THE first woman to work as a bus driver in Newport has been remembered as "one of life's great characters".
Anne Morgan, who spent 10 years driving passengers around the streets of the then-town, died on Thursday, October 7, aged 86.
Mrs Morgan began working for Newport Transport in 1954 when she was only 18 years old, starting off not as a driver, but as a 'clippie' - or conductress - on double-decker buses.
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It was during this time that Mrs Morgan met her husband, Glyn Morgan, who was a bus driver himself.
They were married in 1957, and the next year became proud parents of daughter Lyn Lloyd.
In 1971, Mrs Morgan realised her job was on the chopping block after changes to the way buses worked.
So, despite never driving anything before, she decided to try her hand at driving double-decker buses, and took the three-week test needed to become a driver, passing with flying colours.
Her story was featured in the Argus at the time and her family still keep the clipping.
Daughter Lyn said both her mother and her father - who passed away in January after a long battle with vascular dementia - loved working on the buses, and made many friends, who they came to see as like an "extended family".
Mrs Morgan became well known as something of a local character - during the Queen's Silver Jubilee she wore a red, white and blue wig for the entire week.
She retired in 1981 and never drove another vehicle again.
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Mrs Lloyd said: "Mum will always be remembered as one of life’s great characters - the life and soul of every party.
"She was a loving wife, mother, nan and great-nan and most of all a friend to everyone she met."
Mrs Morgan is survived by her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom she loved unconditionally.
Mrs Morgan's funeral will take place on Thursday, October 28, at 1.30pm at the Langstone Crematorium followed by a celebration of both her and her husband's lives at the Bettws Social Club.
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