Meet your Parish Councillors

Get to know your Widecombe Parish councillors and what they do for the parish

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Jan 17, 2025

Widecombe Parish councillors in action! from left to right: Tom, Yvette, Daf, Jane, Claire.

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 for the last 18 months and a member since 2018. I'm also the Chair of the charity set up to build a new community hall in Widecombe.

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:

Jane Bibby:

Hi. I live at Natsworthy with my husband David Thomas. We bought our present home nearly 10 years ago, 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 two years ago. 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 hope to start filling in potholes from January....so watch out for us on the roads!

Daf Edwards:

I’ve lived at Langworthy in Widecombe parish for over 20 years and have been a parish councillor for 5 years. 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.

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 am joining the Road Warden Scheme as a volunteer pothole mender.

Tom Guest:

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 now 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.

Claire Partridge:

The parish of Widecombe has been my home now for well over 35 years with 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.

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 for 25 years now 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 outskirt of Poundsgate.

I have been a parish councillor now for 5 years 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 layby improvements (on the edge of the village) and the planting of the trees on the green.

The David Fursdon coronation tree being planted

Sue Raynor:

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.

I have been a Parish Councillor for 3 years. 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 at the beginning of 2025 we hope, with the help of some wonderful volunteers, to start 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 £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 as shown on the map below.

We are in the process of setting up a Road Warden Scheme which will enable 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!

Earlier this year, Councillor Partridge arranged for us to receive funds from FIPL to improve the layby at the bottom of Widecombe Hill – which has given visitors to the village a better strip of free parking.

She 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.

The Coronation Tree, left to right: Claire, Yvette, Sue, Daf.

In October 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.

We still 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.