At 14:00 on April 24, 1932, hundreds of rebels descended on the Kinder Scout, the highest point in Derbyshire, to “take action to open up the good country that is currently denying us.”
Six people were arrested in what became known as the Kinder Mass Violation, which established the principle of open access land and laid the foundations for the UK’s first national park, Peak District.
At noon this Sunday, exactly 90 years after this historic victory, a group of swimmers from all over the north of England plan to dive into Kinder Dam for what they describe as “an act of disobedience against the widespread lack of undisputed access to inland waters in England.” and Wales and the disruption it causes between people, water and each other. ‘
Everyone is welcome to the mass swimming, whether for rowing or leisurely swimming; in a goat, wetsuit or even a birthday suit. But since the water temperature is unlikely to be well above 10C – the swimming pool is usually heated to 26-28C – caution is recommended for anyone planning to participate.
The Manchester Guardian has released a reporter for the initial mass violation. They reported a “brief but vigorous hand-to-hand fight” with a series of guards hired by wealthy landowners who tried and failed to stop walkers from asserting their right to wander.
A plaque commemorating the mass crime of 1932, when a group of vagrants defiantly passed through the Kinder Scout. Photo: AA World Travel Library / Alamy
One of the organizers of the Kinder “swimpass”, who asked not to be named, said they did not expect arrests or fights with someone hired by United Utilities, which owns the dam.
Although the company enforced a total ban on swimming and accused wild swimmers in wetsuits last year of setting a bad example for beginners, the laws on access to reservoirs in England and Wales have been challenged and rarely, if ever, tested in court.
According to the Open Water Swimming Society (OSS), “There is a strong argument based on detailed research by many organizations and campaigns that there is a‘ public right of navigation ’for all rivers that can be sailed by any type of boat, and therefore a right to swimming. “
However, United Utilities and other companies have hired security guards at tabards in recent years to order swimmers out of the water and scare away potential diggers.
OSS argues that water companies have a legal obligation to provide recreational access to waterways, not only for fishing and walking dogs, but also for swimming. In Scotland, 2003 swimmers have the right to swim freely in almost all Scottish waters.
Violators of swimming on Sunday will be applauded far away by MP Catherine West, chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary swimming group.
“I think, as an awareness campaign, this sounds like a good way to get everyone to pay attention to how clean or otherwise the waterways are, and to run a campaign to continually improve our outdoor swimming opportunities.” said West, who swims regularly in the lakes of Hampstead near her constituency in north London.
She wants to see better swimming training for children so that they grow into adults who understand the risks of swimming in open water. People who choose to swim outdoors, who are not under the influence of alcohol and do not jump, are a small proportion of those drowning in the UK, notes OSS.
Rambler, resting on the hills of Kinder Scout in 1932. Photo: Dave Bagnall Collection / Alamy
One of the organizers of Sunday’s swim, Kinder, said they were optimistic that the story was changing around access to open water after more people discovered high levels of endorphins in wild swimming during Covid.
“90 years have passed since the crime, which caused a series of events that led us to the right to wander freely outside the pedestrian path. “This has opened up huge landscapes for people from industrial cities, allowing Sheffield and Manchester workers in particular to go out and get some fresh air and all the benefits of climbing high up the hill and enjoying the countryside,” they said. “The benefits of open water are very similar.”
They added that Covid was “opening the floodgates” as more people had discovered “this untapped resource on the doorstep of millions of people.”
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