A century

ernment reorganisation of 1974. He was the first chairman of the newly centralised offices at Ebley Mill.

Cllr Nicholas also served for several terms as a Gloucestershire county councillor and was a member of the police and education committees.

He was educated at The Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester after which he pursued a career in engineering at the Gloster Aircraft Company, where he was involved in the ongoing development of the famous Meteor and Javelin aircraft.

He later moved to the Aviation Division of Smiths Industries in Cheltenham, where he was involved in numerous projects, including the instrumentation of Concorde.

He was the personnel manager at former Brimscombe factory Benson’s and at various times a governor of many local schools.

He was a passionate organ player and until recently was a member of Dursley Male Voice Choir.

Roy Nicholas celebrating an election victory in 2000