Shropshire leading lady Gwen just loved to perform

And today, much-loved Shropshire soprano Gwen Davies was getting a colourful send-off in her home town of Newport.

The 85-year-old, who dedicated her life to singing and acting, died at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital two weeks ago.

Keen to turn on the style to the very last, her final request was that mourners wore colourful clothing for this afternoon's funeral service at St Nicholas' Church.

Gwen's married name was Brown, but she was better known by her maiden name Davies.

Born in Newport High Street, she enjoyed a successful professional singing career and was also a prolific performer for numerous groups and choirs across Shropshire.

Locally, Gwen will perhaps best be remembered as the lead lady in a host of shows by Telford and District Light Operatic Players (TADLOP) throughout the 1970s. In later life, as her powerful voice finally faded, Gwen took to writing Joyce Grenfell-style poems and reciting them in nursing homes around Newport.

Peter Davies said his aunt never tired of entertaining.

"She carried on doing poetry recitals right up until the last year. She just loved performing.

"She said she thought she ought to retire, but as long as the public wanted to listen she would carry on."

In her memoirs, penned in 2009, Gwen recalled hosting concerts in her back yard and charging people half a shilling to watch – although anyone who couldn't afford the fee was let in for free.

She remembered how she was always first to leap to the front of the class while in school to sing or read, and how when she was 15 she started having tuition at St Nicholas' Church.

Gwen went on to join Newport Male Voice Choir, and when choirmaster William Wilde heard her voice he put her forward for an audition at BBC in Birmingham.

It was a move which kick-started her career. She went on to sing on radio shows, including 1950s favourite Workers' Playtime alongside Dodd and Morecambe & Wise.

She went on to perform in Germany, Holland and South Dakota, and even managed to fit in an appearance on talent show Opportunity Knocks, hosted by Hughie Green, where she came second.

It was in 1973 that Gwen's long affiliation with TADLOP began when she took on the lead role of farm girl Laurey Williams in Oklahoma. Over the next seven years she would take centre stage on a regular basis, with major parts in The Boyfriend, Viva Mexico, The White Horse Inn, The Merry Widow, The Mikado and The Yeoman of the Guard.

In 1988, after an eight-year break, she returned to to the group to play Mrs Mullin in Carousel.

Mary Law, who joined TADLOP in 1978, recalled: "Gwen was a beautiful singer and a beautiful personality so that came over in her parts.

"She was a very gentle, kind lady and a most talented, beautiful soprano. She lived for her performing. Even after she finished, she was there for every show that we gave."

Tony Hale, who performed with Gwen in The Boyfriend and Viva Mexico, added: "She was only a little person but she had this big voice.

"She was very modest although she had been a professional singer and done all sorts of things."Gwen was also an honorary life president at Newport Male Voice Choir, president of the

Dalen Singers in Newport and a past member of Market Drayton Amateur Operatics and Dramatics.

David Barnett, president of Newport Male Voice Choir, said: "She had a lot of talent, no doubt about that, and she was one of our main soloists for many years. She was a really well known person going back to the 50s. Everyone liked her."

Recently, Gwen had been helping out by making teas for the choir and she had been due to perform a poem at the group's St David's Day celebrations on March 1.

Gwen moved from Newport to Muxton and also lived for a time in Tarporley in Cheshire, and in Tibberton, before returning to her home town 47 years ago, where her brother Jack owned a cycle shop on the corner of Wellington Road for many years. Her husband Geoff died in 2000. She is survived by her 89-year-old sister Joan, two nieces and four nephews.

Gwen loved fashion, and when she was 18 worked at the Bridge and Daxon clothes shop in Newport.

She also enjoyed her garden, reading and travelling with the Newport Music Coach to Birmingham Symphony Hall.

Recently Gwen went on a bus trip to Llandudno and entertained passengers with a solo.

"She was delighted that people said she still had a great voice," said niece Pat Allen. She was quite an extrovert. She had a delightful personality and quite an impish sense of humour.

"A member of Newport Male Voice Choir described her as Peter Pan . . . because she never grew old."