The Book of Trespass: Crossing the lines that divide us

[Bald Rick]

On Radio 2 today (Hosted by Vanessa Felz)

All about the right to roam anywhere as trespass is not a criminal offence in the UK

Jeremy Vine - Evictions and Zip Wires - BBC Sounds

Vanessa discusses evictions, zip wires, local lockdowns and trespassing.

www.bbc.co.uk

From 1:43:30 on

The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us: Amazon.co.uk: Hayes, Nick: 9781526604699: Books

Buy The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us by Hayes, Nick (ISBN: 9781526604699) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

Author is Mick Hayes.
Stating that landowners are only the custodians of the land

TBH, I don't really mind the odd walker off the PRoW so long as they close gates and don't interfere with either our work or our animals. I also think that most non-militant walkers just want an easy route through a field without let or hindrance

Problems become if they try to force through new PRoWs through creation by use of course.

 

[Bald Rick]

Thought I would add the Amazon reviews of the book

Review
What a brilliant, passionate and political book this is, by a young writer-walker-activist who is also a dazzlingly gifted artist. It tells - through story, exploration, evocation - the history of trespass (and therefore of freedom) in Britain and beyond, while also making a powerful case for future change. It is bold and brave, as well as beautiful; Hayes's voice is warm, funny, smart and inspiring. The Book of Trespass will make you see landscapes differently -- Robert Macfarlane

Seeks to challenge and expose the mesmerising power that landownership exerts on this country, and to show how we can challenge its presumptions . . . The Book of Trespass is massively researched but lightly delivered, a remarkable and truly radical work, loaded with resonant truths and stunningly illustrated by the author -- George Monbiot, Guardian

A powerful new narrative about the vexed issue of land rights . . . Hayes [is] practically a professional trespasser these days, no sign too forbidding to be ignored, no fence too high to be climed . . . The Book of Trespass is [Hayes's] first non-graphic book - though the text is punctuated by his marvellous illustations, linocuts that bring to mind the Erics, Gill and Ravilious - and in it, he weaves several centuries of English history together with the stories of gypsies, witches, ramblers, migrants and campaigners, as well as his own adventures. Its sweep is vast, Observer

Exhilarating . . . A gorgeously written, deeply researched and merrily provocative tour of English landscape, history and culture -- Boyd Tonkin, Arts Desk

Hayes is practised at pushing through overgrown thickets of law to uncover hidden structures of power and privilege. His book's historical range stretches across centuries . . . The Book of Trespass is incisive, impassioned and beautifully written, Times Literary Supplement

A trespasser's radical manifesto . . . A book dedicated to demolishing boundaries of all kinds . . . Each chapter includes a double-page black-and-white landscape, rendered with a thrilling air of motion and immediacy . . . Hayes has picked apart the meaning of "trespass" and brilliantly redefined it as an act of solidarity, Guardian

A stirring appeal for us to freely access the land closed off to the public . . . By trespassing on the land, Hayes takes us on a roller-coaster ride through history . . . His book is an example of nature writing at its best but it has real political bite . [A book] to relish and learn from, Morning Star

The vast majority of our country is entirely unknown to us because we are banned from setting foot on it. By law of trespass, we are excluded from 92 per cent of the land and 97 per cent of its waterways, blocked by walls whose legitimacy is rarely questioned. But behind them lies a story of enclosure, exploitation and dispossession of public rights whose effects last to this day.

The Book of Trespass takes us on a journey over the walls of England, into the thousands of square miles of rivers, woodland, lakes and meadows that are blocked from public access. By trespassing the land of the media magnates, Lords, politicians and private corporations that own England, Nick Hayes argues that the root of social inequality is the uneven distribution of land.

Weaving together the stories of poachers, vagabonds, gypsies, witches, hippies, ravers, ramblers, migrants and protestors, and charting acts of civil disobedience that challenge orthodox power at its heart, The Book of Trespass will transform the way you see the land.

 

[7610 super q]

Then these fu--kers can chip in and help pay my mortgage .

 

[marco]

Go for a trespass around an MPs house and see how you get on....... Actually it would be worth your while organising a few hundred people to trespass on the authors property/garden etc oh and monibots as well when you're at it.

 

[Red Fred]

I blame social media for putting the idea into everyones' heads that whatever is yours should be mine. It is the politics of envy and has led to a massive sense of entitlement. I notice it on various forums I belong to, whether shooting, canoeing, detectoring, even old tractors and machinery. The concept of property is being replaced by covetousness.

 

[Swarfmonkey]

What really grips my sh!t about twits like Monbiot/Shrubsole/Hayes is their utter hypocrisy. After all, you just know they'd go ballistic if anyone wandered around their property/workplace.

 

[GeorgeK]

How can anyone that supposedly cares for the environment look at the destruction and littering at popular beauty spots then say "Let's do this to all the countryside"

 

[Red Fred]

How can anyone that supposedly cares for the environment look at the destruction and littering at popular beauty spots then say "Let's do this to all the countryside"

I don't mind genuine eco enthusiasts wandering about, but it will just open the flood gates to every entitled idiot in the country to trash the place, as we have seen on the Dorset coast and in the New Forest. The campaigners have a view that every "ordinary Joe" is well behaved but downtrodden, while all landowners are ignorant greedy slave drivers. It really does come down to envy.

 

[rob1]

We have grass tracks round most of our fields, all but two of which have footpaths in anyway, so the huge majority walks these tracks and are grateful for the privilige we allow which also saves me sprayibg out the paths, there is always the odd twit that walks anywhere and they get both barrels, their response is "what harm am I doing" I say one doesnt do anyharm its the next thousand that cause the problem they usually think about it and agree, this twit on the Radio needs telling the same, if everybody tramples the countryside the wildlife would have no peace and would vacate it or just not be able to breed.
He and his like are all the same all education but no sense

 

[uztrac]

The CLA & the NFU really need to counter the likes of the "rights to roamers " faction of society. Huge mess left at " beauty spots " is an example of what would happen across our farmland & pastures Even Her Majestys estate at Sandringham has signs up on the farmland stating No Public Right of Way.People seem to think that they can wander down a farm tracks with dogs of lead disturbing the wildlife etc

 

[Still Farming]

We be walking through people's gardens also then?

 

[J 1177]

Oh feck em try walking through my yard or land and claim the right to Rome, Il claim the right to see if my pick axe handles strong enough......see if they can make up a bullshite "rights" so can I.

 

[Bald Rick]

I don't mind genuine eco enthusiasts wandering about, but it will just open the flood gates to every entitled idiot in the country to trash the place, as we have seen on the Dorset coast and in the New Forest. The campaigners have a view that every "ordinary Joe" is well behaved but downtrodden, while all landowners are ignorant greedy slave drivers. It really does come down to envy.

Lot of people are too lazy to go far from their cars... about a 100m tops so the Right to Roam is probably a bit overstated in terms of numbers. Mind you, the rambler society out on .. er .. ramble are far more damaging than the odd couple out for a stroll

 

[Kidds]

Most also claim the same rights for their dogs.

Around here there is hysteria about gypsies stealing dogs, and I mean hysteria! Apparently zip ties on lamp posts are now secret signs they are coming to steal your dog in the night (nothing to do with the lost cat posters that rotted away leaving just the ties years ago).
Upside is everyone has their dog on a lead for a change.

 

[Bald Rick]

Most also claim the same rights for their dogs.

Around here there is hysteria about gypsies stealing dogs, and I mean hysteria! Apparently zip ties on lamp posts are now secret signs they are coming to steal your dog in the night (nothing to do with the lost cat posters that rotted away leaving just the ties years ago).
Upside is everyone has their dog on a lead for a change.

Pampas grass in the front garden is also a sign apparently though for the life of me , I can’t remember for what

 

[farmerm]

What really grips my sh!t about twits like Monbiot/Shrubsole/Hayes is their utter hypocrisy. After all, you just know they'd go ballistic if anyone wandered around their property/workplace.

I am up for trying it, where is Montiots house and who fancies joining me for a walk on Sunday, bring your family and friends and we can all have a socially distanced picnic and a rave in his grounds....

 

[Swarfmonkey]

Which house? He owns two. One in Wales, the other in Oxford.

(Another example of his hypocrisy. He goes off on one about people that own more than one house, whilst he owns two himself).

 

[GmB]

Pampas grass in the front garden is also a sign apparently though for the life of me , I can’t remember for what

Swinging

 

[primmiemoo]

Eric Wheelbrace - Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki

wiki.lspace.org

Art imitating life?

 

[deleted user 837354]

I dunno what Monbiot's game is but he is a rather odd fellow. I'm glad the twit doesn't live near me.

Swinging

I'm glad no one can see our bit of pampas grass from the road!