TRIBUTES have been paid to a well-known Aberystwyth hotelier and former town mayor who passed away last week aged 86.

Elizabeth Mary Griffiths, who ran the Gwalia Hotel and Seabank Hotel, passed away following heart troubles at Bronglais Hospital on Tuesday, 14 November.

During a varied and successful life, Elizabeth, who was a long-standing town councillor and served as mayor in 1986, raised tens of thousands of pounds for local charities with her famous whist drives.

She was one of the first recipients of the S4C Halen y Ddaear award for her charity work and fundraising.

As Aberystwyth’s mayor she opened the town’s first big supermarket – Somerfield on the Ystwyth Retail Park, which is now a Matalan store.

Her terms as mayor and councillor also coincided with the start of Aber­ystwyth’s twinning with Kronberg in Germany, for which Elizabeth was one of the driving forces.

As well as a prominent councillor – she sat on the executive group for the Ceredigion Liberal Democrats – Elizabeth was a very successful Corgi breeder as well as running two of Aberystwyth’s top hotels.

Together with her husband Arthur, she bought the Gwalia Hotel on North Parade before buying the Seabank Hotel on Aberystwyth promenade.

The couple bought the Gwalia Hotel after moving back to Ceredigion from London, where they had set up business.

Her son, Jim Griffiths, said Elizabeth “lived life to the full” and will be “sadly missed.”

“She was honest and hard-working and always thought of others before herself,” he said.

“She lived life to the full and didn’t know how to stop. She had a good life.

“We want to thank all the staff at Iorwerth ward and the cardiac monitoring unit at Bronglais. We couldn’t have asked for better care.”

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