AS he takes a well-earned retirement from walk leadership at the age of 79, Farnham and District Rambler Malcolm Morse can look back with justifiable pride on a spectacular record of encouraging others to explore and enjoy the varied countryside around South West Surrey and North East Hampshire.

Born in Aldershot, Tongham resident and electronics specialist Malcolm has spent almost all his life in the local area with exception of a 12-year spell in Northumberland as an RAF radar master technician.

“I first took up walking as I enjoy the outdoors and my dogs have always needed plenty of exercise,” he said.

Since his first involvement with organised walking groups some 30 years ago, Malcolm has planned and led more than one thousand walks, an extraordinary achievement and one which is unlikely to be beaten in the foreseeable future. This includes leading well over 600 walks for Farnham Ramblers alone, with others for the sister Godalming & Haslemere Ramblers and the Aldershot Club.

“When I joined Farnham Ramblers on my retirement in the late 1990s, I already had previous experience and so was happy to lead walks almost straightaway,” he recalled.

Blessed with a photographic memory of all his walks, over the past decade in particular Malcolm has led more than 40 walks annually for the Farnham club, with Nimbus, his 11-year-old border collie a constant companion.

So how much has changed in the time between his very first walk around Frensham Great Pond as a leader, and his last, in Kingsley, just before Easter?

“In many ways very little,” he said, “Farnham Ramblers has always had a justifiable reputation as a very friendly club and one which regularly welcomes visitors, as it is one of the few groups that puts on walks almost every day of the year.

“We are also fortunate in being spoilt for choice in the range of walks open to us locally, from army training and Forestry Commission land, heath and open farmland to attractive riverside and canal walks.”

And his favourite? “Without doubt, leading walks over the six square miles of the Ash firing ranges. It is a beautiful area of heathland and forest, yet with public access restricted to just a few times a year, it remains a little-known real gem.”

Though Malcolm will continue to walk as long as his health allows, his experience, expertise and enthusiasm as walk leader will make him a hard act to follow, as Farnham Ramblers chairman Alan Buttery confirms.

“Malcolm’s contribution has gone a long way to establishing Farnham Ramblers’ outstanding walks programme, as his inspiring example has encouraged many others to take up leading walks,“ he said. “Looking ahead, we hope to continue seeing Malcolm on many walks, as we enjoy his fascinating anecdotes and benefit from his extensive local knowledge.”

Farnham Ramblers will be leading several walks in the Farnham Walking Festival, which runs from May 20 to June 3. For more information visit www.farnham.gov.uk/walkingfestival.