Sue Davies, 70, of Bassaleg, is on the board of trustees for the Gwent branch of the Women's Institution and is a former British Transport Police Officer. She spoke to Carys Thomas on growing up in a Newport and being part of a police family.

“I was a detective constable with the British Transport Police for 25 years. I was based in Newport but my main office was in Cardiff. It involved a lot of travelling. Anything could happen on a shift – I used to travel on the train from Cardiff to Hereford train and the Valleys trains.

I loved being part of the transport police as it covered such a huge area and you never knew what you were going to be doing day to day. I received the Good Conduct Medal and the 25 years’ service from the British Transport Police, that was an honour.

My favourite thing about the transport police was the great sense of comradeship.

I met JPR Williams in the early 90s. I had to hand him a bouquet of flowers as thanks for being part of a safety campaign. He was really down to earth, I was a bit worried about what I was going to say but he really put me at ease.

He was involved on a campaign called Splat which we were running at that time when a lot of people were trespassing on railway lines. As part of my job I went into different schools to talk to children about the dangers of playing near railway lines.

I was a special constable at Newport borough, as it was known then, while I was training to be a teacher. I started as a special when I was 17. Being a police officer is in my blood as a lot of members of my family were in the police.

My uncle, Arthur Morris, was a chief superintendent with South Wales Police, based in Pontypridd. He never approved of me being a teacher as he wanted me to be a police officer. His grandson is Hugh Morris, the former Welsh cricketer and chief executive of Glamorgan Cricket.

My father was a police officer during the Second World War and my auntie was a store detective in London. Her nickname was Hawkeye as she never missed anything – that was a bit difficult as a child.

I was born on January 24, 1945, and turned 70 last Friday. I’ve lived in Newport all my life. I’ve had a good life and a good childhood.

I went to Bassaleg Primary and the comp, which was by the bridge years ago.

When I was 16 my father died from liver problems. His name was Ernest Llewellyn and he was in his fifties. My mother’s name was Nellie Mildred Rowlands and my sister, Elizabeth.

I studied at Caerleon college to become a primary school teacher. I started teacher training at 18 and did that for four years.

I worked a Saturday job when I was younger at Newport market. I had to weight big slabs of cheese.

I loved the atmosphere of the market.

I was a teacher before I joined the police. I taught infants at Pontymister for two years but I became disillusioned with teaching. It was the same routine, I found it a bit boring, especially when I was going out as a special alongside teaching.

We’d just had an inspection in school and at the time there were two teachers to a class of 30 and each child had to be doing something different. The inspectors marked us down as there were three children in the sand pit. That was the final straw, really.

Rugby internationals and big-match days were the busiest for a transport officer. It was a lot of dealing with people who had a few, there was one occasion when a man tried to get beyond the metal barrier and my husband, Keith, tried to intervene. I said I would arrest him for interfering and lock him up if he didn’t let me do my job.

I met Keith when he was a staff inspector for the railway at Cardiff general station, as it was called then. I had an office based there. I was 25 years old and he was 27. I got married at St Basil’s Church in Bassaleg in 1972.

I have two children, Huw, who was born in 1975, and Karen, in 1981. Huw got married to Cholada in Thailand about five years ago. We went out to Bangkok, it was a brilliant experience – it’s such a beautiful country.

I have one granddaughter, Freya, who’s 19 months old. She is a little madam!

My husband was a Gwent magistrate after I retired from the police. He comes from a family of magistrates and was part of the Magistrates Association. We went along with the association to the Buckingham Palace garden party around 2002.

It was fun, I enjoy wildlife and seeing the beautiful gardens and the lake.

I’m part of the Michaelston-y-Fedw WI group and have been for the past 11 years. It’s only a small group of about 17 members.

I’ve recently been appointed publicity officer for Gwent WI and I am on the committee. It’s great fun, it gives you a reason to get out and about and meet different people, get involved in all the different events.

We’ve been organising cooking classes for people in the community – it has been really worth while helping people eat healthily and see people accomplish a finished dish.”