WELL-KNOWN Chickerell resident and former publican Jim “Dusty” Miller has died at the age of 93.

He was known to many for pulling pints at the Frampton Arms in Moreton which he ran with his wife Joan for many years.

Jim was brought up in Chiswell, Portland where his father had established a scrap metal business that later became J. H. Miller and Sons.

After leaving school he worked as a baker’s delivery boy and one of his regular deliveries was to birth control pioneer Dr Marie Stopes, who at that time lived in the old Upper Lighthouse at Portland Bill .

Jim was always interested in cars, having learned to drive by the age of 11. He worked as a mechanic with Cravens garage on the island and in the late 1930s joined the RAF reserve. At the outbreak of war he was called up to the RAF.

Service saw him attached to 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron where his role involved him in servicing motor transport although at times of pressure he also assisted on aircraft, including Spitfires. Whilst in Plymouth early in the war Jim witnessed some of the blitz raids on the city and helped with the rescue of civilians. His later war service saw him in Malta, the Western Desert and Sicily before coming home to RAF Warmwell near the end of the war. At Warmwell he was in charge of German POWs and helped with the closing down of the air station. He claimed to be the last serviceman to leave Warmwell.

While waiting to be demobbed Jim met his wife Joan who ran the nearby Frampton Arms with her widowed mother. The couple married in 1947 and the following year they took over as tenants. As a result of Jim’s innovation the pub built up an excellent reputation for the quality of its food and was twice listed in the Egon Ronay guide.

The couple retired from the pub trade in 1982 and enjoyed an active retirement with many holidays abroad.

Joan passed away in 2006 but Jim remained quite active until recently, visiting his local pub in Chickerell for his daily pint of beer.

Jim was the eldest and last of five brothers. He is survived by his two sisters, five children and 10 grandchildren.

Dusty’s funeral will take place at Weymouth Crematorium on Monday, Sepetmber 24 at 11.30am.