The paradox of parks: politics of recreational land use before and after the mass trespasses
This paper has been prompted by the growing interest in the mass trespasses of the 1930s and increasing current concens about public access to land for the purpose of recreation. It represents a preliminary attempt to place in context the issues of loss of access to non-agricultural land, the attempts to regain access, and the consequences of the resultant establishment of various national and countryside parks. Loss of access is discussed in terms of enclosure and changing fashions in hunting. The attempts to regain access are seen as a growing movement culminating in the mass trespasses. And the consequences are addressed with regard to the concessions that were necessary in order to achieve the national parks. Rather than challenging the rights of exclusive private ownership, as was the original intent of the access movement, the paradox of parks lies in the fact that they have served to confirm such rights.