Tavistock Rambler wins national award

Since 2017, Tavistock Ramblers has very kindly been contributing walks for our Outdoors and Active section. John Noblet has prepared the majority of the ‘Out and About’ walks, and so when he won a national ‘Inspiring Walkers’ award from the Ramblers we wanted to hear more.

‘Long John’, as he is known, was on the Tavistock Ramblers committee for 18 years, fulfilling the role of treasurer, as well as turning his hand to creating publicity material, managing the website and Facebook page, developing walk programmes and holidays, in addition to leading numerous walks and training other aspiring leaders. When he decided it was time to step down, the chairman, Malcolm Cooper and other members felt that John’s 18 years of service merited more than a simple ‘thank you’ so they put forward a summary of John’s voluntary work for a commendation from the national Ramblers association. John was shortlisted and following a national vote by the Ramblers’ 120,000 members he was declared the winner. His prestigious award was presented by Stuart Maconie, the Ramblers president, at the annual meeting of the general council in Bangor.

John has also written two guide books about walking on Dartmoor and he regularly undertakes long-distance walks of up to 200 miles. He may have stepped down from the committee but he still seems very heavily involved in organising and leading walks and social activities. He says: “Walking is good for the soul and I intend to carry on doing it while I can. Tavistock Ramblers’ 180 members are more than just a walking group – they’re a family and go out of their way to help each other.”