Veterans of the 1932 mass trespass in the Peak District joined ramblers and activists on Tuesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the landmark right to roam protest.
George Haigh - who was 16 when gamekeepers tried to stop hundreds of walkers getting on to Kinder Scout in Derbyshire - said he was "very proud" to be back at the foot of the mountain to mark the occasion.
Mr Haigh, now 96, said he remembers the day the armed keepers scuffled with ramblers from Manchester and Sheffield. Five of those arrested were later jailed.
"It's a long time ago but I'm very proud to be in this position," said Mr Haigh, who is from Stockport but now lives in Oxfordshire.
"This is a wonderful day. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
John Bunting, 94, from Sheffield, was 14 when he came to the mass trespass on his bike.
He described how the campaign continued after World War II. "We were young men fighting for our country but when the war was over we couldn't walk on it.
"The rich and powerful and the aristocracy - they just wanted to murder the wildlife for a few years and keep us off for the rest of the time.
"And that's what really got one or two of us going."
The event was part of a week of celebrations to mark the mass trespass.
It took place in the Derbyshire village of Edale, which was one of the starting points of the trespassers 80 years ago.
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