TRIBUTES have been paid to Thomas William Golding Lewis, a Newport-born flautist and music teacher, who has died aged 92.

Mr Lewis was born on January 25, 1929, at 44 Stafford Road, Newport.

His life led him to work at the docks and then to follow his love of music as the first peripatetic wood wind teacher in Newport in the late 1960s.

When Mr Lewis was about 11 he was diagnosed with a weak heart and was told by the doctor to stay in bed and rest for a year.

Being confined to bed caused him to be frustrated in a number of ways. He used to run up and down the stairs when his mother left him alone to go to the shops because he needed the exercise. He missed a year of school and when he went back was put into a low stream, far below the level of his real ability.

He left school at 14 and got a job at the public analyst's laboratory in the days when Newport was a busy industrial port with ships coming from all over the world carrying cargoes of iron ore ready to be made into steel.

His job was to climb down into the holds of ships and take a sample of the ore to send to the lab to be tested for purity. Regularly he would be sent to other busy ports like Swansea, then the centre of the copper trade in Britain, Barrow in Furness and Port Talbot.

Mr Lewis was also musical. He sang in a choir, played the tin whistle and was in a marching band.

With his first pay packet he bought himself a flute and taught himself to play it to a reasonable standard.

In 1947 Mr Lewis was called up for National Service. His flute playing got him into the Royal Dragoons (stationed in Germany at the time), a prestigious regiment where he played in the Blues Regimental Band.

He frequently spoke with great pride of the band (in which he was the only flute and piccolo player) broadcasting live concerts in Germany.

After his National Service he returned to his day job, but was also a flautist with a growing reputation, playing in a range of amateur/professional bands, including The National Youth Orchestra of Wales.

It was at this time that he met his future wife Jean Lewis (nee Ford), who was studying at Newport School of Art.

They married in December 1956 and their daughter Jessica arrived in 1958.

The family moved to Penrhiw in 1960 where Mr Lewis had bought a plot of land. He built a house and that was the house he lived the rest of his life in and indeed, died in.

By this time he had begun to lose his hearing, a hereditary condition. Throughout his life this was a terrible disability for him, but one whose many frustrations he bore with courage dignity and patience.

The demand for his flute playing grew within professional circles and he soon became a long-standing member of the many pit bands which performed in successful musicals locally.

His standing within musical circles coupled with his strong sense of decency and fairness saw him develop an important role within the Musicians Union (whose motto of the time was Keep Music Live).

His love of the flute and clock making steered him into another role that gave important support to musicians in the area - that of repairing woodwind instruments.

He not only had the enquiring mind as to why mechanical things worked but also the technical knowledge to fix a fault or repair damage.

Perhaps the most influential role Mr Lewis had was through his teaching.

In 1969, he obtained a teaching qualification from Trinity College of Music. He gave up his job at the docks and was employed by Monmouthshire County Council as the first peripatetic woodwind teacher in Newport.

During this time Newport was a heavy industrial town boasting of a large busy docks, one of the largest steel works in Europe and neighbour to the still productive mines of steam coal. Working class children had little or no exposure to the notion of classical music, let alone play an instrument from the symphony orchestra.

Mr Lewis was not thwarted by this challenge. A raft of children and young people who came to him learned not only how to play a wind instrument, but through his inspiration developed a love for music that was to stay with them for the rest of their lives.

His granddaughter Imogran said: "Tom's influence in musical life in this part of Wales was significant. Many people have had experiences through music that they would not have otherwise had happened but for the dedication and perseverance of Tom Lewis.

"The influence he had over many decades in Newport as accomplished flautist (despite his deafness), instrument repairer, arbiter and teacher was recognised in 2015 with a British Empire Medal for services to music and music education. This was a very proud time for him and he even got to go to a tea party at Buckingham palace."

Later in life, he obtained an Open University degree in Humanities.

He retired from teaching in his mid 60s and he and his wife enjoyed some golden years travelling.

Sadly, Mrs Lewis died in February 2015, and Mr Lewis was very lonely without her.

Despite that he was very independent and determined to remain living in his home on Penrhiw, where he died peacefully on October 10, 2021.

He is survived by his brother Noel, his daughter Jessica and three granddaughters; Imogen, Miranda and Hesther.