This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the National Parks, and what better way to celebrate than a mass walk up to Hollins Cross.
In March this year, Campaign for National Parks led hundreds of individuals and organisations, including Campaign to Protect Rural England on a special walk in the Peak District, the home of the very first National Park.
We joined the party with Matt Baker and the CountryFile crew, at the viewpoint at Hollins Cross to celebrate the 70th Birthday of the Access to the Countryside Act which created the National Parks Commission and the establishment of 10 national parks in the 1950’s.
It’s thanks to the determination of thousands of walkers over the past 150 years who campaigned tirelessly for a countryside for all, that today we have our National Parks and our protected countryside.
Happy 70th Birthday to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.
Watch the journey here:
So why is the Access to the Countryside Act important?
Walking is one of the most popular pastimes in the UK. Ramblers from all walks of life don their hiking boots and throw their rucksack onto their backs and head out for the day in the hills. It’s that simple! Many people love to walk and to roam the hills and dales. Accessing the countryside, however, hasn’t always been as easy as it is today. Following on from the Industrial Revolution, which saw the development of many of our towns and cities, people were keen to escape the city smog and get some fresh air by spending quality time in the countryside. In the 1870s and 1880s there was a rise in the number of walking and rambling clubs in the UK.These clubs soon ran into issues with access as much of the countryside was closed off to the general public.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, through the Enclosure Acts, millions of acres of common land, which had been used by Britain’s rural population to graze cattle and grow crops, were privatised. Much of the land became privately owned.
James Bryce MP is famously known for his campaign for public access to the countryside. In 1884, he introduced the first freedom to roam bill to parliament. The bill failed, but the campaign had begun.
In 1876, Hayfield and Kinder Scout Ancient Footpaths Association was formed. A group of folk in the Peak District began the campaign for the “right to roam”.
As public awareness of the campaign increased, its popularity grew and more and more people became involved in the subsequent trespasses which followed.
On Sunday 24 April 1932, 400 ramblers met at Bowden Bridge Quarry in Hayfield to walk on Kinder Scout, in the Peak District. Known as the ‘Great Trespass’ this gathering of people set out for the hills to protest against the law; a law which stated that the hills and open moorland were accessible only to the landed gentry.
As public awareness of the campaign increased, its popularity grew and more and more people became involved in the subsequent trespasses which followed.
In 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was past by Parliament. It was known as ‘The People’s Charter’ — a huge step forward in opening up the countryside for the common man. This was the foundation stone of the development of the National Parks that we know today.
