Our Board of Trustees
TTT’s Trustees are based around the country and all have an interest in improving countryside access that is available to all users. The Board usually meets (online) six times per year. All Trustees are volunteers.
Chairman – Paul Hooper OBE
[Biog to follow]
Vice Chairman – Hannah Gardner BSc (Hon), MSc, CEnv, MRICS
Hannah is based in South Cumbria and has over 20 years’ experience in the land management and ecology sector. Away from work, family life and her tribe of animals keep her busy.
“I enjoy taking my horses out on mini adventures and write a blog about my rides to encourage other to get out and about. I have always had a passion for nature and the countryside and when I became a horse owner I started to really get back into being interested in outdoor access. Mainly due to fact I could see equestrians were being missed or I constantly was spotting things that needed improving! I volunteer for our local bridleway groups and help run a number of access Facebook groups. Living in Cumbria I have become very interesting in packhorse routes and work that happen to routes in upland areas and have a passion for multi user access.”
Andrew Combes
Andrew Combes has a Rural Resource Management degree from Seale Hayne in Devon and has spent his working life involved with projects associated with Greenways and Active Travel.
He initially worked with Sustrans and then with Somerset and Dorset County Councils. During this time he was seconded to the DfT and DfE as South West Regional School Travel Adviser as part of the Travelling to School initiative.
After a spell on the Isles of Scilly, amongst other things developing a Camera Obscura in an abandoned windmill tower, he has been involved with developing the recreational opportunities arising from disused railway lines in Somerset for Mendip District Council.
The Somerset Circle project aims to make 32km of line available through a community led approach to deliver appropriate and affordable schemes that are embraced by the communities through which they pass.
He is a landowner with a bridleway crossing his land, is working on a Woodland Management Plan to bring what is mostly ancient woodland back into positive management, he also has a scheduled monument and other historic features to look after!
He regularly uses public rights of way for recreation.
He is a self confessed fan of unloved historic structures.
Miranda Fyfe MA Cantab
A semi-retired professional with experience in publishing and health service management. Miranda has always walked or ridden a bike both for leisure and local transport, including doing a daily morning paper round on her bike as a teenager in the mid-80s. She is passionate about getting people walking and cycling more, particularly for local journeys, and practices what she preaches. Having learnt to ride horses in her twenties, and returned to it again in her forties, she’s become a dedicated campaigner for better off-road access for horse-riders, who far too often get forgotten or excluded with all the focus on improving facilities for cyclists and walkers.
Greg Glendell
Greg has worked in countryside access provision for several local councils in England but is now retired. He is the voluntary Parish Paths Liaison Officer for his parish council in Kilve, Somerset. He is a member of the Exmoor & West Somerset Bridleway Association. Greg is both a cyclist and a keen horse rider and enjoys travelling around Somerset and Devon with his trustee steed, ‘Harry’.
Jennifer Ham BHSI MAE
[Biog to follow]
Sonia Kundu
[Biog to follow]
Fiona Powell
[Biog to follow]
Sally Whittaker
Sally Whittaker is a founder member of The Trails Trust, in 1997, and was Chairman for ten years. During this time Sally and her family (the Yeoman Family) established a quarry trail bridleway network in East Mendip. The network included a bridleway underpass beneath the A361, and a crossing point over the railway.
Sally has been chairman of BHS Somerset and regional Vice Chairman and also established and for many years managed the Back on Track charity. This charity was instrumental in supporting disadvantaged children and children excluded from school to make relationships with horses through riding and care helping them to re-engage with family, school and local communities.
Sally lives in East Mendip and owns land on the East Mendip Way, a very popular long distance route especially during Covid when over 50 people a day walking the footpath. To make it a more pleasant and safer experience for everyone, Sally stock-fenced the path where it passes through the fields. Sally says ‘I am passionate about access to the countryside for everyone’.
Lachlan Wilson BA Oxon
[Biog to follow]
Consultants
The Trustees are ably supported by paid Consultants who carry out the detailed work of producing our reports.
Lynn Myland
[Biog to follow]
Rachel Thompson MBE
[Biog to follow]
Rachel also serves at the Company Secretary for The Trails Trust.
Patrons
The Lord Hylton
[Biog to follow]
The Rt Hon the Lord Waldegrave of North Hill PC
[Biog to follow]
President
Angela Yeoman OBE DL
[Biog to follow]