A Brief History of Rambling Clubs

There was nearly 4,000 acts of Parliament between 1760 and 1870 that went from common lands to enclosed private property. People were so desperate to continue hunting on this once common land that they came at night and covered their faces in soot for extra camouflage. The death penalty for trespassing was done away with, but the land remained closed to the vast majority of people. In 1930s Manchester, a rambling club called the British Workers Sports Federation tried to take a walk in the hills near Manchester. They were chased off by a group of gamekeepers. So Benny Rothman and others said, you know, if there is enough of us, they couldn't stop us. Let's get