Sunday Times best-selling author Nick Hayes has been on a mission to highlight and campaign for the right to access more of the UK’s countryside for everyone. Connecting to the countryside is proven to help mental health and well-being, and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic was a vital resource for folks fortunate enough to be able to access green spaces. However not everyone has access and only 8% of England, for example National Parks, is open to such rambling. In Sheffield, citizens are fortunate to have a wealth of green spaces, parks and of course direct access to the Peak District national park.
Nick Hayes has joined forces on a collaborative beer with Sheffield independent businesses, who reside on the Peak District’s border for Sheffield Beer Week this March. The project brings together a number of threads including celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Mass Kinder Trespass which happened within the Peak District. This was key in opening up the area as the first UK National Park some 50 years later, highlighting the much-needed spotlight on the work of the Right To Roam campaign to continue efforts. This also celebrates Sheffield as The Outdoor City and its citizen’s access to green, open spaces and adventure trails.
Due to considerable interest and demand the beer has been released early and will be available from Monday 28 February at Hop Hideout (City Centre in Kommune), Hop Hideout (Abbeydale Road) and hophideout.co.uk, then across Sheffield and the rest of the UK at independent sellers throughout this week. On Saturday 12 March there is a sold out ‘A Right to Roam Walking Tour’ in Sheffield with author Nick Hayes starting at Hop Hideout beer shop and finishing at Brewery of St Mars of the Desert. These celebrations kick-off a whole month of focus leading up to the April anniversary of the Mass Kinder Trespass. What better way to call for a right to roam than by ordering a pint of it in a pub, direct at the brewery or a can at your local beer shop!
A Right To Roam, Riwaka and Nectaron hopped hazy IPA, 5.4%
“On 24th April 1932, 400 young people walked up Kinder Scout to protest the lack of public access to the moors. They were beaten by gamekeepers, six were imprisoned, but ultimately they won. We now have a right to roam over 8% of England.
“But today, 97% of rivers and 92% of our land is still forbidden to us. Science has proven how urgently we need regular access to natural spaces, for our mental health and physical health and also how we care more for nature if we have a personal connection to it. The Kinder Trespass, in what is now the Peak District, was the first step towards a new relationship with the countryside, but there is still much to be done.”
Join us at rightroam.org.uk to campaign for greater access to the English countryside.
The beer launch is taking place as part of Sheffield Beer Week.