A FORMER Keighley bus driver was carried to church for her funeral in a carriage pulled by white horses.

Pauline Tiler’s daughter, Susan Barlow, wanted her party-loving mum to be sent off in style at the ceremony in Keighley Shared Church.

Many young people turned up for 68-year-old Pauline’s funeral because she regularly played host to her grandsons’ rugby-playing pals so they could watch sports tournaments together.

Pauline was born in Blackburn and moved with her family to Keighley when Susan was a child, starting work about 42 years ago with the West Yorkshire Road Car Company, which then ran Keighley’s buses.

She first worked in the drivers’ canteen, then four years later became a ‘clippie’, collecting passengers’ fares. A few years later she retrained as a driver.

Susan said: “When they started cutting out conductors, my mum started taking driving lessons. She passed the test to drive buses easily, but she could never pass her tests to drive a car.”

Pauline and then husband, Trevor Tiler, lived in Parkwood, then in Woodhouse Drive, Keighley, for many years.

In her late 40s, Pauline gave up work to look after Trevor after he suffered several strokes, but she remained active, taking numerous courses at Keighley College and taking up painting. She moved to Stockbridge 15 years ago.

Susan added: “My mum was full of life. She loved to party and to have a laugh. She’d help anyone.”

Pauline’s funeral casket was white, with the names 'Nan', 'Pauline' and 'Mum' on separate sides, and a cross. Susan said: “I wanted her to have the best. It was amazing.”

Pauline, who died of pneumonia following a long-term illness, had one child, Susan, three stepsons, five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.