The plaque commemorating the Kinder mass trespass in Bowden Bridge quarryThe Derbyshire town of New Mills is the setting for most of the events to mark the 75th anniversary of the Kinder Scout mass trespass.

The plaque in Bowden Bridge quarry, Hayfield, which commemorates the Kinder mass trespass of 1932

Environment Secretary David Miliband, who recently gave his blessing to the idea of a coastal access corridor, will be among speakers at the celebrations on Saturday, 21 April, in the town hall.

The event is free, but organisers say only 300 people can attend the event, so they are advising those wanting to take part to get there early. From 3pm there will be Fairtrade stalls and food and the BBC film The Battle of Kinder Scout, made in 1970, will be shown.

Broadcaster, comedian and outdoors writer Mike Harding will host the main event, which starts at 5.30pm. Natural England chair Martin Doughty, whose home town is New Mills, will speak first, followed by David Miliband, Tony Hams of the Peak District National Park Authority, former Labour deputy leader Lord Hattersley, who is president of the Friends of the Peak District, Ramblers’ Association chair Kate Ashbrook David Milibandand writer and activist Jim Perrin.

There will also be a performance of On Common Ground, a community play still being developed, a rendition of The Manchester Rambler by Mike Harding and music from the New Mills Brass Band and the Cajan Specials.

David Miliband

There’s a bar from 8pm and the whole event winds up at 11pm.

Throughout the day Derbyshire Countryside Service wardens will be leading hourly walks from Hayfield along the route taken by the Kinder trespassers. The walks are free and no booking is needed. A free coach service is available from New Mills to Hayfield.

Organisers of the 75th anniversary events are urging all visitors to use public or sustainable transport where possible. Regular trains run to New Mills from Manchester and Sheffield. Manchester Piccadilly station is the venue for a special train naming, probably by David Miliband, of a Northern Rail train Benny Rothman – Manchester Rambler, at 1.45pm on the Saturday.

The countryside rangers and National Trust wardens are also leading a walk on Sunday, 22 April, on the theme of the 1932 Battle for Kinder Scout. Booking is essential for this free walk, which starts at 10.30am from Bowden Bridge car park, Hayfield. The walk is repeated on Tuesday, 24 April, the actual anniversary of the trespass and on Sunday 6 May the National Trust is having a mass planting of cotton grass, a typical plant of the featherbed mosses of the Peak, on bare peat sections of its High Peak estate. Edale Cross, below the western edge of the Kinder plateau, is the venue.
Kate Ashbrook
The weekend celebrations will also see the launch of a 14-mile Trespass Trail, which starts in New Mills and takes in significant points on its climb to the believed site of the trespass, in William Clough.

Kate Ashbrook

The trail, the brainchild of Natural England chief Sir Martin Doughty, heads out of the town north-eastwards to the Children’s Inn, where the British Workers’ Sports Federation held its Easter camp, planning the mass trespass after being turned off Bleaklow. It continues into Little Hayfield before climbing to White Brow, overlooking Kinder Reservoir, before dropping into William Clough and the site of the confrontation with the Duke of Devonshire’s gamekeepers.

The return route is back down William Clough, to the lower path along the reservoir edge, leading on to the Kinder Road, Bowden Bridge quarry, the gathering place for the trespassers, and then into Hayfield, returning to New Mills via the Sett Valley Trail.

Details of all the events, plus a map and route of the Trespass Trail, are on the Kinder Trespass website .