Tributes have been paid to former newspaper editor Jim Graves, who has died aged 83.

Jim was well known in post-war Peterborough as the editor of the Citizen and Advertiser, in the days when noisy typewriters were the norm in the newsroom.

His enthusiasm for journalism took him from the Huntingdon Post – where he often cycled many miles to cover Fenland parish meetings as a young reporter – to editing a daily newspaper in the exotic and far-flung Caribbean.

After serving as a Sunderland pilot during the Second World War, Jim began working at the Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser, which later became The Evening Telegraph, at its old offices in Broadway.

He worked his way up to become editor in 1962 and, three years later, after 15 years at the newspaper, eventually moved with his family to the Bahamas to edit the Nassau Daily Tribune.

Forming a love affair with the Caribbean, Jim and his wife Joan later moved to the Cayman Islands, before retiring to west Wales in 1989.

His daughter, Jane Beales (54), who now lives in Surrey, said: “He was passionate about journalism and a very talented writer, but he was also a modest man who loved his family and friends.

“He was an excellent sportsman and played cricket, tennis, golf and football, and later in life enjoyed gardening. We all miss him immensely. He was a great man.”

Veteran Peterborough councillor Charles Swift, who was mayor of the city in 1962 when Jim became editor, said: “I knew Jimmy Graves very well, and he was always fair-minded and thorough. He was a true gentleman with his feet firmly on the ground, and had a lovely devotion to his staff.

“I was 30 years old as mayor and, in those days Jimmy was the one who would put his arm around me and offer me critical, but positive, advice.”

Cllr Swift also recalled travelling with him to Bourges in France, where the pair were instrumental in creating the twinning link with Peterborough.

As well as Jane, Jim is survived by his wife Joan (79), son David (50) and four grandchildren Toby, Daniel, Thomas and Charlotte.