Our Management Team
Michael Francis
Chair
Michael is a geographer who graduated from Exeter University and then taught Geography in Gloucestershire, South Australia and Powys. He retired to Aberdaron, a small village at the western end of the Llyn Peninsular in Gwynedd, where he helped start up a company providing walking holidays following the Llyn coastal footpath. Committee experience with Snowdonia NP, North Wales Tourist Board, Dwyfor Access Forum and ten years as executive vice-chair of the Bardsey Island Trust. Michael’s interests are landscape history and glaciation of Dartmoor.
Peter Thompson
Pete grew up in Tavistock where he spent much of his youth walking Dartmoor and re-discovered the Tamar Valley when moving here at the turn of the century. Pete loves exploring the river by canoe looking out for the rich wildlife. Retiring after 25 years working overseas as a hydrographic surveyor, Pete joined the Trust. His main interest is the management of the Calstock Wetlands as a place for the public to enjoy, and as a field laboratory in the study of the changing ecology of the estuarine wetlands.
Grace Moon
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Richard Davies
Richard graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Sussex where he was lucky enough to work on the red deer project on the Isle of Rhum. A career in financial services followed, which took him all over the world. Since living in the Tamar valley, Richard has involved himself in community matters, such as bringing Full Fibre Broadband into Luckett, where he lives. He is also a parish councillor with a keen interest in mitigating the effects of climate change on the community. He hopes to use his business skills in sales and marketing to support the Trust’s objectives.
Michael Williams
Michael has lived in South East Cornwall for nearly 45 years. After a career as a lawyer he took a degree in Environmental Science motivated by a deep concern about biodiversity loss and climate change. He is the Cornwall organiser for a British Trust for Ornithology annual survey and organises bird surveys in the TVNL.
Gillian White
Treasurer
Gill has enjoyed the wider Tamar Valley for many years; not only walking the dog but also driving a pony and trap. Her love of nature and enthusiasm for the outdoor life, with a hands on approach, meant she joined the Trust to help maintain the network of pathways it looks after. However, her expertise as a retired solicitor with a particular knowledge of charities, finance and land law, has led her to contribute to the Trust in additional ways apart from wielding secateurs and painting signs. She is currently Treasurer as well as overseeing the work of the Trust at Wacker Quay."
David Wallis
Dave has been a trustee since September 2021, with a special interest in the development and funding of the Calstock Wetlands. Dave has a background in Land and Hydrographic surveying, and retired from worldwide offshore work in 2015. Currently living in Calstock, his interests are walking, photography, birdlife, the history and industrial archaeology of the Tamar Valley and Dartmoor
Christopher Smart
Chris is a landscape archaeologist at the University of Exeter who, since 2006, has spent much of his time researching and working within the Tamar Valley, notably on the medieval silver mines of the Bere Peninsula and the Roman fort at Calstock. Since moving to the Tamar Valley in 2019, Chris’s passion for the heritage of this special landscape has widened to include all facets of its past, from the depths of Prehistory to relatively recent mining and market gardening. Chris hopes to benefit the Tamar Community Trust with his knowledge of local heritage, community engagement and volunteering, and grant raising.