and illustrator, who gave an illustrated talk on walking, and trespassing in the Peak in the 1920s, based on the words and photographs of George Willis Marshall.
An open forum on future access provision and the Scottish model was led by Chris Townsend, Dave Morris and Chris Sainty, before young members of Sheffield’s Woodcraft Folk, led by Kat Budd, closed proceedings with the traditional singing of Ewan MacColl’s Manchester Rambler
Plans are already being formulated for next year’s event to be held in Hayfield, the starting point of the Mass Trespass.
Parky
28 April 2015Stepping off the pathway in pursuit of 'eroding the idea of trespass' will surely just lead to, er, erosion?
madcarew
28 April 2015Like the cut of his jib...of course you usually have to walk off the line of the path anyway because the farmer has ploughed or cropped over the line of the path.
The spirit of Benny Rothman and his comrades lives!
hughwestacott
29 April 2015In lowland countryside the rights of way network in England and Wales is far superior to the Scottish system. It's virtually impossible for a stranger to devise a purposeful route in the cultivated countryside of lowland Scotland because, although you can walk round the headland of fields, you have no idea where the path furniture is. I tried to walk from Kirk Yetholm to Glasgow and ended up walking most of the route on minor roads.
Myths surround the Kinder Scout trespass. The British Workers Sports Federatiion was a communist front organization whose sole purpose was to bash the landowners. They never got to Kinder Scout finishing at Ashop Head two mile away. They walked there on a recognized public path and then attacked the keepers who were, quite legally, trying to prevent them from trespassing by leaving the path.
The Federation of Rambling Clubs, the forerunner of the Ramblers' Association, warned its members to have nothing to do with the trespass. Many within the Federation believed that the trespassers had set back the cause of access by at least ten years because andowners were able to point out what was likely to happen if access was granted.
I'm a Life Member of the Ramblers and a parish path-checker who happens to believe that landowners have rights, too, and I want nothing to do with trespassing in England and Wales.
I believe that the trespassers were a bunch of politically inspired hooligans and the people we should really be celebrating are members of the Clarion clubs of Sheffield and Manchester, such as Bert Ward, who worked for years in pursuit of access.
Hugh
Parky
29 April 2015So, Dave Morris is recommending that all and sundry ignore any access agreements or hard won negotiated concessionary rights of way. Unfortunately there is a large group of people who still think that all property is theft and have no regard for those who either have stewardship or ownership of land. I'm sure that Dave Morris and his colleagues are responsible people but sadly there are a lot who aren't.
Parky
30 April 2015Excellent points Hugh, my thoughts entirely. I've long advocated getting rid of this romantic and misguided view that the British Workers Sports Federation were responsible for the access we have today. Yes, lets not forget Bert Ward and the Clarion clubs who were driven more by the love of the outdoors than pure politics.
Roly Smith
01 May 2015Hugh says he wants nothing to do with trespass and that the people we should be celebrating are those like Bert Ward, of the Sheffield Clarion Ramblers.
How does he explain, then, the photograph which Ann Beedham showed of Bert Ward with a group of Clarion ramblers deliberately trespassing on Kinder in January, 1924 when there was an injunction imposed on him to stay off the mountain?