When John Mottram joined the newly formed Kinder Mountain Rescue Team in 1971, there wasn’t much to join.

“We started with absolutely nothing,” he recalls.

The team had a rope, an old stretcher and, if they were lucky, access to a borrowed radio. Members brought their own climbing equipment and torches. The rescue base consisted of a single room with a large radio in one corner and a wooden box in the middle containing the team’s limited rescue equipment.

More than half a century later, John has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to Mountain Rescue.

In a manner that will surprise nobody who knows him, he kept the news very much to himself.

John’s journey into mountain rescue began through a chance conversation with a colleague at the General Post Office. Learning that John enjoyed walking, the colleague suggested he come along to one of the earliest meetings of the newly formed Kinder Mountain Rescue Team in Hayfield.

“That’s how it started,” John says simply.

What followed was 55 years of service to mountain rescue.

Over those five decades, John has attended countless callouts, served on the team’s Executive, managed fundraising collection boxes, delivered presentations to community groups, supported Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation and, perhaps most significantly, helped shape the communications systems that mountain rescue teams rely on today.

For around 40 years he served as Communications Officer for Kinder Mountain Rescue Team, while also supporting Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation in a similar role.

Looking back, one of the biggest changes he has witnessed has been the transformation in technology.

“When we started, we didn’t have any radios,” he explains.

From borrowed radio sets and miners’ lamps powered by heavy batteries, John saw the development of increasingly sophisticated communications systems, modern rescue equipment and the digital radio networks used today.

“The benefit of technology has changed almost everything,” he says.

But while equipment has changed dramatically, John’s reasons for remaining involved have not.

Asked what he has gained from more than five decades with the team, his answer is immediate.

“I’ve learned what true comradeship is.”

He describes a culture where members support one another, share knowledge freely and are always willing to help.

“Everybody is prepared to listen to another person in the team who might have a problem.”

That sense of community has remained a constant throughout his time with the team.

Alongside local callouts, John has been involved in some of the most significant search and rescue operations of recent decades. He remembers travelling north with other mountain rescue teams to assist following the Lockerbie disaster in 1988.

“We really had no idea of the devastation until we got there,” he recalls.

“You’d walk through a forest and see parts of the aircraft scattered in the tree branches.”

It is one of many experiences that have stayed with him over the years.

Today, at the age of 80, John remains an active member of the team. He continues to give talks, maintain the team’s network of collection boxes and offer advice and support whenever it is needed.

He modestly describes his current role as helping out “with a sweeping brush and a teapot”.

Those who know him would add that he remains a trusted source of knowledge, experience and encouragement for newer team members.

When asked what he would like people to understand about mountain rescue, his answer reflects the commitment shown by volunteers across the country.

“Many people still think they have to pay for mountain rescue services, and of course that is not the case at all,” he says.

Mountain rescue teams are staffed entirely by volunteers, people who give up their time to help others when they are most in need.

“You’ve got to commit yourself to helping people, even if it’s awkward for you,” John says.

“People need help on the hill and it’s an emergency, so you’ve got to do your best to get there and get the job done.”

It is a simple statement, delivered without fanfare.

Perhaps that is why the MBE feels so fitting.

Not because John sought recognition, but because for more than 55 years he has quietly embodied the values at the heart of mountain rescue: service, commitment, humility and helping others.

Everyone at Kinder Mountain Rescue Team congratulates John on this well-deserved honour and thanks him for his extraordinary contribution to mountain rescue.