Tributes paid to Newport Nocturne cycling stalwart Mick Jeggo
Tributes have been paid to a cycling enthusiast who organised one of the region’s most popular races after he died this week.
Mick Jeggo, who died aged 77, has been described as a titan of Newport life, running a car dealership in the town for many years and doing much for the town.
He was the principal organiser of the Newport Nocturne, a twilight cycling race through the town that has become a beloved tradition and is set to return from a long hiatus this year under the guidance of his son.
Michael John Jeggo was born in Aldermaston in 1940, but went to school in Newport and lived there almost all his life.
He started work as a technician working in Stafford, for the English Electric Company before he went on to be a shoe shop manager responsible for stores across the country.
It was in one of the shoe shops where he met his wife-to-be Maureen. The two married in Newport in 1961.
And Mick’s next employer was his own father, who took the young man on at his car dealership in Hinstock.
Mick then went into business with his own dealership in Newport, opening Davies & Jeggo Motors with his partner and friend Doug Davies.
Mick’s son Nick said Mick’s real passion was cycling.
He said: “He was convinced to go on a cycling trip to Austria by his friend Ken Lightwood when they were in their teens, and after that he was hooked.
“When he organised the Nocturne his main motivator was to bring the crowds into Newport. That’s what he loved seeing.”
The date of Mick’s funeral is yet to be announced.
He leaves his wife Maureen and children Nick and Holly.
