ACTIVE RETIREES

Retirement used to be putting your feet up and resting with a pipe and slippers. Not any more it isn’t…

RETIREMENT CAN BE daunting with long, endless, empty days stretching ahead of you. Sometimes after a very busy, stressful career this can initially seem idyllic but I suspect it will quickly pall, particularly if you are fit and active and used to being busy. We have caught up with some very active retirees who have filled their days with adventures, stretched themselves and set new challenges making the most of the extra time they have available – there’s no stopping this lot and I have huge respect (and envy) for them.

In 2 , ohn affurn’s retirement was unplanned, following the closure of his employer’s UK company, but ‘it was a relief’ said John, after a working life of over 40 years. During that time, in the pharmaceutical industry, John had worked in five countries and visited over 3 more on business trips. Then suddenly, aged 62, he was faced with a void. ‘My hectic and challenging work had been like a drug and I needed a fix in retirement’ so he set about creating new challenges for himself. olunteering was an obvious first port of call and is an avenue open to all, irrespective of age and skill. Stamford litter pickers, charity shops, and primary school readers are always looking for help, to name a few. John scoured the charity website www.reachvolunteering.org.uk for available positions which might benefit from his executive experience. His plan was to spend up to half of his time volunteering and the other half on personal projects which he had been unable to pursue whilst working, including genealogy and long-distance train travel, both great passions of his.

Within a year John had taken on a portfolio of positions: Hon Treasurer, Charles Dickens Museum and directorships

with Peterborough NHS and Rutland CAB. And he was planning to travel alone and solely by train from Stamford to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam via Europe, Belarus, Russia, Mongolia and China.

The 30 day train journey was completed in 2010 and had a twist. John’s working life had been peppered with business class ights, private jets and five-star hotels so he challenged himself that in addition to the complex route planning, he would travel as cheaply as possible. This meant mixed sharing in four berth sleeper compartments, overnight stays in hostels, some of which were mixed dormitories (the cheapest option). By doing this John raised £2,500 for DebRA, a charity whose president was the railway buff Michael ortillo, who generously made the first donation.

‘Travelling alone was a revelation,’ said John. ‘Although I missed not sharing experiences with a friend or loved one there was a freedom I had not experienced before and I met so many interesting people.’ He mixed with students from England, Japan, Australia and the USA along the way as well as meeting a Russian astrophysicist, a young Israeli soldier, a female Vietnamese union representative and many Chinese nationals who offered to share their fruit on the trains despite not speaking English.

Whilst this was an extreme train journey John recommends train travel in Europe for UK retirees as fares are much cheaper than the UK and over 65s often get large discounts. He also recommends the website www.seat61. com which provides rail information across the world. ohn’s other interest, genealogy, also took off in 2 1 when on a whim he decided to try to trace the heirs of an unclaimed estate after watching the TV programme Heirhunters. Initially he wanted to establish why professional heir hunters had, for fifteen years, failed to find any heirs. After two years of investigation he had cracked the case. The research uncovered three incredible families of ranchers in Argentina and John felt the urge to write about them and also about his quest for the inheritors. Writing and publishing became his next challenge.

The theme running through John’s retirement activities is his need to problem solve, to challenge himself and to learn new skills. It is all about maintaining an active brain, although physical fitness is also vitally important. But he was finding that the volunteering was becoming all consuming as the Dickens Museum’s expectation of three days a month had turned into three a week so after three years in each of the posts John gradually withdrew.

From 2013 solo travel, train travel, writing, publishing and other challenges took over as John always has a project on the go. Train travel across China in 2010 encouraged him to return where he broke the Guinness World Record for the most miles travelled by train in 24 hours. A month’s solo trip to Argentina in 2014 enabled him to complete the research for his first book Seeking ohn Campbell Finding pioneers and patriots in the pampas. Such was his love of Argentina and solo travel that in 2017 he returned, but also incorporated Chile and Peru where he took the train from Cusco to Puno, beside Lake Titicaca.

Another TV programme, A House Through Time, became the hook for John’s next project. Living in a house built in 1842 he pondered who might have lived there before him and managed to unearth the previous occupants. The house was one of a uniform terrace of ten properties and he decided to research all ten and subsequently wrote Stamford Tenants a history of Rock Terrace and its occupants, which was published in 2020.

Until then mental challenges had taken precedence over physical activity but that changed in December 2020 when ohn had a heart attack and was quickly fitted with two stents. A reaction to the cocktail of drugs followed and that combined with the reduced mental and physical capacity, as a result of the trauma, provided an altogether different challenge. ‘I felt drained’ said John, ‘and there was definitely a loss of confidence,’ but with the help of his trainer Holly at Euphoria Fitness (John is her oldest client) fitness has returned.

Then, during lockdown, John was encouraged, by a professor of architectural history, to write about the previously unknown architect of both Rock House and Rock Terrace. The result, George Glover 1812-18 the unfulfilled potential of a ictorian architect was published this month.

Whilst waiting for the book proof and the printing he was able to once again embrace a solo train challenge. In October he travelled by train up though Norway and into the Arctic Circle. His aim was to ride the most northerly standard gauge passenger train in the world, between Narvik and Kiruna in Sweden.

There’s no stopping him. What will be John’s next project?

BON CAMINO!

Julie Lunt, volunteer for MindSpace Stamford, looks back on the enriching experiences that shaped her pilgrimage along the Caminho Portuguese

ON THE AFTERNOON of 7 October I stood in a large sunny square gazing up at the Cathedral de Santiago Compostela set on a hilltop in the Galician city of the same name in Northern Spain. This was the end of my pilgrimage, 470 miles of the Portuguese Caminho starting from Estoril near Lisbon.

I had walked on roads where lorries thundered towards me, along dusty tracks where the gravel hurt my feet, on cobbled streets and Roman roads where the stone slabs were worn smooth by the footsteps of pilgrims over a thousand years, on narrow paths in the early morning mist where dripping foliage soaked my clothes and trees ahead loomed dark and mystical.

I walked in torrential rain, when water ran like a river down the streets, under a large umbrella I bought in a

Chinese bazaar, in blazing sunshine protected by the same

With my good friend Jean who was walking to celebrate beating cancer.

umbrella which eventually I abandoned in a hotel in Porto. I walked over high, rusty iron bridges where I could see the river owing through the holes beneath my feet and thought I might fall through at any moment and across ancient stone bridges built in Medieval times.

I walked beside dry river beds and gushing streams, railway tracks, the calm turquoise sea (paddling at the water’s edge to cool my sweaty feet), and with thundering waves smashing on the rocks.

I walked for up to 22 miles for 36 days over six weeks. At the end of each day I limped into my hostel or small hotel dripping in sweat, dusty and exhausted. On one occasion the receptionist told me it was OK to breathe!

Having hauled myself out of bed, I left each morning at first light and never once did I not want to walk. acking all my possessions into the same compartments of my backpack became a ritual. I rotated my two skirts and three vests each day and saved my one pair of trousers and two T-shirts and a eece for the evenings when it was cooler. My dusty sweaty clothes were dumped in the bottom of the shower before being rinsed, rung out then rolled in a towel to remove the last of the excess water. They were usually dry before morning though the occasional damp garment was hung from my backpack to finish drying en route. GOOD COMPANY

It would have been a lonely experience without the people I travelled with and those I met along the way. I walked the first two weeks with Christine, and bus stops became our sanctuary when we needed to stop for a serious talk and rest when she feared the pain in her foot would prevent her from going any further. We cried with laughter when the weight of her backpack caused her to fall backwards while crouching to take a photo. She lay there like a helpless

En route to the town of Fátima, a destination for Catholic pilgrims.

beetle, until I could compose myself enough to help her get up. When I was agging and breathless climbing some stony path, the Welsh National Anthem or The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)’ began blaring out behind me from her phone and we both marched on in jubilant chorus.

Bill, my partner, joined me for a few days along the coast before Porto. Our progress was slower and gentler, enjoying our time together along the board walks through the dunes and quaint seaside villages.

I walked with Jean into Spain – I had walked the last 100 miles of the Caminho with her in 2019. She is now 75 and walked to celebrate her recovery from cancer. I listened as she shared her experiences and changed plans and pace to enable her to complete the 100-mile challenge she had set herself to raise money for the small cancer charity who had supported her.

At the end of my pilgrimage – the magnifi cent Cathedral de Santiago Compostela.

ALONE BUT NEVER LONELY

When I walked alone it was the people I met along the way who sustained me, such as the exuberant, weather-beaten Italian man, carrying a large pack with camping equipment and a pilgrim’s staff . He had travelled from Rome to Santiago and was heading for F tima. There was Helen and Essie who I walked with after an uncomfortable encounter the previous day and the woman who stopped me at her front door, pointing to her thin, elderly mother in a wheelchair at the window who managed to ask me, with a few words of English, to pray for them when I reached Santiago. As I walked alongside strangers, we shared our stories, some beautiful, uplifting and funny, others of the deepest pain imaginable. I felt humbled to be trusted at these moments.

When I fi nished, I could see muscles I have never seen before and I feel stronger, not just physically but mentally. I still pant up hills but quickly recover. I feel calmer and more confi dent. My pilgrimage is one of the best experiences of my life and I appreciate this luxury is never experienced by many of the people I passed in the towns and villages who wished me a ‘Bon Caminho’.

Julie was sponsored for her walk and picked up donations along the route, all of which will go to MindSpace. To date, she has raised £2,620. Visit

www.gofundme.com/f/walking-the-caminhoportuguese-for-mindspace

Christmas Sunday roasts from December Extensive range of food, gifts and treats!

DON’T RUN!

Kate joined the Rutland Walking Football Club for a kickabout and found out what a friendly bunch they are. But sometimes they forget they’re not supposed to run…

WHAT DO YOU do if you love playing football, or any team sport, but find you’re slowing down and struggle to maintain the pace any longer? Or you’ve sustained injuries but your doctor recommends you still keep exercising? Well you can join the Rutland Walking Football Club for their twice weekly practice and even take part in local league matches.

Their aim is to keep fit, have a laugh and occasionally get the ball into the net.’ I can vouch for that as there were a few goals scored when I met up with the team at Uppingham Community College one Thursday night in November. They were definitely having fun and by the end of the session I’d walked over 12,000 steps. You can get as stuck in as much or as little as you like.

To play in league matches players must be 50 years old or over. The team is a liated with Oakham United. The majority of players in the club are over 60 with some nifty over 70s too, and the odd man in his 40s. I say man, but women are strongly encouraged to join too, they would be more than welcome. Attendance is good; during a typical session about 15 people turn up for training either at 6pm on a Thursday night in Uppingham or 11am at Catmose Sports Club in Oakham on Sundays during the winter. Not

‘League matches involve six players including the goalkeeper, and the pitch is smaller than during practice. This is a relief as a full size pitch is rather large when you’re supposed to be walking to intercept the ball.’

everyone has played football before and members come from all walks of life; what unites them is finding a way of doing some exercise in a friendly environment with some competitive spirit thrown in.

League matches involve six players including the goalkeeper, and the pitch is smaller than during practice. This is a relief as a full si e pitch is rather large when you’re supposed to be walking to intercept the ball. I say walking in the loosest term as there was quite a lot of jogging going on. But one foot should be on the ground at all times whether you’re in possession of the ball or not. The ref did reprimand players if they went too fast! And for tackling from behind or the side, and no balls are allowed above head height. The two governing bodies, the FA and the WFA have slightly different rules and the Rutland club play an amalgamation of both. One particularly sporting rule they adhere to is pausing play if a player falls over, whether it’s their own fault or not.

The trouble is the players do appear to find it hard to reign in their enthusiasm for the game even when they know they’ll pay for it the next day by suffering from various aches and pains. But even with dodgy knees, hips and backs, they certainly look the part. And the social side of the club is almost as important. They organise various social events like their Christmas lunch at the Grainstore, and other evenings when partners are invited. And after training they pile down to their website sponsor, the Exeter Arms in Uppingham, for rehydration purposes.

New players are always welcome. Contact www. rutlandwalkingfootball.co.uk for more information.

WOODWORK AND WORDS

Described very tongue in cheek as the old man’s crèche; men in sheds is much more than that. Mary visits for a cup of tea and a chat

IT’S A FACT; many men do not have many, or any, friends, don’t communicate well and are quite lonely. This can be equally true for younger men but older men who have retired sometimes lose their sense of purpose and belonging and can become socially isolated, even those that don’t live alone. This can, of course, be equally true for women.

Men in sheds, (and now women in sheds as well) is run by Age UK, Leicestershire and Rutland and provides a place for older men to come together to do something practical and creative, sharing tools and resources to work on projects of their own but mainly to create something for the community. Whilst doing this they are also making friends, sharing experiences and building a great little community of like-minded individuals. The Rutland shed is at Oakham Enterprise Park. I turned up just in time for a cup of tea and a chat before being shown around the workshop.

The shed is run by Brian Lee who is ably assisted by volunteer John Whittington who I met. John is a retired company director and trained engineer so knows how to use all the tools, can design virtually anything and can also organise and teach the men.

On the day I visited there were a dozen men who were enjoying a cup of tea and a chat before starting work. Today they were making Christmas trees and stars to be sold locally. Retired university lecturer Walter Middleton comes once a week and spends the whole day there and ‘enjoys giving something back to the community as well as meeting like-minded people.’ Most of the men in the Rutland shed are professionals ranging from doctors, company directors and teachers who all have an interest in DIY. ‘It’s a meeting of kindred spirits and everyone is very welcome; as long as you can stand up,’ said with a tongue firmly in cheek. My family describe it as the old man’s crèche,’ said one chap with a good sense of humour. And there were even a couple of dogs too.

Most of the work is done in wood and if you have a project, a repair or a bench to be made John and his team will set to for you. Orders are fulfilled which earns them the money to keep going. Bird boxes, hedgehog houses, cat boxes, planters, benches, tables, that sort of thing is what they make, all of which are sold or commissioned. Most of the men work on these projects together but Barry Richardson showed me with great pride the rocking horse he had recently completed; it was impressive.

They’re a welcoming bunch, friendly and full of fun and are always happy to see new people come through the door.

The men meet Mondays to Wednesdays with sessions from 9.30am -12.30pm and 12.30 - 3pm so you can stay all day. Membership is £100 a year and each session costs £2.50 to include tea and biscuits. The ladies meet on Thursdays. Contact Brian.lee@ageukleics.org.uk