THE LIFE of one Gwent woman spanned the Wright Brothers' epic first flight and man's first steps on the moon.

This week a family and community said farewell to a 110-year-old local legend - the oldest person in Gwent, known to all as Aunt Flossie. Flossie Elizabeth Harris had lived in Viaduct Road, Gar-ndiffaith, for 80 years.

She was the cornerstone of her family and community, and a stalwart member of the nearby chapel her father Tom Williams helped to found over 140 years ago.

Only last week, Mrs Harris attended the wedding of her great-grandson, surrounded by her great-great-grandchildren - a family gathering spanning five generations.

"She was the cornerstone - we all looked up to her," said grandson Bernard Scrivens, 57.

Admired for her beautiful singing voice, and a founding member of Victoria Village Hall, she loved to dance, recalled daughter Fay Scrivens, 86.

"She was a very loving person - not just her family, everybody - and she never had a bad word to say about anyone," she said.

Mrs Harris was born in 1895, in Chapel Lane, Garndiffaith, one of 11 children.

Apart from the loss of one brother underground, the rest of her siblings lived into their 80s and 90s.

"She could remember all the houses being built around here, she had an excellent memory - better than mine," said Mrs Scrivens.

Grandson Noel, 60, remembers his grandmother telling him how, as a child, she would walk from Garn School every lunch time, down into Abersychan village a mile away, and collect a basket of fish for the school kitchen.

"She'd carry it back on her head," said Mr Scrivens. He added: "In those days Abersychan was a thriving village, with a train station, and there was a horse and trap parked outside where the Spar shop is on Union Street, which would take you into Pontypool."

Mrs Harris was no stranger to hardship. She married a miner, William John, who was 60 years at Blaensychan Colliery.

She had three children, but lost two to TB - her sons, aged 18 and 24 respectively.

The Viaduct Road Chapel was everything to her, said Mrs Scrivens. "If she couldn't make it, I would have to list everybody who was in church," she said.

Grandson Noel Scrivens said: "When you went in the church, you could always hear grandma singing."

Mrs Harris died peacefully on March 14. Her funeral service takes place at Viaduct Road Chapel tomorrow at 1.50pm, and is followed by burial at Methodist Cemetery at 2.45pm.