Latest News

Reignite the campaigning Kinder trespassers’ zeal

April 26, 2014

‘We must reignite the campaigning zeal of the Kinder trespassers.  Times are tough for countryside campaigners, but the spirit of Kinder will carry us through.’ So declared our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, at the Spirit of Kinder event to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of the famous mass trespass.  This was held at Sheffield Town Hall…

Read More

Spirit of Kinder celebrations, 26 April 2014

March 26, 2014

The annual Spirit of Kinder event, celebrating Kinder Scout and the 1932 mass trespass, will this year be held in Sheffield on Saturday, April 26. The event, which will also celebrate ten years of the implementation of the CROW Act which gave the right to walk freely in open country, is organised by the Kinder…

Read More

Lincoln stalwart retires

October 29, 2013

Mick Commons has recently resigned from the Lincoln City Commons Advisory Panel on which he served as the society’s representative for nearly 30 years. Mick, a professional footballer, became interested in the commons when he kept horses there. The committee was established thanks to the society’s opposition to the city council’s Lincoln City Council Bill…

Read More

Our new activist for Cambridgeshire

May 21, 2013

We have appointed Mrs Alysoun Hodges of Ely as our local correspondent for Cambridgeshire. Alysoun was until last year the definitive map development manager for Cambridgeshire County Council, having worked on public rights of way for almost 22 years. During that time she initiated and led the county council’s ‘lost highways project’ which resulted in…

Read More

Celebrating the spirit of Kinder

April 26, 2013

On Saturday 27 April the first Spirit of Kinder Day will be held, at New Mills Town Hall in Derbyshire, from 2.30pm.  The event is to celebrate the massive contribution to the access movement of the brave trespassers on Kinder Scout, on 24 April 1932.  Five of the trespassers were imprisoned. The speakers at the…

Read More

Race against time for Amber Valley residents’ green spaces

March 20, 2013

Residents of Amber Valley Borough in Derbyshire face a race against time to protect their threatened open spaces. The Growth and Infrastructure Bill, currently in the House of Lords, will outlaw applications to register land as a village green once it has been identified for development. If land has been used by local people for…

Read More

Lincoln’s plan to axe commons warden service

February 14, 2013

We are dismayed that Lincoln City Council plans to axe the commons warden service for the Lincoln Commons.  The council is seeking the views of members of the Lincoln Commons Advisory Panel and the society, along with many other members of the panel, has written to object. The council claims that the closure of the…

Read More

Yeadon Banks green space is safe for ever

May 21, 2012

We are delighted that the Supreme Court has refused to allow Leeds Group plc to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that Yeadon Banks, Leeds, should be registered as a green. This means that the registration of Yeadon Banks is confirmed, and the 2.2-hectare site is safe from development. We backed the applicant for…

Read More

Kinder 80 – celebrating the trespass

April 20, 2012

The Open Spaces Society will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass which took place on 24 April 1932. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook is speaking at the launch event on Tuesday 24 April and the society has contributed to the programme. Says Kate: ‘There is nothing like the right to…

Read More

Outdoor groups blast Stowe School’s golf course plans

January 16, 2012

We are challenging Stowe School’s golf course plan. With the Bucks, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Ramblers, we have objected to the posh public school’s scheme to move its existing north Bucks golf course onto land crossed by public paths, and have submitted our objections to Aylesbury Vale District Council, the planning authority. The proposed…

Read More