It was a beautiful sunny day in Hounslow on Saturday, when I arrived at Mr B’s to lend a hand with his garden and driveway. The task was to clear unwanted weeds and treat the areas between the paving stones with weed killer, to keep the driveway clear.

Whilst clearing the weeds Mr B perched on a chair in his kitchen and chatted away. He took great pleasure in challenging me to guess his age and even greater pleasure when my first attempt was 20 years off. He takes pride in staying as active as possible at 95 years young and his face lit up every time he spoke about his children, his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The task flue by as Mr B began another guessing game this time about his occupations over the years, first as a Flueologist, then a professional ballroom dancer, a table tennis champion and in the later part of his working life a dog walker (for up to 30 at one time). A Saturday well spent.