Kinder Trespass Leader Dies

I would urge everyone to read Benny's obituaries (links in main article) to find out about his amazing life.

What a man; still campaigning even after his first stroke confined him to a wheelchair. Many people, not just in the outdoors movement, owe so much to him.

May he rest in peace.

I just want to add my respects to Benny and to all of his Comrades from the Communist Party and the whole free access movement whose work in the 30's and the post-war years has allowed us the access we sometimenjoy today.

It is valuable to remember the contribution to the whole outdoors community made by Benny's generation in their efforts to escape the Industrial towns and cities of the North. Something my grandfather never tired of reminding me as he took me for my first 'rambles' in the Peaks.

I was fortunate to meet Benny when I was a kid and his warmth and spirit is still with me over 20 years later.

In the Spirit of Benny, access to Tryfan and Glyders must be defended.

Wow, you actually met him. I read his Kinder Trespass book a few years back and was humbled by the drive and courage of those guys. I genuinely do imagine the trespassers fanning out from William Clough onto the tops every time I go that way - which is pretty frequently. It's well worth reading if you can track down a copy and made me more aware of access issues and their importance than any number of RA full-page Sunday paper adverts. An extraordinary man.

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Yes an amazing man and a very humbling experience.

By Coincidence - I took a friend of mine to the Joe Simpson reading in Leamington Spa last week (Cool joe - thanks). My mate asked me in the pub afterwards why I got into walking. I started talking about my Grand-dad taking me into the peaks and also about all the people I knew in the Communist party and the Manchester Left who organised wonderful weekend walks when I was young.

Naturally I got talking about Benny and about Kinder and of all the people of that generation who when not spending their time fighting fascism and industrial oppression were taking on the issues of the common person's basic rights to be something other than industrial fodder.

I sometimes forget why I go out in the first place: The basic freedom of being somewhere not because you have paid money or sought permissions, but because the landscape is there for everybody and by being there you have earnt the same right as anybody else is beyond price. Benny and his comrades realised that being outdoors was not just a physical pursuit, but one of intellectual and social freedom.

It might be a good time for all of us, whether we are walkers, climbers or mountain bikers to forget the money spending part of our pleasures and remember that by simply stepping foot into the hills we demonstrate ourselves as part of a bigger community and make ourselves better people because of it.

I'll shut up now and get back to work.

Seconded (not the bit about shutting up but the sentiment)

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Thanks Phil, well said.
--Mjausson