Duke Apologises To Trespassers

The Duke of Devonshire has formally apologised for the attitude of his grandfather towards walkers in the 1930s.

Interviewed for a piece in today's Guardian about the 1932 Kinder Trespass, the current Duke, who owns Chatsworth House and has am extensive back garden which includes large tracts of the Peak District, where he is the largest single landowner. says:

"I would like to formally apologise for the attitude of my grandfather who owned part of Kinder at the time, for what happened. My ambition is to de-politicise the access situation through good neighbourliness."

Aged 12 at the time of the trespass, he also says he is "'still horrified by the attitude of landowners at the time ... in not allowing people to walk in open country and by the vicious sentences handed down by the trespassers". The Duke believes that ramblers and grouse shooters can co-exist and is, apparently in favour of access to open country.

Elsewhere in an interesting article, the secretary of the Peak Park Moorland Owners and Tenants Association says that they have been 'gently critical' of the farmer who recently ploughed moorland, apparently to prevent it being included in access legislation.

Interesting reading. Take a look.

For details of the planned celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Kinder Trespass near Hayfield on April 27, see our previous article below.