Peter Melchett served from 1981 until 1984 as president of the Ramblers’ Association, in those days a feisty and growing pressure group. He advised its members “to go on the offensive rather than simply trying to defend what we have”.
In 1982 he backed the plan hatched by leftish ramblers to hold an unofficial, alternative launch of the Wolds Way (now a national trail). The Countryside Commission, which had planned the way, had been induced by Lord Middleton, president of the Country Landowners’ Association, to route it away from the deserted medieval village, Wharram Percy, that he owned in the Yorkshire Wolds.
Peter was pivotal in persuading the Ramblers to hold their own opening of the way on the proper route and overshadowing the official launch. He was prominent at the event, revelling in the publicity it generated. Years later, on Desert Island Discs, The Manchester Rambler, the trespassers’ anthem, led his playlist.
