YOU'RE never too old to try something new - as an 83-year-old Newport grandmother proved yesterday by abseiling down the city's Transporter Bridge.

Frieda Jones, of Rhiwderin, took the plunge to raise money for the St David's Foundation.

And she made it a family affair by persuading her daughter and granddaughter to join her in the rope slide.

The trio, with a combined age of 163, have raised more than £1,000 for the hospice charity by abseiling the 164 feet from the top of the Transporter Bridge.

Hundreds of people attended and took part in the charity event, but it was Frieda who got the biggest cheer of all as she descended towards a waiting crowd.

She told the Argus: "I've never done anything like that before, but I've wanted to do it for some time.

"Ever since I saw them abseiling down the side of the Royal Gwent I thought I'd like to do that, and then this chance came up.

"I was more scared of going up than coming down - the abseil itself was great.

"When I was on the edge and had to let go of the steel support, that was a bit scary. Coming down I didn't look. I just let the rope take me. "In sponsorship I've been given £600 by Daniel Davies, of Temp Europe, and I got a cheque for £100 from Sir Kenneth Morrison, of the supermarket.

"I want to thank all my family and friends for supporting me - they've been great."

Granddaughter Louisa Chase, 26, of Newport, said: "My gran decided that she was going to do it first and I can't be outdone by my grandma, so I had to do it, didn't I?

"I'm not scared of heights, and the view from up there was gorgeous, but going over the edge was hard. The abseil was a bit nerve-racking to start off with, and the further you got down the better.

"We're extremely impressed with my gran." Louisa's mother, Pam Chase, 54, said: "I was absolutely terrified up there. My mouth was just as dry as anything.

"But I knew I'd got to do it because of my mother. It was her idea and we didn't have any choice. She would have made us join in whatever happened.

"We've raised well over £1,000 in sponsorship all together, and everybody's really proud of her."