'Girl power' certainly is not dead in Tenby, with Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown, being chosen to serve as the fourth female Mayor of the town in succession this week.

One of only nine ladies to be elected to the post of Mayor since the Charter was granted to the town in 1402, Clr. Mrs. Brown was the unanimous choice to succeed present Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Maureen Ward, when the town council met on Tuesday.

Clr. Mrs Ward, who retires from the office of Mayor in May, took over from Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, who in turn succeeded Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas.

In time honoured tradition, each councillor was asked in turn if they would like to stand for the position of Mayor, with only Clr. Mrs. Brown indicating that she did.

Her appointment was proposed by Clr. Mrs. Ward.

"Clr. Mrs. Brown has been very good as my deputy and has worked very hard," she said. "I hope I've trained her well, because I propose that she go forward as Mayor-elect for 2001/2002."

The proposition was seconded by Clr. Miss Lis James and unanimously agreed.

Fifty-five-year-old Clr. Mrs. Brown originally hails from Brighton and is the daughter of Major Quartermaster Norman Mason MBE and his wife Betty.

With her father serving as a regular in the Royal Artillery, Clr. Mrs. Brown admits to having had a rather nomadic childhood, attending school wherever her father was posted.

"Like most Army children you called home wherever you were living at the time," she smiled.

She first came to Pembrokeshire in the mid-1950s when her father was posted to Haverfordwest for three years.

It was in the county town that she did her 11-Plus, but, just two years later, she was on the move again, and she spent her teenage years in boarding school in Germany.

One leaving school, aged 18, she became an au pair and travelled extensively through Europe, particularly France and the Low Countries.

By this time her father had been posted to Manorbier and in 1967 she came to visit them.

"It was supposed to be a month's holiday, but I've been here ever since," she smiled.

In 1971 she married her husband, Mr. Peter Brown, who at that time was owner of The Out of Sight Country Club (now Crackwell) in Penally.

After a time at the Belgrave Hotel, Tenby, the couple then became partners, along with Mr. Malcolm Thomas, in The Sands, Saundersfoot.

Following several years running The Sands as a cabaret nightclub, the couple returned to Tenby, first running the Bush Inn and later Brynhir.

In 1989 they moved to their current premises The Prince of Wales.

The couple have five children, Adam, Matthew, Joe and twin girls Becky and Rachel, and Clr. Mrs. Brown spent many years on the PTA of St. Teilo's School while her children were educated there.

Admitting to being someone who thrives on committee work, Clr. Mrs. Brown is also a past chairman of the Tenby and District Ladies LVA, although she took a back seat from her role as a landlady several years ago to concentrate on council duties.

She joined Tenby Town Council in 1995 and, in addition to being Deputy Mayor, has served on all the council's committees and is current chairman of the gardens committee.

Clr. Mrs. Brown is also a Tenby Charity Trustee and was recently elected to be the town council's representative on Tenby 2020.

Outside of her council work, Clr. Mrs. Brown has been a member of Stagestruck Productions since 1993 and has served on the theatrical company's executive committee for a number of years, first as Junior Stagestruck representative and latterly as society secretary.

Although her parents, who settled in Penally on retirement, have both sadly passed away Clr. Mrs. Brown has a brother, Terry, who lives in Hampshire.

She will don the scarlet robes of office at the traditional Mayor-making ceremony on May 18.