YOUNG-at-heart granny Mags Whiteley has proved that there's more to life than hip ops -- hip hop in fact.

The 56-year-old hit the headlines two years ago as the 'Drumming Granny' after she embarked on a contemporary music course which changed her life.

She swapped the drum kit for the MC's mike and recently returned from a four-day festival in Leeds where she branched out into other musical genres, including rapping and heavy metal.

Mags, of Brownhill Drive, Blackburn, used to be Margaret, a shy, retiring soul who was living alone and resigned to a quiet life until a chance meeting in a record shop.

Her transformation began in July 2000 when she bought herself a guitar. In September of that year she was in Reidy's music shop, Penny Street, Blackburn, when she met a young man who was changing his guitar strings. He suggested she had a chat with tutors at Blackburn College if she wanted to improve her guitar skills.

She enrolled on a foundation course and was soon playing guitar and drums in two college bands.

Mags, who has three grandchildren, said: "My social life is busy and I'm always going out to different gigs. I used to only like folk music, but I'm now interested in all musical styles from dance and hip hop to metal and pop."

She recently joined musicians from across the UK to enjoy four days of music at the Bretton Hall Campus at the University of Leeds for the Summer Academy of Music Festival 2003 (SAMFEST).

Mags, who also co-presents a radio show for Queens Park Hospital and volunteers at a music project at Longshaw Community Centre, said: "The best thing about SAMFEST was the friendliness, people and interaction. The whole week was fantastic."