The Council

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 Widecombe parishioners have a voice and support in this ever-changing world.

The parish of Widecombe has been my home for over 35 years, living in the village itself since 2001. My husband Geoff and I have raised our two children here both attending the local pre-school, primary school, and secondary school before going on to college and beyond.

I have been secretary of the Widecombe & District Sports Group for almost as long as I have lived in the village, and I was also a member of the pre-school committee when my children were younger. More recently, since Widecombe Fair began managing its own bar, I have regularly volunteered behind the bar on fair day.

I have worked for DNPA for 25 years. While my role has evolved over time, it now focuses on visitor centres and the Authority’s outreach, events, and engagement work. One of my responsibilities includes overseeing the public programme and private group visits to Higher Uppacott, a Grade I listed Dartmoor longhouse of national importance, owned by the Authority and located on the outskirts of Poundsgate in our parish.

I have served as a parish councillor since 2018. During this time, I have drawn on both my local knowledge and my understanding of the wider National Park and its Authority to benefit the community. This has helped secure two successful grant bids: one to replace the noticeboard in Poundsgate (by the pub), and another through the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which funded improvements to the layby at the edge of the village and the planting of trees on the green.

I love Dartmoor and feel deeply passionate about it, but the part that means the most to me is this parish and the community who live here. Serving on the Parish Council is my opportunity to give something back.

I joined the Parish Council in July 2025.

(more details to follow)

I am Devon born and a moorland lover through and through.  I was born and grew up in North Plymouth, but always spent as much time as possible on the moor. I finally got to move into the National Park in 2017 when I bought my first house in the Parish of Mary Tavy.  I moved to Widecombe in November 2024 to take over as the new Landlord of the Old Inn in Widecombe.  Since moving to Widecombe. I have found a great fondness for the village and its residents and have a passion to help shape the future of the village and do my upmost to help its residents.

I live with my new Husband Shane (we married in the village in September 2025), our dogs, Jasper the Weimaraner, Rolo, a rescue Dachshund, Lowen, our Cockapoo puppy and our cat, Nacho, in Willow Cottage in Widecombe.

I was a Special Constable for 3 years for the Metropolitan Police and have previously served as a Parish Councillor in my previous parish.  I also have a passion for nature and rewilding and have recently been appointed as Widecombe Wildlife Warden through Teignbridge District Council.

I have loved Dartmoor and Widecombe ever since my parents brought me here on holiday as a child. I can even (just!) remember before Widecombe had electricity!

Visits in later years were restricted to holidays and long weekends but for me, my husband and family, Dartmoor was always felt special and like “home”

Eventually, in the early 2000s, it became obvious that our Hampshire home had become too small and after considering all possible alternatives decided to move to where my heart is.

Fate must have been on my side because the perfect house came onto the market at almost exactly the right time, and better still, even had an interesting back story!

My family and I moved here the week before Christmas 2003 and four days later extended family and friends descended for the holidays.

Since then, I’ve got involved with various village activities, most recently Widecombe Fair, the History Group and now the Parish Council.

I believe we are very lucky indeed to live here in this lovely village and beautiful landscape. I hope my time on the council will prove in some small way to benefit both the village and parishioners.