The history of Kinder, Edale and the High Peak

The People’s Landscape Project 

With the fight for access deeply embedded in the landscape’s history, the Peak District was one of five National Trust places to take part in the People’s Landscape Project in 2019. The project marked 200 years since the massacre of peaceful protesters at Peterloo in Manchester, and aimed to uncover stories of passion and protest beneath the surface of National Trust places.  

The People’s Landscape Project brought people and artists together in the countryside for a national series of creative events and exhibitions, exploring the history of these landscapes. Working with renowned artist Jeremy Deller and musician Jarvis Cocker, the High Peak team developed a creative programme inspired by the 1932 Kinder Mass Trespass.  

Be kinder to Kinder 

The BE KINDER walking trail was created to encourage people to think about the importance of being kind to this incredible natural habitat, as well as honouring the individuals who fought for our rights of way; allowing future generations to enjoy and protect this spectacular landscape for years to come.  

Walkers started their journey with a burst of music on Ruth Ewan’s jukebox which played songs inspired by passion and protest, including ‘The Manchester Rambler’ by singer-songwriter Ewan McColl, which he wrote following his participation in the trespass. Other surprises on the trail included a ‘Cinebarn’ with a tiny rural screen showing a selection of film clips by great directors and amateurs, inspired by the Kinder Scout landscape. Passages from the Derbyshire-based novel ‘Reservoir 13’ by Jon McGregor were hidden for people to discover.  

Musician Jarvis Cocker said: 'This project is about reinforcing the original trespassers’ message: the landscape belongs to everyone – whilst making the point that the preservation of the landscape has now become EVERYONE’S responsibility.'

'Be kind to the landscape. Be kind to the environment. Then stop, close your eyes for a moment and think of how to be kinder. To Be Kinder. Thank you.’  

– Jarvis Cocker, Musician

Looking after Kinder

Today the National Trust looks after Kinder Scout, having acquired the moorland in 1982. As well as continuing to provide access to the moorland, the Trust’s 50-year High Peak Moors Vision Project includes encouraging wildlife by developing habitats for them to live in, more trees and shrubs in the valleys nearby and restoring peat bogs, which play an important role in capturing and locking away carbon, as well as being an important place for wildlife.

The history of Mam Tor 

Elsewhere in the High Peak of Derbyshire stands Mam Tor, a 517m hill in Castleton whose name means ‘mother hill’ – so called because frequent landslides have created smaller hills beneath it. These landslides also give Mam Tor another name: the ‘shivering mountain’. 

Since before the Bronze Age, Mam Tor has been used as a defensive structure. Iron Age settlers built imposing hill forts on its summit, and Iron Age quern stones discovered in the area suggest it was once used for extensive arable farming.  

Upper Derwent Valley 

If you’re visiting the Derwent Valley, you’ll discover two impressive, Gothic-style dams at Howden and Derwent Reservoirs. These were built from 1912 to 1916, using 1.2 million tons of stone from Bole Hill Quarry, a once-industrious part of Longshaw in the Peak District.  

In 1943, the Howden and Derwent reservoirs were used at stand-ins for the Ruhr dams of industrial Germany, with RAF bomber pilots flying secret practice runs along the Upper Derwent Valley.