The right to roam after 1,000 years

THERE was a time when a walk in the country could be classed as a high-risk activity, and I don't mean having to face strong words from irate landowners. Instead, man-traps and beatings lay in store for those who dared to trespass. But now the land is being given back to the people, and walkers will be able to roam with impunity.

By early 2005, more than 4,000 square miles of countryside throughout England will be opened up to walkers. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (Crow), will introduce a right to roam over areas classed as mountain, moor, heath, down or common land. But why is it that we have been excluded from this land for so long and how did this historic legislation come about?

The present Government would have us believe that they are the prime movers in shifting the balance of power between landowners and the landless. In truth, though New Labour must be commended for their efforts, these reforms are the result of almost a millennium of struggle.

It is perhaps fitting that mapping of the new access land has begun in the South-East, since it was here that exclusion began. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror began to carve up England into separate estates. He gave huge parcels of land to his barons, who then created exclusive deer parks to indulge their passion for hunting and provide meat for their table. Though it was impractical to deny access to such large areas, some of which were several thousand acres in size, the king and his barons did impose limitations on public use. The gathering of underbush, tree felling, the cultivation of rough land and, especially, hunting were all restricted.

Prior to the Norman Conquest, most peasants survived through small-scale farming, hunting and gathering forest produce. They resisted the idea that the land and its bounty could be denied to the public at large. This simmering resentment boiled over in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, with one of the principal demands being that the law be changed so that anyone could take wild fish and game. The revolt failed and exclusions continued, as did the ill-feeling toward them.

From the early 15th century, lowland landowners began to enclose both their wild and cultivated land. Woodlands were often coppiced - the trees regularly cut back to stumps so that straight, even poles would grow up from them - and needed to be enclosed to prevent theft of the timber. Small tenant farmers were forced to leave and their individual strips of land were amalgamated to form large fields, which began to resemble the farmland we see today. There was money to be made and landowners were unwilling to share the profits.

Fences, hedges and ditches were constructed to protect lucrative produce from local people who would otherwise have taken a share. Land that had benefited many now became the private fiefdom of wealthy landowners. The public found their access to the countryside ever more restricted to certain routes. Meanwhile, the areas now closed to them became potentially dangerous as landowners sanctioned the laying of mantraps and the beating of trespassers.

With the collapse of the UK timber market in the 19th century, lowland landowners turned instead to pheasant shooting as a means of profiting from their land. A similar story was being played out in the uplands, where huge tracts once used for sheep farming were turned into game reserves after cheap lamb from Australia forced a drastic cut in profits. Significant proportions of the Pennines and the Scottish Highlands became playgrounds for the rich and royal to enjoy game fishing, pheasant shooting and hunting for wild deer. Keen to protect their exclusive reserves, the landowners employed game wardens to keep the public away.

Access restrictions continued into the 20th century with the expansion of intensive agriculture and the enclosure of more game reserves. However, there was considerable public pressure for increased access to the countryside, resulting in the provision of country parks by local authorities and the opening up of selected land owned by bodies like the Forestry Commission and the National Trust. The Industrial Revolution brought pollution and overcrowding to many English towns, leaving the citizens keen to escape to the countryside during what leisure time they had.

The idea of walking in the countryside as a leisure pursuit would have seemed bizarre to those involved in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and the later Diggers' movement of the mid-1600s. They believed that no one had the right to own land absolutely and that the earth was the property of everyone.

But where they failed, the campaigners of the 20th century began to succeed. In 1932, protesting against the denial of public access over the Peak District moorland between Sheffield and Manchester, a group of workers from the nearby industrial towns staged a mass trespass on the bleak slopes of Kinder Scout. Fighting broke out with the gamekeepers and six of the ringleaders were jailed. However, regular demonstrations followed throughout the country and eventually the government passed legislation on access to the countryside in 1939 and again in 1949.

The provisions of these early Acts were poor and though they were bolstered by further legislation throughout the 20th century, there has been continued pressure for wider public access. The Ramblers' Association proposed the introduction of a right to roam over upland such as the moors of Yorkshire and Lancashire; open access rather than confinement to certain specified routes. Campaigning by the Ramblers and other groups, coupled with overwhelming public pressure, eventually led to the creation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, 2000. Though the last Conservative government had entertained similar measures, it was the current administration which finally began to implement changes.

The Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2001, will make at least 4,000 square miles of England's open countryside more accessible. The Countryside Agency (CA) is now in the process of mapping this 'open country' - mountain, moor, heath and down and common land - that people will have access to. Pam Warhurst, Countryside Agency deputy chair, was quoted in a recent CA publication as saying: "This is a historic step. Our priority will be to make the arrangements work well so that people can feel confident about using their new rights, while minimising the impact on farmers and landowners.

"Full access rights will only come into force once we have mapped the open countryside and after there has been widespread consultation on this mapping."

This new twist in the history of access to England's countryside would not have satisfied the Diggers, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. However, with disputes breaking out over the draft access maps and angry words being passed at consultation meetings, it seems that we may yet have to wait a while to exercise our new rights.

* New Rights, New Responsibilities, a leaflet summarising the new access arrangements for countryside users and land managers, is available from the Countryside Agency: CA Publications, PO Box 125, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7ER. Telephone 0870 120 6466 www.countryside.gov.uk.