On 24 April, 1932, a group of young workers decided to stake their claim to the English countryside by staging a mass trespass. The result was arrests, prison sentences – and an outcry that is credited by many as shaping the rural access we enjoy today. BBC News looks back at the uprising on the uplands – and asks what the future holds for roaming rights.

Just over 90 years ago, a typed notice began to circulate among the workers of northern England.

It called on people to join a Ramblers’ Rally – a mass trespass – on Kinder Scout, the highest point of the Derbyshire Peak District.

Benny Rothman notoriously received a prison sentence for his part in the trespass

At that time Kinder – and much of the moorland around it – was kept exclusively for grouse shooting by its owner, the Duke of Devonshire, and his gamekeepers patrolled the land to see off walkers.

The rally resolved to challenge this situation.

Organised by the British Workers’ Sports Federation, a Communist-influenced group, it extended a “hearty welcome” to the “young workers of Eccles”, whether they had been rambling before or not.

The notice extended a hearty welcome to those who wanted to join the rally

Hundreds of men and women saw the advertisement and decided to join the gathering, planned for 14:00 BST on 24 April.

Among their number was Benny Rothman, a young mechanic.

Broadcaster Stuart Maconie has called for the subject of the trespass to be taught in schools

In a BBC interview in the 1980s, he said: “It was possibly a naive idea that if enough ramblers went on a ramble, no group of keepers could stop them because there would be more ramblers than keepers.

Five walkers – including Mr Rothman – were charged with unlawful assembly and breach of the peace and, at Derby assizes, were sentenced to between two and six months in prison for their part in the “riotous assembly”.

The outcry that greeted the sentences has been credited by many with starting a movement that led to the foundation of Britain’s national parks with the first – appropriately enough – being the Peak District in 1951.

Belinda Scarlett who manages the Working Class Movement Library, the home of the Benny Rothman archive and other archive material relating to the trespass, said the event was “one of the most important examples of direct action of the socialist and communist politics of the 1930s”.

Plans to safeguard England’s national parks for future generations have been unveiled by the government.

The proposals also aim to improve access to nature and ensure landscapes are key to tackling climate change.

It follows a review of protections for national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).

Environment Secretary George Eustice said the plans – including a public consultation – were “a new chapter in the story of our protected landscapes”.

The consultation runs to 9 April and will ask for views on the proposals to drive nature recovery and support communities that live and work in those areas.

The proposals include creating management plans for those in charge of the national parks and AONBs, and encouraging local leaders across England to organise campaigns, events and volunteering projects to bring the public closer to nature.

The Landscapes Review looked at whether the existing protections were still fit for purpose.

The review’s author, Julian Glover, said: “It won’t be enough just to try to conserve what we have inherited – we can change the story from decline to recovery, to make them greener, more welcoming and full of hope.”

The pandemic has seen more people spending time outside but it has also highlighted inequalities surrounding access to green spaces – with people on low incomes being disadvantaged, according to the advisory body Natural England.

Increased access to nature is among the aims set out in the new plans.

Using landscapes in the fight against climate change are also central to the aims, along with protecting biodiversity and supporting people’s health and wellbeing for the next 70 years and beyond.

Mr Eustice said: “These reforms will play a pivotal role in meeting our international commitment to protect 30% of land for biodiversity by 2030.”

The government has also pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 as part of its 25-Year Environment Plan.

The authority responsible for the Lake District has become the focus of angry protest from residents and campaigners over accusations that it has turned the region into a theme park.

Keswick town council passed a historic and unanimous vote of no confidence against the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) over its decision to resurface a path to make it more accessible to vehicles. Keswick represents almost 20% of the population of the Lake District.

The unprecedented vote in Keswick comes after a series of disagreements between the park authority and local councillors, residents and campaigners, with the latter claiming that commercial interests are being put ahead of the needs of people who live and work in the community.

Five days ago senior leaders at the park authority voted against a ban on recreational off-road vehicles which devastate farm tracks, churning up soil and exposing the bedrock beneath, leaving them impassable to farm traffic.

The park’s rights of way committee voted to continue to allow 4x4s and trail motorbikes to use two lanes across farmland left to the trust by the author Beatrix Potter.

The latest dispute focuses on the reinstatement of a foot and cycle path from Keswick to Threlkeld which was destroyed by Storm Desmond in 2015.

Friends of the Lake District claim that using tarmac along the former railway line will compromise the historic and rural character of the route and make it more dangerous to use in icy weather.

Every schoolchild in England should get the opportunity to “spend a night under the stars” in an idyllic landscape, an independent review has suggested.

Helping pupils connect with nature through visits would ensure protected areas such as national parks are “open to everyone”, the review’s author said.

Julian Glover was asked to review England’s 70-year-old national park system and areas of outstanding natural beauty by the environment secretary.

He says they need to be “re-ignited”.

Mr Glover’s review says challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and a trend towards increased urban living mean fresh ideas are needed to give England’s protect landscapes new purpose.

Among his recommendations are a National Landscapes Service to act as a unified body for the country’s 10 national parks and 34 areas of outstanding natural beauty, and a 1,000-strong “ranger service” to help engage the public.

Farmers and landowners have urged the government to put boosting economic growth and productivity in designated landscapes like National Parks.

Defra Secretary Michael Gove has committed to conserve and enhance England’s most cherished landscapes as a new review launches into the nation’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).

Nearly 70 years after the country’s National Parks were first established, an independent panel will look at how these iconic landscapes meet needs in the 21st century – including whether there is scope for the current network of 34 AONBs and 10 National Parks to expand.

The review, led by writer Julian Glover, will also explore how access to these landscapes can be improved, how those who live and work in them can be better supported, and their role in growing the rural economy.

Undertaking a review is one of the key commitments of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses has reacted to the government announcement.

The organisation said government must strike the right balance between ensuring designation that delivers natural beauty, alongside encouraging the right types of economic activity.

CLA President Tim Breitmeyer said: “Together, this more positive balance will sustain these areas and create thriving communities.

“Designated landscapes are crucial to the wellbeing of the nation, providing opportunities not only for visitors but most especially for those who live and work there. We look forward to contributing to the review.

“Most businesses within designated landscapes experience significant opposition and hostility to development of any kind.

Mr Breitmeyer added: “Success in this review will see more landowners, users, park authorities and conservation boards coming together to identify opportunities which deliver the right types of sensitive development to improve the use and enjoyment of these unique areas.”

POPULATION numbers in the Yorkshire Dales National Park have stagnated for the first time in more than 40 years in the clearest indication yet of the mounting economic crisis faced by its rural communities.

Senior members at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have issued a stark warning over a lack of job opportunities and affordable homes as plans are being drawn up to pinpoint sites for development to attract new enterprise.

Concerns are growing about the national park’s rapidly changing demographics with an increasingly ageing population and a dwindling number of young people and families, with many opting to either move away to pursue new careers or because they cannot afford to buy a home in the national park.

The trend is being mirrored in the region’s other national parks in the North York Moors and the Peak District, where data from the latest Census in 2011 revealed that population numbers have deviated little from the 2001 figures.

But influential politicians in the Dales have warned countryside communities are now “caught in the eye of the storm” after repeated warnings in recent years that more needs to be done to counter the affordable housing crisis and create more jobs.

The article reports claims that Defra has “salami sliced” the budgets of all 10 park authorities without taking into account their individual circumstances and ability to raise alternative funds, such as from the sale of assets.

Authority chairman John Riddle said: “The authority has decided that its current priority is to use its limited resources to address the significant challenges required by budget reductions.

“We are deeply concerned, however, that if the allocation of funding for national parks is not addressed and revised it is likely that future funding decisions will have an even greater detrimental effect on the least-funded national park, which is Northumberland.”

I don’t think many people fully understand the funding and operation of National Parks. While the cuts they face are unfortunate it will be interesting to see how their profile (and plans to review their governance) play in terms of a broader awareness of just what they are all about going forward.

You may recall I wrote some weeks ago about Bishop Auckland having to withdraw their printed claims as the birth place of Stan Laurel. Now the Loch Lomond National Park  have had to remove this chart because as explained by the article: “Local residents and boat owners were furious to discover that the chart had included “derogatory” and “megalomaniac” new names for key landmarks on the loch, one of the most popular and heavily used stretches of water in the UK.

The most offensive, they said, was to rename a sandy beach on Inchmoan island as Giro Bay after the Scottish slang term for a dole cheque.

There have been repeated rows over youths from neighbouring towns littering the banks of Loch Lomond with abandoned tents and unsightly rubbish tips after all-night parties and camping expeditions.”

On a more serious and contemporary English note, the governance arrangements for National Parks are being considered at the moment with potential scope to make them more democratic – is this a good thing?

And should the balance often pursued in such Parks in support of conservation over development (in view of the coalition government’s general disposition in favour of development) be deliberately re-tilted?