Today, down the road from where the trespassers assembled, Hayfield Campsite is a fitting ode to their travails. It is a site perfect for modern day walkers, with that simple camping charm but handy new features like a drying-room for airing out your post-mountain wares. The site is long and narrow, running parallel to a tiny river fed by the Kinder Reservoir further up the hill.
The real treats, though, are the handy and brand new Ready Camp safari tents. These tents come fully furnished with the likes of double beds, dining room furniture, a deep, comfortable sofa and a kitchenette that includes a working fridge and running water. There’s plenty of storage and all the utensils are there so you can come straight in with a bag of spuds and a slab of local lamb, getting straight to work whipping up a storm. The tents offer a new sparkle to this well-established campsite, which has been run here by the Camping and Caravanning Club for decades.
The main local walking route skirts the base of the hill opposite the campsite, round to Little Hayfield, from where there is an excellent climb up to Lantern Pike. The panoramic view from the summit reveals no fewer than seven different counties. When you stumble back down into the village be sure to stop in the aptly named Lantern Pike Inn – a top cubby hole for post-climbing beer. Another, longer nearby route is to retrace the footsteps of those who have gone before, heading past the memorial plaque and up what is now the ‘Trespass Trail’.
If you continue south west on the Kinder Scout plateau you can join the Pennine Way and head to its very first marker in Edale (opposite another excellent pub). The route is one of the best known in the whole of the Peak District and the plateau has rightfully earned the landscape fame for its untainted beauty. On the way back down, remember to doth your walkers cap to the mass trespassers of 1932, then slip off the walking boots and slink into the Ready Camp safari tents of 2015 – times have certainly changed but the inspiring landscape is just the same as it ever was.
The campsite has a small onsite shop selling some essentials, but head into Hayfield for anything more substantial. The brand new Roundhouse (01663 742527) is a quirky café-bistro with great food, while the George Hotel (01663 743 691) is the oldest pub in the place, established in 1575. In the nearby hamlet of Little Hayfield the Lantern Pike Inn (01663 747590) is also excellent.