ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the political, social and economic embeddedness of access to open landscape in England from the late eighteenth century up to the outbreak of World War II, specifically in relation to the Peak District. The politics of access is compounded of multi-level interactions between stasis and movement. Conceived of both literally and metaphorically, they are two poles in a pattern of oscillation that operates in social and geographical terms, as well as within discrete and overarching timeframes. Access to and movement across the English landscape is but one way of following that struggle. It is a point of view from which can be seen larger issues of domination, incorporation, and contestation. Recreational activities are not neutral but may be threatening to the ruling elite. Ultimately, that elite expresses its power and control by initiating, supporting, or suppressing such activities.
