AFTER almost 60 years, Betsy Gallup from Bere Alston has reluctantly decided to retire from local politics.

Mrs Gallup joined the Brentor branch of the Conservative Association in 1947 after being encouraged by her mother-in-law Mary Gallup, who was a keen member of the party, a magistrate and commissioner for the guides.

Betsy Gallup lived with her husband and small child in Brentor village where they had a dairy farm, and her duties at home were combined with being branch chairman for many years. She later became a Conservative member on Devon County Council representing the Tavistock area.

?It was 1972 and the first political county council ? no-one wanted to stand under a political banner and so three weeks before the election I was told I would have to put my name forward,? said Mrs Gallup.

?Nobody thought I would get in but I won by 750 votes and served on the county council for 12 years.?

She later relished being deputy chairman of Dartmoor National Park Authority: ?I spent most of my childhood on the moor galloping about on ponies so that was a job which thrilled me enormously.?

Her other roles were governor of Seale Hayne College and chairman of the Tavistock branch of the Conservatives, where she came into contact with Michael Heseltine who was the MP for the Tavistock Division at the time.

?He was very keen and enthusiastic but he did not know much about farming,? she said.

For the last 15 years Mrs Gallup has been chairman of Bere Alston Conservatives after buying a farm in the village and moving there with her family.

But the 82-year-old said the time had come to call it a day: ?There comes a time when you have to leave it to people with a bit more energy.

?I shall miss being in local politics and talking to people about things that really matter ? I am not very good at small talk.?

But far from taking it easy, Mrs Gallup has just returned from a holiday in Morocco where among other adventures she went camel riding.

She also has a vineyard from which she makes wine for the family.

?My husband died seven years ago but when we retired from farming he felt that we needed something to do once we stopped milking 100 cows a day ? that?s where the vineyard came in.?

With a promising season for apples and pears in the orchard looming and visits planned from members of her family, including her treasured one-year-old great grand-daughter, Mrs Gallup is looking forward to her first year of retirement.

The newly appointed chairman of Bere Alston Conservatives is Geoffrey Stowell, who said he hoped he would maintain Mrs Gallup?s high standards.

Secretary of the branch Gillian Edwards said the retiring chairman was a thoroughly lovely person who would be missed: ?She is bubbly, friendly and hardworking and has achieved so much in local politics,? she said.