Kinder Mass Trespass: Celebrating John Anderson Artwork

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Kinder Mass Trespass: Celebrating John Anderson

June 24, 2022

Kinder Mass Trespass: Celebrating John Anderson, one of the trespassers jailed for his action.

In this episode of Our Community, I'm in the village of Hayfield in the high peaks of Derbyshire on the ninetieth anniversary weekend of the historic Kinder Mass Trespass.

Ninety years ago, members of the young communist league gathered at Kinder Scout here in Derbyshire to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open country. When the group reached the plateau of Kinder Scout, there were violent scuffles with gamekeepers. As a result, six ramblers were arrested. They received jail sentences ranging from two to six months for offences relating to alleged violence involving the keepers.

One of the men arrested was called John Anderson, and in this, the second of three conversations recorded over the Kinder Mass Trespass 90th anniversary weekend in the High Peaks of Derbyshire in Hayfield village hall, I'm honoured to be talking to John Anderson's niece, Dorothy Collins and her daughter Lisa Holland.

They share some of their memories of John, known as Jack and also discuss the impact his jail sentence had on his and his family's life.

Taking a stand is brave, and now ninety years later, we can look back at the impact of John Anderson's action. The mass trespass can be said to have led to the passage of the National Parks legislation in 1949 [8] and helped pave the way for the establishment of the Pennine Way and other long-distance footpaths. Walkers' rights to travel through common land and uncultivated upland were eventually protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW Act) of 2000.

We should keep in mind Dorothy's phrase 'he never got over it' when describing the impact of the trespass on John's life. Most of us are not called to act; we merely benefit from the actions of others.

I thank Joss Underwood from the Tent People, who generously introduced me to Dorothy and Lisa.

References

Reach Helen on Instagram @helenlouisedarby or at their website www.helendarbypoetry.com

Find out more about the Tent People: www.thetentpeople.co.uk

Hayfield Kinder Trespass Group: https://kindertrespass.org.uk/