FEATURES

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

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.”

WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT LIBRARY PHOTO:

Benny Rothman, rambler and early activist. Ethel Haythornthwaite, national parks campaigner.

First lady

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 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.

1600s to 1860

Parliamentary

Enclosure Acts

‘fence off’ half of England’s countryside.

1600s–1800s 1860s

1865

The Commons and Open Spaces Society formed.

1872

The world’s first national park established at Yellowstone, USA.

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

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.

1930s

John Dower, father of UK national parks.

PROVIDED BY MICHAEL DOWER PHOTO:

Tom Tomlinson – first national park warden.

First legislation

John Dower said: “National parks are not for any privileged or otherwise restricted section of the population, but for all who come to refresh their minds and spirit, and exercise their bodies in a peaceful setting of natural beauty.”

Published in 1945, John Dower’s report ‘National Parks in England and Wales’ defined what national parks are, and is still current today. He was also on the National Parks Committee, led by Sir Arthur Hobhouse, which proposed 12 national parks, and laid the foundations for the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

First visitor information

Fred Heardman was an access campaigner and national park supporter. He was on the Peak Park Planning Board that set up the Park in 1951. He was landlord of the Nag’s Head, Edale, and in 1953, set up the National Park’s first information service there in the snug.

Fred dealt with thousands of visitors, providing them with local information. He was a mine of information for ramblers and climbers, an experienced guide and a mountain rescue organiser, and wrote walking guidebooks too. He had the nickname ‘Bill the Bogtrotter’. He was awarded the BEM in 1960. There is a plantation, near Edale, named Fred Heardman’s Plantation.

First warden

Tom Tomlinson was the first Peak District National Park warden, appointed in 1954. He walked the moors of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow every working day for nearly 20 years. His job included helping lost or injured walkers off the mountain, preventing vandalism and aiding farmers to recover sheep buried in the snow. As the other National Parks were established the new wardens would visit to find out how he did the job.

The voluntary warden service of parttime volunteers (from ramblers clubs) was also created in 1954 – the volunteers wore a green armband. Briefings took place at the Nag’s Head, Edale. By 1963, there were 120 part-time and full-time wardens.

Fred Heardman BEM (pictured right) – first unofficial information officer.

70 remarkable people

Discover more about these historic figures and find more personalities who are passionate about the National Park at www.peakdistrict.gov.

uk/70People70Years

CELEBRATING NATIONAL PARKS

The Peak District and its pioneers paved the way for the family of 15 UK national parks we enjoy today. Also celebrating 70th anniversaries this year are the Lake District (9th May), Snowdonia (18th October), and Dartmoor (30th October).

www.nationalparks.uk

70th anniversary

You can find more ways to celebrate at

www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/70

1932

The Mass Trespass took place on Kinder Scout. The Rights of Way Act passed.

1940s

1945

The Dower Report suggested how national parks could work in England and Wales. A new government set up the National Parks Committee, chaired by Sir Arthur Hobhouse.

1947

The Hobhouse Report suggested 12 national parks. The new Town & Country Planning Act set up a land-use planning system, including national parks.

1949

The government passed the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

1951

The Peak District was the first British national park to be set up. Negotiations started for the first access agreements in the country for the public to walk on private moorland.

1954

The Peak District National Park’s warden service (now rangers) was set up.

1950s 1960s

1960

Fieldhead information centre opened in Edale.

1965

The country’s first national trail – the Pennine Way – opened. It starts in Edale.

Here for EVERYONE

The pioneering spirit which led to the Peak District becoming the UK’s first national park lives on... with accessibility still very much at its heart.

Yvonne Witter, chair of Peak District Mosaic and member of the Peak District National Park Authority.

Leading the way

Her love of the Peak District National Park has opened up many roles for Yvonne Witter – but one message runs through them all.

“Many people do not think the outdoors is for them, but I want to encourage everyone,” says Yvonne, chair of Peak District Mosaic, which leads walks and events to help people from black and ethnic minority communities to experience and enjoy the outdoors.

A member of the Peak District National Park Authority since 2019 and a GetOutside Champion for Ordnance Survey, Yvonne has also been instrumental in developing the recent Peak Wise training programme to recruit new community champions for Peak District Mosaic, in partnership with Peak District National Park Authority staff.

Yvonne’s tireless enthusiasm for the outdoors has earned recognition on many levels. In 2013, she featured in the National Trust’s Octavia Hill Awards as runner up in the Inspirational Hero category, celebrating people who inspire and nurture the next generation of countryside enthusiasts.

In November 2020, she was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Power List.

1971

The National Park purchased the Stanage-North Lees estate. Tissington Trail opened.

1973

High Peak Trail opened.

1974

The Sandford Committee said national parks needed larger budgets and more staff.

1970s 1980s

1981

The Wildlife and Countryside Act passed – first comprehensive protection of listed species and habitats, and conservation schemes like Countryside Stewardship. Monsal Trail opened.

1984

The National Park purchased the Eastern Moors Estate to provide access, and safeguard ecological and archaeological sites.

1991

Access agreements reached with Chatsworth Estates for moors above the parkland, and with Sheffield City Council for Houndkirk, Burbage and Hathersage moors.

1990s

Gillian Scotford and Jane Cooper, accessibility champions.

Access all areas

Gillian Scotford and Jane Cooper are co-founders of Accessible Derbyshire, an award-winning tourism charity, set up in 2013, dedicated to improving the travel experiences of disabled people in Derbyshire and beyond.

They are also joint managing directors of Access for All UK, which provides access consultancy, training and support services to clients in all sectors throughout the country.

Between them, Gillian and Jane have six children, three of whom are disabled. They became the inspiration for the charity, business and years of fundraising efforts.

A project close to their hearts is Changing Places toilets – life-changing facilities which enable severely disabled people to travel and to be changed with dignity. Gillian and Jane are co-founders of the English Inclusive Tourism Action Group, reviewers for the Rough Guide to Accessible Britain and have been judges in tourism awards.

In 2018, they were invited to share their knowledge globally as guest speakers at the World Summit on Accessible Tourism in Brussels.

Maxwell Ayamba, journalist, academic, campaigner.

Continuing to campaign

Journalist and academic Maxwell Ayamba made headlines of his own in 2018/19 when a nationwide theatre production – Black Men Walking – received rave reviews across the UK.

The play was based on the real-life walking group, 100 Black Men Walking for Health – co-founded by Maxwell in Sheffield in 2004 – and brought issues of representation in the countryside into the spotlight.

Maxwell, however, has long championed countryside access for minority communities. He was the first black person to serve on the board of Ramblers Association UK (2005-09) and was a member of the Peak District National Park Equality Comprehensive Audit Standards Committee in 2004.

In 2016, he founded the Sheffield Environmental Movement (SEM), promoting access to the Peak District for black and ethnic minority communities.

He has published numerous academic papers, is regularly involved in media work and has served on a number of local and national boards and committees, advising on equality, diversity and inclusion. • The millstone is the emblem of the Peak District National Park.

• It features in our boundary markers on key gateway routes into the National Park and in our logo. • Their current basic form can be traced to before the Norman Conquest (1066). Corn mills are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1068. • Quarrying for grit stone was first recorded in the area in the 12th and 13th centuries, though archaeological evidence suggests that millstone production began during the Roman period. • Extraction continued into the 19th century, with stone used for a variety of purposes including grinding corn, sharpening tools in industrial centres such as Sheffield and crushing timber for wood pulp as far away as Scandanavia.

• The millstone has changed over the centuries. A mushroom-shaped conical stone is an earlier shape that appears to be peculiar to the Peak District and may be medieval in origin. The more familiar wheel-like cylinder shape was produced in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An abandoned millstone at Stanage.

2000s

2000

Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act gave walkers rights to roam on open countryside.

2003

Moors for the Future Partnership set up to restore moorlands.

2004

Peak District was the first to introduce Open Access under the CRoW Act. Access land doubled to 550 square km.

2011

Tunnels re-opened on the Monsal Trail.

2016

MoorLIFE 2020 project launched to protect Peak District and Pennine moors.

2017

South West Peak Landscape Partnership launched. Castleton visitor centre re-opened with new museum and café.

2010s

2019

Millers Dale Station refurbished as a café and information point for the Monsal Trail.

2020s

2020

Bakewell visitor centre refurbished during lockdown.