Six Birmingham city councillors with a combined total of 86 years serving with Europe's largest local authority are retiring this week.
After years of investigating vandalism, pointing out potholes and taking up campaigns for bus stops, road calming and helping residents in distress they are stepping back from frontline politics.
The sextet is:
Reg Corns - City Councillor 1968-71 (Liberal), 2000-2015 (Conservative)
Brought up in a Middlemore Children's Home, his first brush with politics was as a child delivering leaflets for Labour politician Percy Shurmer.
He was a keen follower of Birmingham Liberal MP Wallace Lawler during the 1960s and elected as councillor for Nechells in 1968. His tenure was short lived and he put family and his job as an industrial plumber first.
He returned to frontline politics with the Conservatives in the late 1990s, winning his Northfield seat in 2000.
Mr Corns has made child protection a priority during his two spells on the city council and says he is frustrated at the continual changes and problems which have blighted the service over many decades.
Most Read
Recently, he says rank and file councillors have been sidelined to too great an extent. He will continue his work with the Middlemore Trust charity.
Adrian Delaney - Councillor from 2004-2015 (Conservative)
Mr Delaney won his Weoley seat by just 12 votes in 2011, one of a string of narrow results in the ward which have left Labour opponents frustrated.
The Weoley Conservatives, always on the brink of extinction, work hard at their community politics. He is stepping down as a result of finding it difficult to balance family, work and political duties.
James Hutchings - Edgbaston Councillor from 1991-1995 and 1996-2015 (Conservative)
Someone who has generally won friends across the political divide. A tireless campaigner he led the successful battle against an elected mayor in the 2012 referendum. He also chaired the community safety scrutiny committee under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.
Barbara Jackson - Councillor 1996-2015 (Lib Dem)
Don’t miss
The Stechford and Yardley North councillor is standing down due to ill health. A popular local campaigner, she spent much of her time at the council chamber working on licensing, including co-chairing the committee in 2011-12.
She was also a key campaigner for the restoration of the Stechford war memorial. As a result of this success, hundreds now gather there every November 11.
Peter Kane - Councillor from 2003-2015 (Labour)
Aged 74, the former trade union official has decided it is time to step down and allow a younger challenger to replace him in Kingstanding.
He was also a drummer in his youth and has said he may dust off his kit and catch up with a few comrades. He also plans to visit Cuba, one of the last communist states in the world, before "the Americans ruin it".
A highlight for him was the setting up of the Kingstanding Regeneration Trust with which he will continue to work.
Guy Roberts - Councillor from 2012-2015 (Conservative)
Cut his term of office short after just three years due to ill health.