TRIBUTES have been paid to former Aberaeron town clerk and well-known local solicitor Denys Gwynne Hughes who has died at the age of 75.

Town councillors held a minute’s silence at last week’s meeting in memory of the man who served as town clerk for almost 42 years.

Son of the late John Gwynne Hughes, he succeeded his father as Aberaeron Urban District clerk in 1967 and two years later inherited the family practice, Gwynne Hughes Solicitors, which he had joined as a teenaged articled clerk.

At that time, the firm occupied premises jointly with the Aberaeron Rural District Council at 1 North Road. They re-located to their present premises in Alban Square in 1952.

Mr Gwynne Hughes was appointed clerk to Aberaeron Town Council on local government re-organisation in 1974 and held the post until 2009, being awarded the MBE on his retirement.

While sometimes considered old-fashioned, he embraced technology, striving to modernise and computerise the office to maximise the firm’s reputation for efficiency.

Although he had high standards, and expected his staff to have the same, he was also renowned for his caring and kindly manner which ensured many of his clients became great friends.