The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes
The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us by Nick Hayes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Back in the 1930s, the mass trespass protest that was held at Kinder Scout Peak was seen as a major breakthrough to the public getting access to the countryside, and the "right to roam" seems very close to the heart of author Nick Hayes in this book.
As the blurb on the back notes, a lot the UK is "unknown to us because we are banned from setting foot on it". To be precise, 92% of land, and 97% of waterways, are private, separated from the public for the most part by walls, which Hayes notes, were often paid for through money obtained from the slave trade.
This book is a comprehensive guide to the notion of rights of way and acts of trespass. I particularly enjoyed reading Hayes' accounts of his own adventures, noticing that in just about every chapter he trespasses on private property. In one chapter, he even realises that he is still on a public right of way, and quickly pulls up a blade of grass, which apparently also constitutes an "act of trespass".
This book took me a few chapters to get into, but it made for fascinating reading, and felt very well-researched.
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