according to the hayfield kinder trespass group website, this act of civil disobedience was one of the most successful in british history. it arguably led to the passage of the national parks legislation in 1949 and helped pave way for the establishment of the pennine way and other long-distance footpaths. walkers' rights to travel through common land and uncultivated upland were eventually protected by the countryside and rights of way act (crow act) of 2000. though controversial when it occurred, it has been interpreted as the embodiment of "working class struggle for the right to roam versus the rights of the wealthy to have exclusive use of moorlands for grouse shooting."