BIGBURY Parish Clerk, Pam Trundle has retired after 42 years of serving local parish councils.

Pam became Bigbury’s parish clerk in March 1984, but had already contributed ten years as Kingston Parish Clerk from 1974.

Pam has lived in the South Hams since 1964, when she moved from Essex for her husband’s work.

Pam told the Gazette this week: ‘The job has changed a lot. The minutes were all hand-written in a minutes book when I started. Now they’re all typed up.’

Pam explained that some of the highlights of her career have been the commemorative mugs handed out over the years: ‘There was a lovely mug that we handed out to local children to commemorate the Queen’s silver jubilee.

‘And in 2000, we distributed ‘millennium mugs’ with a picture of the sea tractor travelling across to Burgh Island.’

Pam continued: ‘The role was so much easier when I started.

‘It wasn’t so legal - freedom of information requests didn’t exist, and neither did data protection laws. These days, you have to be more aware of legal issues.’

When asked what she’d like to see for Bigbury in the future, Pam said: ‘It would be nice if local residents attended more parish council meetings.

‘These days, it’s only if a major planning application is being discussed that people turn up in any significant numbers.

‘Although we do have a group of about ten people who turn up every month.’

Bigbury’s new parish clerk is Richard Matthews from Ivybridge.