Can I walk on the moors around Winnats Pass now?

Yes, you can. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 gave people the right to roam on foot across mapped open country in England and Wales, including the moorland around Winnats Pass like Mam Tor and Kinder Scout.

Why weren't people allowed to walk on the Peak District moors in the 1920s?

The moorland was privately owned and used for grouse shooting, so landowners employed gamekeepers to keep walkers off to avoid disturbing the birds. Working people from nearby industrial cities could see the hills but weren't allowed to set foot on them.

What's the difference between the Winnats Pass demonstration and the Kinder Scout trespass?

The 1927 Winnats Pass gathering was a mass trespass organised by the Sheffield Clarion Ramblers, while Kinder Scout in April 1932 was a separate, more confrontational trespass that led to arrests. The largest Winnats Pass gathering of about ten thousand people happened a few weeks after Kinder Scout, as a show of solidarity.

The Peak District Pioneers

Winnats Pass and the Fight for Access: When Ten Thousand Gathered on a Limestone Road

Winnats Pass became a rallying point in the struggle for moorland access, most notably during the 1927 mass trespass and the annual access demonstrations that followed. By the late 1920s, these gatherings drew crowds of up to ten thousand—turning a narrow Derbyshire gorge into the symbolic heart of the rambling movement.

18 August 20268 min read