The 12th Dartmoor Society Award was presented by Geoffrey Wrayford to Elisabeth Stanbrook at the Society’s Annual General
Meeting held at Belstone on 4th April. The Award is made annually to individuals or groups who, in the opinion of the Society, have
made a special contribution to Dartmoor.
The Award is in the form of a uniquely crafted ceramic plate made by potter Penny Simpson of Moretonhampstead and calligrapher
Susanne Haines of Bovey Tracey. The plate is inscribed with the words The Dartmoor Society Award 2009 – for Elisabeth Stanbrook, creator and editor of Dartmoor Magazine 1985-2008′.
Elisabeth Stanbrook has been recognised for her remarkable achievement of establishing and ,maintaining the quarterly Dartmoor Magazine for nearly 23 years. Under her editorship the magazine went from strength to strength, coping with the rapid technological changes in the publishing and printing world. Initially produced in black and white with a blue-bordered cover, a colour cover was added in Autumn 1987 and a stunning full-colour version appeared in the Winter of 2000, on the 15th anniversary of the magazine.
In a press release, Dr Tom Greeves, Chairman of the Society, said, ‘The creation of this magazine filled a yawning gap in Dartmoor publications and catered for a readership eager to learn more about this fascinating part of the world. The huge body of Dartmoor material which the magazine contains is of tremendous value to present and future writers and historians, and is without parallel in terms of Dartmoor literature.
The quality and design of the magazine has been much admired, as have Elisabeth’s own beautiful photographs. Readers also appreciated her editorial comment, which always sought out accurate information about what was happening on Dartmoor and did not shy away from a balanced presentation of controversial issues such as swaling and vegetation management.’
