Another delightfully dreich day on the North York Moors. In the murk, we stumbled upon two workers labouring away on the new footpath up Roseberry. The path, prepared to its subsoil, resembles some sort of glutinous purgatory, offering a walking experience only slightly less pleasurable than a swim in wet cement. The workers mentioned the arrival next week of a helicopter to deposit bags of gravel for the final surfacing, not a moment too soon.
Now, for a lesser-known triumph of British determination and sheer bloody-mindedness: the Winter Hill mass trespass, which remains the largest of its kind in the nation’s history. It took place on this very day, the 6th of September, 1896. The scene? A wealthy landowner, one Colonel Ainsworth, deciding that common folk had no business traipsing along a public footpath on Winter Hill. How dare they? Naturally, the good people of Bolton – 10,000 of them – thought this rather cheeky and organised a mass trespass. Over three glorious weekends, they trampled the Colonel’s restrictions with gusto, demanding the return of their right to stroll as they pleased.
Legal consequences followed, of course, as they always do when the plebs get uppity. The local socialist leader and a journalist found themselves dragged into court, but the community rallied behind them by paying their fines. This charming little rebellion predates the more famous Kinder Scout trespass by a mere 36 years. Though the trespassers did not win back their path, the incident did lay the groundwork for future battles, ensuring that today we have at least some access to our countryside, all thanks to their efforts. How fortunate we are.
For further reading, visit [Big Issue North](https://www.bigissuenorth.com/comment/2021/08/winter-hill-britains-biggest-mass-trespass/).
Leave a Reply