My friend Jack Ibbott, rambler and campaigner, who has died aged 91, used to say, when confronting barbed wire across a public path or a no trespassing sign on moorland: "I didn't fight for my country to be shut out of it by landowners." During the second world war, Jack had served with the Royal Corps of Signals across north Africa, through Italy after the allied invasion and into Europe with the Normandy invasion. Shortly before demobilisation in 1946 he was mentioned in dispatches, but he never revealed the reason for this. In peacetime he devoted himself to defending and expanding freedom of the countryside via the Oxford Fieldpaths Society (of which he was chairman) and the Ramblers' Association.
Professionally Jack was a civil servant, an accountant with District Audit (now the Audit Commission). He was married to Margaret, a chemist and teacher, for 64 years: being dedicated country walkers, they honeymooned in a rain-sodden Borrowdale in the Lake District. Together they served on the committee of the Oxfordshire Ramblers, and after his retirement Jack became the (honorary) national treasurer of the Ramblers' Association (1987-97). In this post, he did not confine himself to money. As chairman at the time, I can testify that he used his voice and influence on the national executive committee to campaign for public access and a tough political line against threats to public rights.
In Oxfordshire he was noted for opposing schemes by farmers and landowners to distort the public-path network in favour of increased production, privacy or security. He was steadfast against these bogus manoeuvres when weaker brethren were inclined to give way. He brought his financial expertise to bear in the long 1990s campaign by the Ramblers, "Give us some quo for our quid!", which exposed the scandal of landowners who received exemption from inheritance tax in return for public access, but who kept secret the whereabouts of the 400 square miles of land concerned.
Jack and Margaret lived in the village of Kennington, close to the Thames, near Oxford. It thus gave Jack special pleasure in 2000, at a ceremony shared with David Sharp, "the father of the Thames Path", to present the Ramblers' contribution to the new bridge carrying the path over the river at Bloomers Hole near Lechlade.
A lifelong socialist, Jack backed the underdog, helping set up Kennington Overseas Aid Week and supporting numerous other charitable causes. He was a slight figure and quietly spoken, but he packed a principled punch not forgotten by any who encountered it.
He is survived by Margaret, their three children, Frances, Clare and Mike, and four grandchildren.