The Kinder Trespass of 24 April 1932 has taken on iconic status in the history of the struggle over rights of access to the countryside.
Before 1949, only around 1% of moorland in the Peak District was publicly accessible and there were only 12 ‘legal’ paths.
The Kinder Trespass was organised by the British Worker’s Sports Federation. Around 400 ramblers met at Bowden Bridge Quarry.
After a confrontation with gamekeepers at William Clough, the main party came up to the plateau and met a group from Sheffield, and the trespass was declared a success.
The chief legacy of the trespass is often seen as the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which led to the creation of the Peak District National Park.
Though it was not until the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2000, that the law provided a ‘right of public access on foot to areas of open land comprising mountain, moor, heath and down’.
This guide lists sources available within Sheffield City Archives & Local Studies Library Archives for the study of the trespass.
Contact us on archives@sheffield.gov.uk to find out more, book in advance or order archival materials.