ONE of the stalwarts of journalism in York - with a career spanning half a century - has died, aged 91.

Chris Brayne rose from office junior straight from school to assistant editor on the city’s newspaper that over that period changed its masthead and style a number of times, eventually becoming The Press.

He was one of those rare people who stayed with the same paper throughout his working life, said John Richardson, a colleague who followed Chris on to the paper’s news desk.

“Chris was a reporter who through his loyalty and devotion to the city was entrusted to write a daily leader under the pen name of John Blunt, reflecting the views of the editor on local issues,” he said.

“When he became news editor, he welcomed incoming reporters to the staff with his familiar creed: ‘You are now working for a paper of record.’

“Chris was a man who earned respect without raising his voice and his attention to detail and quiet charm - charm is often in short supply among the egos in a newsroom - were easy to underestimate.

“You could always ask Chris the name of a vicar in York, how to address the Dean of York by his title. Name a councillor. Or say whether a street was a road or an avenue. He didn’t need a directory.

“His memory was as reliable as his smile, which thankfully was never far away.”

He said Chris was a member of the city’s crime prevention panel, a link with the police which won him the trust of senior officers.

“What many reporters did not know was that he was totally obsessed with flying. He loved holidays abroad with his wife Bridie, but perhaps she knew that for him, getting there and back in a plane was probably the most exciting part.

“He became a member of the Rufforth Gliding Club, graduating to instructing and earning a high-performance licence to take passengers on flights and even when ill health prevented him going solo, there were always plenty of friends at the club to take him up to enjoy from the air the countryside he knew almost as well as the streets of York.”

Chris, who died in Amarna House, Boroughbridge Road, leaves a widow and family.

His funeral will be at York Crematorium at 11am on Thursday, with a plate on behalf of York Against Cancer.