Putting the Peak District National Park first for
70 YEARS
Seventy years ago on 17th April, 1951, the Peak District became the UK’s original national park. Now, as more people than ever are seeking a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s time to celebrate the past, present and future of your No.1 National Park.
First to speak up
PHOTO: WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT LIBRARY
The Peak District National Park was designated first thanks to the actions of pioneering ramblers and campaigners, and over the decades many ‘firsts’ have been achieved.
First arrests Benny Rothman was an outdoor enthusiast who organised walks and cycling trips for young mill workers from the Manchester area. On Sunday 24th April, 1932, he was one of six people arrested for his role in the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout and, later, one of five jailed. The harsh sentences unleashed a wave of public sympathy fuelling the right-to-roam movement and support for national parks. Aged 21, speaking at Derby Assizes, Benny said: “We ramblers, after a hard week’s work, in smoky towns and cities, go out rambling for relaxation and fresh air. And we find the finest rambling country is closed to us... Our request, or demand, for access to all peaks and uncultivated moorland is nothing unreasonable.”
1600s to 1860 Parliamentary Enclosure Acts ‘fence off’ half of England’s countryside.
1600s–1800s
www.peakdistrict.gov.uk
Ethel Haythornthwaite, national parks campaigner.
First lady
National Trust) from development, and later helped acquire land around Sheffield that became its green belt. In 1945, she was appointed to the government’s National Parks Committee which made the successful case for the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949. She also helped make green belt land part of national government policy in 1955.
Ethel Haythornthwaite was an environmental campaigner and pioneer of the countryside movement. In 1924, she founded the group that would become the Friends of the Peak District (FoPD), aimed at protecting the Peak District countryside from development. In 1928, she fronted the appeal to save Longshaw Estate (now looked after by the
1872 The world’s first national park established at Yellowstone, USA.
1860s 1865 The Commons and Open Spaces Society formed.
6
Benny Rothman, rambler and early activist.
1930s The depression created mass unemployment and, for many people, the only release was to go to the countryside for cheap, healthy exercise. The northern moors were strictly preserved for grouse shooting, this led to demands for access and protest meetings.
1876 Hayfield and Kinder Scout Ancient Footpaths Association formed.
1870s
1880s–1900s 1880s–1900s Manchester YMCA Rambling Club formed 1880, Yorkshire Rambler Club, 1900.
1930s
