TRIBUTES have been paid to a Stourbridge man who is credited with starting the town's earliest gym.

Clifford Harris was considered a pioneer in the weight training and bodybuilding world for inspiring young people to get fit and pump iron back in the 1950s - long before gyms became mainstream and even before the famous Gold's gym first opened in Venice Beach, California, in 1965.

His younger brother Mike Harris told the News: "He was a physical training instructor in the RAF and shortly after he started a gym up in Stourbridge - first at The Foresters Arms in Wollaston, then at The Duke William in Coventry Street, then he moved to the Royal British Legion at Amblecote.

"There wasn't such a thing as people going to the gymnasium then. He pretty well started the first one.

"He started in the mid 1950s, carried on through the 60s, 70s and 80s and he was very active until the early 90s."

Mike, aged 75, of Wordsley, added: "When I left school at 14 Cliff started me on a training regime. I must’ve been one of the first he started training in 1956. He went on to train so many and they went on to do well in physical culture contests as they were called then.

"He was a good man and he helped a lot of youngsters."

Christine Charles, from Wordsley, who won the Miss Universe contest in 1972, paid tribute to Clifford who was born and bred in Stourbridge.

She said: "I knew him as a 15-year-old girl; he was always supportive and encouraging. He helped a lot of young people in Stourbridge - encouraging them to look after themselves and be fit and healthy.

“He was a pioneer of the gym world."

Chairman of the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association, Jim Charles, who trained at the Duke William a year or so before setting up Jim's Gym, said Clifford was an avid preacher of the benefits of physical culture but he never sought stardom himself in the bodybuilding world.

He remembers: "He'd got a terrific frame, he was quite tall and he was a good looking guy - and I'd liken his structure to being like Steve Reeves, who was his hero, but he never competed himself."

As well as running the gyms, Clifford was also an entertainments manager - looking after singers and performers for a number of years.

He was also a member of the Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society and a keen harmonica player together with his lifelong pal Eric Houghton.

Mike said: "He played harmonica from when he was young and he was known as 'harmonica Cliff'.

Clifford, who never married, lived at Baylie Court for 40 years from the 1970s but his mobility declined in later life - after he was hit by a vehicle on Stourbridge ring road.

He spent his final years wheelchair bound and in care homes and he passed away, aged 84, on June 28 at Bartholomew Lodge, Wednesbury, after suffering from vascular dementia.

As well as his brother Mike - he is survived by another brother Ray, sister Margaret, nephews Simon and Philip, great-nephews Oliver and Sam, and great-niece Mia.

His funeral will be held at Stourbridge Crematorium on Monday July 24 at 4.10pm - followed by a gathering at The Old White Horse in South Road, Stourbridge.