Peak District : A View over the Landscape

Peak District

A view over the Landscape ALAN LODGE

I come to breath the incense of eternity here amongst these hills of home.

I come to drink the moorland dew and to be rejuvenated by this elixir of life.

To evoke a spiritful sense of wellbeing here in the magical centre of England.

Get off this estate !!

What for?

Because it’s mine!

Where did you get it?

From my father.

Where did he get it?

From his father.

and where did he get it?

He fought for it.

Well, I’ll fight you for

it!

F

ollowing the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the highest and wildest areas of moorland and mountains - previously common land open to all - had been acquired by landowners and were now out of bounds and private property. The owners employed burly, stick-wielding gamekeepers to patrol their estates, and ramblers without a permit were often forcibly evicted.

Engaging in a spot of direct action up on Kinder Scout on the fine spring morning of 24th April, 1932, 400 walkers from Sheffield and Manchester met a line of some 30 keepers and a few undistinguished scuffles resulted.

Later, six were arrested and charged with public order offences. At his trial at Derby Assizes, Benny Rothman said:

“We ramblers, after a hard week’s work in smoky towns and cities, go out rambling for relaxation, a breath of fresh air, a little sunshine. But we find when we go out that the finest rambling country is closed to us, just because certain individuals wish to shoot for about ten days a year.”

A century-old campaign for the cherished “freedom to roam” across mountain and moorland was reached with the long awaited passing of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act in December 2000.