Bill's Walks

Who was Samuel Plimsoll?

Samuel Plimsoll
1824 to 1898

Recently a friend gave me a page out of a magazine. I suspect this was Country Walking but cannot verify that. However I feel that the information on the article should receive further publicity as I was totally unaware of the fact that Plimsoll was very much involved with the first mass trespass way back in 1887.

Hitherto my knowledge of Plimsoll was that he had been the driving force as the Liberal MP for Derby in the 1876 Merchant Shipping Act which resulted in all ships having a mark on them to indicate the maximum load capacity. This became to be known as the Plimsoll Line. There was enormous loss of life around our shores in the preceding years with over 8,000 mariners losing their lives. Quite recently, whilst on a town walk in Sunderland we passed an asylum which was for boys who had lost their fathers at sea. Asylum here was used in its proper term which means a place of refuge. Before visiting this place I had never really thought about the losses at sea. Plimsoll had great difficulty in getting the act through Parliament due to the opposition of many MPs who were shipowners. However public opinion was on his side and justice prevailed.

Most people are aware of this heritage but how many are aware of the Latrigg trespass? Latrigg had been open to walkers but in 1887 the landowner erected fences to keep people off the higher parts. At a rally of about 2,000 people on October 1st 1887, which was the culmination of previous skirmishes, Plimsoll spoke to the masses that the Keswick and District Footpath Preservation Society and like-minded groups should unite to demand a Bill that would give the right for people to go on the hills and mountains without the expense of having to go to a court of law. Following this address the landowner, a Mr Spedding, was asked to remove the locked gate giving access to the summit. When he refused members of the group used crowbars to open the gate.

Plimsoll’s support of these actions had an important legacy for future walkers in that access to Latrigg was never rescinded and it also led the way to the famous Kinder Trespass which was 80 years ago this year.

A recent book by Nicolette Jones titled “The Plimsoll Sensation” received very favourable reviews. Plimsoll, partly through his experience of life, was a great social reformer. As an endpiece the term plimsoll for a rubber soled canvas shoe was named because once the water went over the rubber your feet got wet!

I am not aware of any monument or plaque to mark this event on Latrigg, and Wainwright does not mention it, but on this 125th year of its anniversary surely more should be done to publicise this historic event.