(Published in April 2025.)
Widecombe Parish Council meets 10 times a year and our meetings are open to the public. Most of the public don’t come, which isn’t surprising and not a criticism – we couldn’t fit everyone in if they did! But it made us think maybe we should introduce ourselves properly.
The Parish Council is chaired by Yvette Elliott. Here’s what she has to say about herself:
I’m Yvette, Chair of the PC since May 2023 and a member since 2018. I’m also the Chair of the charity set up to build a new community hall in Widecombe.
– Yvette Elliot
I was born and raised in the parish and after Uni, moved back, married Chris and we set up our own small hydro-power engineering business which we’ve been running
ever since. We have two kids, now both at secondary school, and I have been a member of the pre-school committee and now Friends of South Dartmoor
Association. I’ve been involved with the Widecombe Singers and Moorland Merrymakers panto as well as Leusdon Memorial Hall and Church House committees over the years.
Widecombe is home for me and my family and I absolutely love it here. I want to do everything I can to help keep it community focused and resilient into the future.
In alphabetical order, the rest of us are:
Hi. I live at Natsworthy with my husband David Thomas. We bought our present home in 2015, but have lived in Devon for over 25 years. I was a very keen sailor, spending months at a time exploring the coast and islands of Britain and Ireland and then the Mediterranean Sea. Now I spend hours each day walking on the moor with my two springer spaniels. In the past I have been a teacher, an outdoor pursuits instructor, a newspaper advertising manager and then ran my own Design and PR company. I joined the Parish Council in 2022. I am the Parish Representative on the Jubilee Orchard Committee, which is a wonderful project to be involved with. I am on the Planning and Finance committee. I am also very involved with the Widecombe Road Warden Scheme, and in December I attended a training course along with two other volunteers, on road safety and signage. We have already started filling potholes; our first foray in March 2025 saw us fill 26 potholes between Eastern Lane Cross and Ponsworthy.
– Jane Bibby
I’ve lived at Langworthy in Widecombe parish since 2003 and have been a parish councillor since 2018. Before that (and before Covid) I ran the Widecombe Sailing Club, which was really a folk music club which brought lots of people up to the village, mostly to the Rugglestone, the Café on the Green and the Old Inn. I’m an enthusiastic member of the Widecombe Singers, I’ve also volunteered at Widecombe Fair and was part of the team that raised money for Ukraine when Putin invaded. I’m the guardian of the defibrillator, which is in the bus stop by the public loos in the coach park. (Go and check it out – everyone needs to know where it is!) So if you have any questions about that, please ask me.
– Daf Edwards
I’m married to Ken, we keep a few horses and blue merle collie dogs. I’ve recently discovered the joys of riding an electric bike which focuses the mind on our perennial pothole problem and as a result have joined the Road Warden Scheme as a volunteer pothole mender.
I live at Jordan in the Parish of Widecombe with my wife Kate and two children James and Maddison. We have lived in the Parish for over 10 years. Prior to this I served 24 years in the Armed Forces, after which Kate and I moved to New Zealand where we lived on our farm for 8 years before returning to the UK and our beautiful Dartmoor. I am Ashburton born and bred and spent most of my childhood on the Moor enjoying the great outdoors. My aim as a councillor is to make sure the Widecombe Parishioners have a voice and support in this ever changing world.
– Tom Guest
The parish of Widecombe has been my home now since the 1980s with more than 23 of those living in the village of Widecombe. With my husband Geoff (whose family farms in Poundsgate) we have raised our two children who both attended the pre-school, primary school and local secondary school (as my husband had before them) before going on to College and life beyond. Until recently our daughter and grandson also lived with us, our grandson attending the preschool and primary school until they moved to Tiverton.
– Claire Partridge
I have been secretary of the Widecombe & District Sports group for almost as long as I have lived in the village and was a member of the pre-school committee when my children were younger. In more recent years since Widecombe Fair took on the management of their own bar I can usually be found behind the bar doing my bit to help on the fair day.
I have worked for DNPA since 1999 and although my job has changed over that time it currently revolves around the visitor centres and the outreach, events & engagement work of the authority. One of my responsibilities is the public programme and private group visits to Higher Uppacott a grade one listed Dartmoor Longhouse of National importance owned by the authority which lies on the outskirts of Poundsgate.
I have been a parish councillor since 2018 and have been able to put to good use not only my local knowledge but also my knowledge of the wider National Park (and authority) and how that might help or benefit our community. This has led to two successful grant bids, one to replace the notice board in Poundsgate (by the pub) and the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant which paid for the lay-by improvements (on the edge of the village) and the planting of the trees on the green.
Hi, my family and I have farmed at Blackaton Manor Farm in Widecombe for 40 years. Before my retirement, I was a Chartered Legal Executive practising in Probate and Elderly Client law for over 35 years. I retired in 2019 to care for my mother and since then I have helped with running the farm with my brother, Mark Jones and my husband Hugh, together with managing our holiday home business.
– Sue Raynor
I have been a Parish Councillor since 2021. I joined the Council as I was keen to encourage the interests of local businesses and in particular the farming sector in the Parish and to help ensure that this Parish continues to be a thriving community within the National Park. I am also a keen member of the Widecombe Singers together with my husband and I have volunteered at Widecombe Fair. I was part of the co-ordinating team for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations as well as the Coronation. I also helped to co-ordinate the fundraiser for Save the Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
I am the Road Warden for the Devon County Council Road Warden Scheme which in the spring of 2025, with the help of some wonderful volunteers, we started filling in potholes around the Parish which do not meet the Highways criteria.
Our clerk is Suzanna Hughes. If anyone wishes to contact any member of the PC, then Suzanna is the one to go to. Her email address is suzanna.hughes21@gmail.com
The PC is funded by the precept from the council tax, but it’s only roughly 1% of our total council tax bill. (Currently, in 2024, £22 for a Band D property, for the year.) We also raise funds by renting the village green to Widecombe Fair and occasionally other bodies approach us to use the village, for example in films and TV. We are responsible for the village green (including monitoring the health of the trees), we are invited to comment on planning applications, we offer small grants to village organisations and we oversee the Parish Field (Jubilee Orchard) committee.
Widecombe parish isn’t just Widecombe village, though – we also include Leusdon, Lowertown and Poundsgate.
At the end of 2024 we set up a Road Warden Scheme which enables us to tackle the smaller potholes in our parish. We do lots of other things too, but there’s a limit to how long I can make this article last!
In 2024, Councillor Partridge arranged for us to receive funds from FIPL (Farming in a Protected Landscape) to improve the lay-by at the bottom of Widecombe Hill – which has given visitors to the village a better strip of free parking.
Claire also organised for us to receive a tree donated by David Fursdon, the Lord Lieutenant of Devon in honour of the King’s Coronation, as well as a FIPL-funded tree, as she describes in her mini-biography.
In October 2024 we undertook to scrub up the stone village sign, the Jubilee granite and benches on the green, which gave us a great opportunity to get together outside of a meeting and bond, just a little bit.
As of April 2025 we have three vacancies on the Parish Council – it’s not onerous, and it actually keeps us engaged with our community, which makes it a satisfying thing to do. We meet on the first Thursday of every month (except August and December) at 7.30pm. We would welcome anyone who fancies getting involved in keeping our parish ticking.