John Bainbridge (born 1953) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

author and campaigner for countryside preservation and access. He read Literature and

Social History Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

Biography

Born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, Bainbridge spent his childhood at 15 Ray Hall Lane,

Great Barr Great Barr is a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as ...

, and was educated at Hamstead Primary School, Grove Vale School, Dartmouth Comprehensive, and West Lawn School in Teignmouth. It was from there that he began exploring the British countryside, often taking walking tours that lasted for months at a time. He moved to

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

as a teenager and became very knowledgeable about

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

. Bainbridge served as chief executive of the

Dartmoor Preservation Association Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) is one of the oldest environmental or amenity bodies in the UK. It was founded in 1883.Kelly, M. ''"Quartz and Feldspar. Dartmoor: A British Landscape in Modern Times"'', Jonathan Cape, London, 2015, It ...

from 1996 to 2005, and led the victorious campaign to save the archaeologically important Shaugh Moor from waste tipping by the china clay industry. He led the campaign for right to roam in Devon, which culminated in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. He has opposed the military presence on Dartmoor, for which he was praised by

Anthony Steen Anthony David Steen CBE (born 22 July 1939) is a former British Conservative Party politician and barrister. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 2010, and the Chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation. Having represented Totne ...

MP in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 2003."Dartmoor National Park (Military Exercises)"

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

. HC Deb 15 October 2003 vol 411 cc129-36WH. An unapologetic trespasser Bainbridge remains a steadfast campaigner for countryside access. He has dealt with the matter of trespassing in his controversial book "The Compleat Trespasser" (2013) and more briefly in his book on walking "Rambling - some thoughts on country walking". He has also written an eBook about the Victorian writer George Borrow. He is the author of a walking autobiography "Wayfarer's Dole". In 2012 he was given an award by the Ramblers Association to mark a 40-year contribution to the outdoors movement. As a writer he has contributed to most outdoor magazines and is the author of some thirty books about British topography, including ''Dorset Coast'', ''South Devon Coast'' and ''Newton Abbot'', ''Around Torbay'', ''The Cotswolds'', ''Worcestershire.'' In 2009 Bainbridge created the Teignmouth and Dawlish Way long distance footpath, writing the guidebook of the same name, and was involved in the creation of The Two Moors Way long-distance trail. Having retired from active campaigning, Bainbridge has found time to publish several thriller novels including "The Shadow Of William Quest", "Deadly Quest" "Dark Shadow" which have been well received. He has written a straight thriller "Balmoral Kill" - a set in 1937 and based on the involvement of the Establishment in appeasing Hitler, and a sequel "Dangerous Game". Bainbridge has also written four novels based on the old ballads of Robin Hood: "Loxley", "Wolfshead" and "Villain" and "Legend" as part of a tetralogy of historical fiction entitled "The Chronicles of Robin Hood". He was in 2020 chosen by the writer Roly Smith as one out of twenty individuals who had done the most to influence the Right to Roam campaign in the UK

References

Block around the Rock, The Guardian, 15 March 2005 Hansard 15 October 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bainbridge, John 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of East Anglia English male writers People from West Bromwich People from Great Barr