Wild Peaks
A journey through Britain’s first National Park on its 75th anniversary
On a spring day in 1932, 400 disgruntled ramblers embarked on a 'mass trespass' of Kinder Scout, a plateau in the Peak District in northern England. Their aim? To establish a right to roam across the rugged landscape, against the wishes of wealthy landowners.
The hikers were seeking respite from the smoky industrial centres of Manchester and Sheffield – and eventually they got what they wanted. In 1951, the Peak District was established as Britain’s first national park. Home to striking dragon-back ridges of rock, vast expanses of peat, farms and villages, cloughs and caverns, the Peak is much more than the 'howling wilderness' described by Daniel Defoe three centuries ago.
With the 75th anniversary of the park’s creation looming, how has this dramatic landscape fared since? Celebrated travel writer Tom Chesshyre hit the trails on a 363-mile ramble to find out – and to celebrate this symbolic home of hiking.
Wild Peaks follows winding paths, pausing at old inns and mountain huts, and along the way meeting a rich cast of landowners, farmers, historians, mountaineers, publicans, rangers, right-to-roamers, homeless travellers, mountain rescue members, mystics, dreamers and fellow hikers.
Don your cagoule, grab a compass, and join Tom as he explores how the land has changed, and how we have too.
Tom Chesshyre is the author of twelve travel books. He worked on the Times for 21 years and is now a freelance writer. He attended state school, studied politics at Bristol and newspaper journalism at City University and has worked for Sporting Life, the Independent, Sky Sports, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and National Geographic. He can be found on X as @tchesshyre and at tomchesshyre.co.uk