LOCAL historian and author Sidney Robinson, among the last of a generation of Newport chroniclers which included the late Cliff Knight, died at the age of 97.

Until well into his 90s Mr Robinson took an active part in the promotion of Newport’s iconic Transporter Bridge. Mr Robinson was born in Newport on November 28, 1914 and spent his long working life in the shipping industry in both Newport and Bristol. Thus he was a living witness to Bristol Channel shipping and Newport during its commercial heyday between the wars. He was a compendium of facts not only about shipping but also about Newport’s historic buildings many of which alas, have since disappeared.

When the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge began in the 1990s Mr Robinson was a founder member and threw himself into the society’s work serving first as vice-chairman and for three years as chairman.

He was thrilled to receive a specially commissioned certificate from the society in recognition of his work as chairman and later for his role as vice-president.

Both certificates had pride of place in the Penarth flat to which he retired.

Mrs Anne Gatehouse, a friend and membership secretary of FoNTB, said: “Everyone with a knowledge of and interest in Newport’s history, especially to do with shipping and the river, is saddened by Sidney’s death following a stroke.

“His wealth of knowledge was amazing and as an authority on the city he was to be compared with the late Cliff Knight.”

Mr Robinson’s fascination with the engineering aspects of the Transporter Bridge extended to maritime engineering and he was a keen member of the Paddle Steamer Society in addition to the Victorian Society, Newport Civic Society and both Cardiff and Penarth history societies. He travelled to the very many meetings and lectures he gave by public transport, often not arriving back at his flat until after midnight.

Mr Robinson nursed his wife for many years and when she died several years ago accompanied her body to Christchurch cemetery in Newport via the Transporter Bridge. The details of his own funeral have not yet been announced.