The Old Woman Stone on Bamford Moor High Peak Derbyshire
In December 1931 this lovely Bronze Age 2.4m standing stone was deliberately broken and thrown down by the owners of the grouse moor to prevent it from being used as a waymarker by walkers.
In April 1932, Benny Rothman led the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in Derbyshire. The mass trespass followed an unsuccessful legal campaign to gain public access to the moors.
The owners of the Derbyshire grouse moors fiercely resisted any attempts to walk across their land and walkers were frequently attacked by gamekeepers with dogs.
During the mass trespass, the walkers were attacked by the landowners employees and violent scuffles broke out resulting in a number of activists being arrested sent to prison.
The mass trespass was a deliberate act of working class mass civil disobedience. The public outcry and support for the trespassers that followed helped pave the way to greater public access to the countryside.
In 2026 in England, the public still only have a right to roam over 8% of the countryside.
The Smell of Water 