It was simply the perfect send-off, evoking memories of family trips to the seaside with mum and dad in the driving seat and the children crammed into the sidecar.

But today, the Triumph motorcycle was part of a funeral cortege taking 89-year-old Iris Barnes to her final resting place.

The unusual mode of transport was a fitting tribute to the great-grandmother who used to ride pillion with her husband Hughie on his Triumph, while three of their children would take up the space in the sidecar as they set off for the Kent coast.

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After the service at Christ Church in Old Road East, Gravesend, which began with Bing Crosby’s ‘Memories’, the cortege made its way to Gravesend Cemetery for the burial.

Mrs Barnes died earlier this month, following complications from a stroke in June last year.

Until then, she had been an active member of the community, regularly attending the Over 80s club at Christ Church and the Age UK North West Kent day centre in Clarence Row, Gravesend, where she amusingly referred to the other visitors as the “old boys and old girls”.

Video: A fitting send-off for a great-grandmother

She also knitted clothes for premature babies at local hospitals, blankets for the EllenorLions Hospices and poppies for the Royal British Legion to sell.

But many may remember Mrs Barnes in her role as Brown Owl. For 35 years she was heavily involved in the Brownie and Girl Guide movement in Gravesham and was responsible for setting up two Brownie packs.

She also became district commissioner for the Girlguiding Association, overseeing all the packs in the area. It was a role she cherished.

She married Hughie on January 22, 1949, and four years later took up a tenancy on a house in St Davids Crescent, where they lived with their four children, David, now 64, Elizabeth, 63, Barbara, 60, and finally the surprise arrival of Catherine, 49.

Sadly, Mr Barnes died just two days after his 57th birthday in October 1971.

Mrs Barnes worked as a seamstress, had also been a member of Gravesend Cycling Club, and was also devoted to her garden.

But it was for children, especially her 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, that she truly lived.