A memorial service will take place on Monday of a former journalist whose stories ranged from the Aberfan tragedy to an interview with a former Beatle.

Calvin Pugsley, 84, had made his home in Pembrokeshire for the past nine years.

A native of Merthyr, he joined the Merthyr Express as a trainee reporter aged 16 and following National Service in the Army, he became a reporter on the Leicester Mercury series.

He returned to Merthyr in 1961 to work as the district reporter for both the South Wales Echo and the Western Mail. It was during his time as industrial correspondent for the Birmingham Evening Mail that he reported on the tragedy that engulfed Aberfan in 1966.

He was one of the first journalists to arrive, reaching the Welsh village by riding on the back of one of the rescue lorries. He reported from the harrowing scene, focusing first on the human tragedy before moving on to cover the subsequent inquiry.

Calvin Pugsley never got over the 'terrible sight' that greeted his eyes. His daughter, Carolyn Pugsley, explained: “Dad could never talk about Aberfan without getting visibly choked up. He knew two of the adults killed personally, and the stories of human tragedy shook him right until the end.”

It was also during his time at the Birmingham Evening Mail that Mr Pugsley interviewed John Lennon, during his celebrated bed-in for peace at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam in 1969.

Mr Pugsley left journalism to pursue a career in public relations in 1976, when he returned to Wales to be appointed as the first head of information at the-then newly established Welsh Development Agency. He later became head of communications at the Countryside Commission in Cheltenham in 1985, before taking early retirement to run his own public relations consultancy in 1993.

He retired to Orleton, a village near Ludlow, before finally settling in Letterston where he lived for nine years.

He was a member of the church choir at St Martin of Tours Church, Haverfordwest and an active member of the congregation, helping to organise its 900-year anniversary in 2020.

He died at Withybush General Hospital and is survived by his partner, Mabyn Charlton, his former wife Angela (nee Thompson), his two children - Julian Pugsley, a songwriter and musician, and Carolyn Pugsley,director of Freshwater, a leading communications agency in Cardiff and London; daughter-in-law Sarah and two grandchildren Daisy and Noah.

Calvin Pugsley’s memorial service will take place on Monday February  27at 11.30am at St Martin of Tours Church in Haverfordwest.

There will be family flowers only, but donations can be made in his memory to EthiopiaAID ethiopiaid.org.uk/donate-now/

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