Kinder trespass 92

I was pleased to be invited to speak at the Kinder Scout trespass anniversary event again this year, marking the 92nd anniversary of that epic occasion. The gathering, organised by the diligent and energetic Dave Toft, was at Hayfield, a Walkers are Welcome town in Derbyshire.

The gathering.

Dave Toft.

Dave had been meeting with local activists over the past year to discuss proposals for access, and between them they produced the Kinder Pledge, a promise to campaign for universal access with education, and for open spaces to be accessible and welcoming. This was along the lines of the Rivington Pledge (which called for access to be protected when the water authorities were privatised in 1989). The artwork for both pledges was designed by Peter Senior: it was good to meet him.

Peter Senior with the Kinder Pledge.

I used the Kinder rally to promote the ideas in the Outdoors for All manifesto, signed by 47 national organisations, calling on the next government to act for outdoor recreation and enjoyment. The manifesto itself is written in fairly general terms, to ensure broad support and enable the organisations to develop the themes most relevant to them in their requests to parliamentary candidates and new ministers. I had not realised how timely the event and my talk would be: the election was called less than a month later. The Open Spaces Society has published its own manifesto here.

Programme for Kinder event.

Outdoors for All leaflet.

I also invited young people present to have a chat; I am keen to learn how they would like to go about campaigning, and to share some of my 50 years’ experience if they are willing to listen. You can see a video of my talk here, credit Kate McGahan (it starts after about 20 seconds).

Other speakers were Dave Morris, former director of Ramblers Scotland, on access in Scotland; Maxwell Ayamba on the inequalities in the countryside and what should be done; and Morag Rose on the importance of urban access.

Dave Morris.

Maxwell Ayamba.

Morag Rose.

Johnny Campbell provided the music.

Johnny Campbell entertains us.

The village hall was packed with stalls and displays. In the more spacious church hall trespass writings and drawings by local school children were exhibited.

Woolly depiction of the trespass.

There were intriguing displays by students at Loughborough School of Architecture who had been set the task of designing an outdoor-access centre.

They were fascinating and varied (a couple of examples above)—if only they had the opportunity to put their ideas into practice!

Top picture: the walk up to Alport Castles, in the Peak District National Park, which I did with my friend Anne Robinson before the event.