Kinder from Hayfield, Peak District

On a clear day, looking up the steep slopes beyond the waters of the reservoir to the craggy edges of the Kinder plateau above, it's easy to forget that almost the whole Kinder plateau was once forbidden land.  A place where gamekeepers were moorland "bouncers" protecting "private" land, who often clashed with ramblers hoping to escape their urban working environments to walk in more natural surroundings.

The disagreement between ramblers and landowners came to a head in 1932 when young walkers from Manchester and Sheffield converged on Kinder for a mass trespass from Bowden Bridge, Edale and Snake Pass.  Hard-won gains had already been made, such as the Hayfield and Kinder Scout Ancient Footpaths Association's efforts to prevent closure of the William Clough footpath in 1897, but the publicity generated by the six arrests of the Kinder party led to the Kinder trespass being widely credited as the most important direct action event in the UK.  It helped to pave the way for the National Parks Act (1949), then CROW (2000).  And without CROW's "Right to Roam", both Kinder Low's trig point and Kinderlow End would still be off-limits to walkers.