Village memorial bench tribute to former councillor

Burgh le Marsh Town Council has agreed for the bench in honour of Douglas Newey to be  added to Tinker’s Green, much to the delight of his family.
Mr  Newey who died recently,  was born on March 7 ,1932, in Handsworth, Birmingham.
As a child he attended St Mary’s School, along with brothers, Reginald and Gordon, and sister, Jean.
During the Second World War in  1940, at just seven years old, he and his brothers were  evacuated from their childhood home, which was bombed shortly afterwards.
Doug lived with Mr and Mrs Potter and a couple of other evacuees at Highwood, in Worcestershire, whilst older brothers Reg and Gordon lived at the other end of the lane with Mr and Mrs Downes.
He would tell the story of how on arrival he was given the attic room - a huge bed in the middle, and a roof you could see the sky through, covered in spiders.
Ever the character, he also recalled how he snook downstairs to help himself to a jam sandwich.
After six months, the brothers returned  to their parents, who had now relocated to the outskirts of Birmingham, in Sutton Coldfield.
Doug and Reg were then evacuated again but this time to Heage, Derbyshire where they spent three years. 
When they returned to the family in Sutton Coldfield in 1943, Doug and his siblings attended Peckham Road School. 
The boys left school at 14 and started working. Due to a shortage in workers following the war, jobs were plentiful and the boys would start a job one day, not like it, get their wages, and start another the next day.
Doug was always hard working, even as a boy, and at aged eight  had a huge paper-round.
At aged 10 he used to collect and sell horse manure, and from 11 worked at the greengrocers.
Doug then joined the Navy at 15 and was trained on HMS Ganges and based in Suffolk.
At 18, he was then called for his national service and spent two  years in the Royal Army Service Core based in Aldershot London.
After finishing his national service, Doug continued to work hard and had many different jobs. He worked making electrical switch gear side with his brother Reg, spent some time as a chauffeur for the companies General Manager, and managing the ladies working in the factory.
By 22 he was working at a jewellers making jewellery boxes, earning £7 a week when most men at that time were only taking home around £2 a week.
He later joined the buses at 24, a chapter of his life he was very proud of.
Initially based at Perry Barr Bus Station, Birmingham he began as a bus driver and his brother Reg was a conductor.
He later passed his exams and became a bus driving instructor and was the union rep for the buses, representing several of the men at tribunals. 
He had lots of other jobs, and Reg describes him as a real grafter and says he would spend all his money on the girls.
A family man, in 1963 his son, Mark, was born, followed three years later by a daughter, Karen. The family lived happily in Rowley Road, Warwick, for several years, where Doug worked as a baker, had a grocery round which he bought with his grandfather which they purchased and converted a big bus. He also worked at Curry’s and his family remember him taking home a 28-inch wooden colour TV, which was amazing at the time. Doug continued driving buses when he moved to the Skegness area. He became an active member of the community, including a term as parish councillor, campaigning for the Burgh and Orby bypasses. His other projects involved in Tinkers Green  and refurbishing Maypole House School Building in Horncastle, due to his practical building background.
His son Mark recalls: “He was incredibly knowledgeable, and we have no idea where he got all his information from as he didn’t have the internet.
“But he was always right and would run rings round Lincolnshire County Council and their legal offices.
“He loved doing it all and had so much fun, dressing up, wearing silly hats and covering himself in campaign stickers.
“They even threatened to do a walking protest and shut one side of the road in Orby during Easter weekend causing severe traffic delays to Ingoldmells. “Needless to say, we now have a by-pass.
“He was a regular feature in the local newspapers, to which he proudly kept all the pages
The funeral will take place later in March. Mr Newey also leaves four grandchildren - Scott, Emma, Ben and Bethany.