50+ Show Birmingham 2017 Show Guide Magazine by The 50+ Show

Show Guide Magazine Show programmes Floor plan Exhibitor A-Z

Photos, fiction, birdwatching!

The 50+ Show, Birmingham NEC, Hall 8 Friday 17 - Saturday 18 February 2017 9.30am - 4.30pm

H1 D AN ST

Later life is for living

Retirement living for the not-so-retiring We’re The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, a registered charity pioneering the UK’s most innovative and exciting new retirement villages to help people over 55 stay active and independent for longer, with lots of new ways to enjoy life. Relax in your own comfortable, spacious one or two bedroom apartment, with the latest safety and security features to make later life easy and enjoyable. Options for rental, shared ownership and outright purchase make if affordable for all. Make new friends and do all the things you’ve always wanted to, safe in the knowledge that if you or your partner need care, now or in the future, it can be provided by a dedicated 24/7 on-site team. ExtraCare Villages are built around a superb range of social, leisure and well-being facilities including:

WIN

£200 M&S VOUCHER* *Terms and conditions apply. Ask staff for details.

Fitness Suite and Well-being Suite Bistro and Bar Shop Hair and Beauty Salon Village Hall Hobby and Games Room IT suite and Library Greenhouse

Keeping fit in

the gym Beautifully designed apartments

althy and well Help to stay he

To find out more about ExtraCare Villages call

0300 303 2333 or online at

www.extracare.org.uk

Come and see Rustie Lee Stand H1 11.30am-1.30pm Friday and Saturday. A registered charity since 1988

Details of any costs associated with your home, care and Village services will be provided as part of your application. The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, registered charity number 327816, is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales as company number 2205136. Its registered office is at 7 Harry Weston Road, Binley Business Park, Binley, Coventry, CV3 2SN. Copyright © 2016 - The ExtraCare Charitable Trust

CONTENTS W

elcome to The 50+ Show Magazine and Show Guide for The 50+ Show at the NEC Birmingham in February 2017. This is our 2nd time at the NEC, after our visit in 2013. We hope that you have a positive, re-energising and inspirational day out at The 50+ Show this year. As always, there’s lots to do throughout the day, including our rock climbing wall for all our daredevil visitors! In this show-guide-magazine you’ll find some of the winners in our short story and photography competitions. Please take the time to tell us what you thought of The 50+ Show and of this magazine and be in with a chance to win £25 in M&S vouchers, by taking our quick online survey questionnaire before 1 March. We hope that you’ll tell us what you thought of the show we really do read every single response. We’d love to read your feedback to help us make The 50+ Show - and magazine - even better next time!

On behalf of the whole organising team, we hope that you enjoy both The 50+ Show Magazine and The 50+ Show at the NEC!

Dr Robert McCaffrey Editor, show director

On-line survey address: http://50-plus-show.polldaddy.com/s/50-plus-show-birmingham-visitor-survey-2017

The 50+ Show floor plan and A-Z of exhibitors

Where to find the exhibitors you are looking for!

SHOW PROGRAMMES

6-7

Show programme for FRIDAY

8-9

Show programme for SATURDAY

FEATURES

Featured exhibitors & Show competitions

Get fit with Lady Xsize!

Come and Meet Rustie Lee!

Want to start birdwatching? Here’s how!

13 The 50+ Show writing competition winners and runners-up We asked our previous visitors to send in their true stories on the subject of ‘fatherhood’ - and they did not disappoint. Here are the winner and runnersup - all of them likely to bring a lump to the throat! 18 The 50+ Show Photography Competition Winners and runners-up in our photo The 50+ Show Magazine is published by The 50+ Show Company Ltd 50 Reaver House, 12 East Street Epsom, Surrey, KT17 1HX Co. Reg. No. 09327126

The 50+ Show Magazine

competition., including photos on this page and on our back cover.

Visitors are advised to satisfy themselves as to the bona fides of the exhibitors prior to finalising any transactions. 3

February 2017

SHOW PLAN

Fascia Name Adjustamatic Bed Age UK Attractions of Snowdonia Beauty Gate Free Massage Berghoff Worldwide GB Bergs Designs Boots Hearingcare BT Charles Taylor Trading Conservatory Insulations Creative Coffee Club Cyclo-ssage Ltd Daishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holidays Discover Dudley

The 50+ Show Magazine

Stand No. T1,2,3 H10 T4 F4 E3,E6, F1 V5 Q5,Q6 U3 W V4 D5 Q8 V1 U4

Discover Tunisia Distinctly Decopatch DM Design Ltd Durley Dean Hotel Bournemouth Estate Planning Solutions Eternal Skincare Experience Nature Flying Colours Garlic & Ginger Grater Go North Wales Healthy Hearing Ltd Hidden Hearing Johnsons Coaches LadyXsize Magnetic Jewellers

U5 F5 Q4 U8 E1 F6 O2 E4 O1 T5 L1 &L4 D1, D2 Coach E2 H5

February 2017

Exhibitor A-Z Let’s do a deal. If you could make oxygen, prevent flooding, clean the air, cool the cities, improve the mental health of the nation, shelter sheep and cheer up chickens, help farmers pollinate their crops and build playgrounds for generations of children...

ENTRANCE

We’ll protect ancient woodland, restore woods and plant trees.

Or how about we do it together, from £3 a month?

woodl�ndtrust.or�.uk/join or c�ll 0330 333 3300 �nd sp��k to our fri�ndl� M�mb�rships T��m Th� Woodl�nd Trust is � ch�rit� r��ist�r�d in En�l�nd �nd W�l�s no. 294344 �nd in Scotl�nd no. SC038885.

McClure Solicitors D3 MG Motors Motor Zone Miigen L2 Miss Ellies Travel V6 OceanBooking.com U7 Pamper yourself now O4 Pensionwise D6 Perfect Tipple V3 Pieroth Wine Q1 Renapur O3 RNLI O5 Snowdonia National Park Authority T6 Sole Mates Q7 Stately Albion PH1, PH2 The ExtraCare Charitable Trust H1-2,6-7

The 50+ Show Magazine

Tingdene Parks TLH Leisure Resorts Tourism Swansea Bay Traveleyes U3A UK Hearing Care Valentte London Vision Hotels Visit Hull & East Yorkshire Woodland Trust Woolovers Writing the Past WSL Willwriting Services Ltd

9439 12/16

U2 V10 V7 V2 Q7 L6 L3 V8 V9 U1 F2,F3 E5 D4

The 50+ Show organisers can be found on stand L5.

February 2017

COMPETITIONS

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY Seminars

10.00 - 12.30

Start time

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Money Matters & Lifestyle Seminar Theatre

Travel Seminar Theatre

10.15 EXHIBITION TIME

10.45 Gardening Q&A Time

v 10.45 Find Work at 50+? Denise Taylor

v 11.45

Denise Taylor runs amazingpeople.co.uk and is 50+ and can offer a wide spectrum of advice

How to be a Birdwatcher Part 1

from coping with redundancy, changing career,

Ashley Grove, Birmingham-based

launching a business over 50 and how to find

Wildlife Photographer and Lecturer,

work to fit with retirement.

www.ashleysanologs.wordpress.com

a regular speaker in the media on finding work

11.30 The Importance of Estate Planning

12.30 - 14.30

Adrian Howlett, McClure Solicitors

12.40 Making the most of your hearing

12.30 Torquay... Have we got news for you! Heather Hunt, TLH Leisure Resort

Clare Kewney, UK Hearing Care

13.15 Experience Nature - What we can offer you!

v 13.15 Every Family Has a Story:

Ashley Grove, www.experiencenature.co.uk

What’s Yours? Mike Sharpe, Writing the Past

14.15 The future of our woods, trees and people. 14.15 Your Pension Options & Retirement Income: How to avoid common (and costly) mistakes

Steve Marsh, Woodlands Trust

14.30 - 16.30

Guy Myles, CEO, Flying Colours

15.00 FREE Prize Quiz Are you a brainiac or perhaps Britain’s next mastermind? Come along and test your knowledge!

15.00 Find Work at 50+? Denise Taylor, Amazing People

15.30 EXHIBITION TIME

v Signed by a BSL Interpreter

The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

Cookery Theatre

10.15 Tai Chi Kai Ming Association for

10.30 Moroccan chicken Tagine and jewelled cous cous

Taijiquan and Painting The Rainbow

11.00 KEEP FIT! with LadyXsize

Arts & Crafts Zone

Learn something new and be creative at the show! ART WORKSHOP (4 SESSIONS ALL DAY, FIRST-COME FIRSTSERVED BASIS) CRAFT ZONE 2 Art tutor Dion Ellis-Taylor will hold the following workshops each day, so just visit the Arts & Crafts zone to take part in our FREE have-a-go sessions:

10.00 - 12.30

10.15 EXHIBITION TIME

Performance Stage & Dancefloor

Start time

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY Features

Pen & Ink drawing (Winter theme) Colour pastels (Spring theme) Colour pastels (Summer theme) Still life drawing (Autumn theme)

11.45 Jazz Music with Benny Jay

12.30 - 14.30

12.15 Salmon and pea fish cakes, lemon and red onion greens, hollandaise sauce with Celebrity Chef Richard Fox

12.30 Lutley Community Voices 13.15 Zumba GOLD with Richardz Dance 13.45 Moroccan chicken Tagine and jewelled cous cous

cakes, lemon and red onion greens, hollandaise sauce

The 50+ Show Magazine

14.30 Jazz Music with Benny Jay 15.00 Tom Carradine’s Cockney Sing-along

14.30 - 16.30

v 15.15 Salmon and pea fish

14.00 KEEP FIT with Lady Xsize with LadyXsize

DECOPATCH WORKSHOP (ALL DAY) CRAFT ZONE 1 Decopatch is proving still to be very popular and that’s why at this year’s show Helen Brewer of Distinctly Decopatch will teach you how to home decors using the most fabulous French designed papers, a bit of glue and a little imagination. Come along, have a go and take your masterpiece home with you! (Decopatch products are also on sale today and tomorrow!) www.distinctlydecopatch.co.uk

February 2017

10.00 - 12.30

Start time

SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY Seminars Money Matters & Lifestyle Seminar Theatre

Travel Seminar Theatre

10.15 EXHIBITION TIME

10.45 Find Work at 50+? Denise Taylor

10.45 Gardening Q&A Time

Denise Taylor runs amazingpeople.co.uk and is 50+ and can offer a wide spectrum of advice

11.45 How to be a Birdwatcher Part 2

from coping with redundancy, changing career,

Ashley Grove, Birmingham-based

launching a business over 50 and how to find

Wildlife Photographer and Lecturer,

work to fit with retirement.

www.ashleysanologs.wordpress.com

a regular speaker in the media on finding work

v 11.30 The Importance of Estate Planning

12.30 - 14.30

Adrian Howlett, McClure Solicitors

12.40 Making the most of your hearing

12.30 Torquay... Have we got news for you! Heather Hunt, TLH Leisure Resort

Clare Kewney, UK Hearing Care

v 13.15 Experience Nature - What we can offer you!

13.15 Every Family Has a Story: What’s Yours?

Ashley Grove, www.experiencenature.co.uk

Mike Sharpe, Writing the Past

14.15 The future of our woods, trees and people. 14.15 Your Pension Options & Retirement Income: How to avoid common (and costly) mistakes

Steve Marsh, Woodlands Trust

14.30 - 16.30

Guy Myles, CEO, Flying Colours

15.00 FREE Prize Quiz Are you a brainiac or perhaps Britain’s next mastermind? Come along and test your knowledge!

15.00 Find Work at 50+? Denise Taylor, Amazing People

15.30 EXHIBITION TIME

v Signed by a BSL Interpreter

The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

Cookery Theatre

10.15 Tai Chi Kai Ming Association for Taijiquan and

v 10.30 Moroccan chicken Tagine and jewelled cous cous

Painting The Rainbow

11.00 Jazz music with Benny Jay 11.45 Zumba GOLD with Richardz Dance

Arts & Crafts Zone

10.00 - 12.30

10.15 EXHIBITION TIME

Performance Stage & Dancefloor

Start time

SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY Features

Pen & Ink drawing (Winter theme) Colour pastels (Spring theme) Colour pastels (Summer theme) Still life drawing (Autumn theme)

12.30 BFCS In Harmony

12.30 - 14.30

12.15 Salmon and pea fish cakes, lemon and red onion greens, hollandaise sauce with Celebrity Chef Richard Fox

13.15 KEEP FIT with Lady Xsize 13.45 Moroccan chicken Tagine and jewelled cous cous

v 14.30 BBC Radio 2 Presenter and

HEALTHY HEARING Ambassador, JOHNNIE WALKER, MBE

14.30 - 16.30

15.15 Salmon and pea fish cakes, lemon and red onion greens, hollandaise sauce

14.00 BFCS In Harmony

15.30 KEEP FIT with Lady Xsize The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

Featured exhibitors

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BT Come and chat to us about using the phone, internet and TV to carry on doing everything that’s important to you – whether it’s staying in touch with friends and family or watching the latest blockbusters. Get advice on how you can stop those unwanted calls we all get and staying safe when you’re on the internet. If you have a Pay As You Go mobile our Family Sim option may just be the thing for you. And for people on specific low income Government benefits, talk to us about BT Basic. A simple, low-cost phone service that is easy to understand and helps you keep in touch. Visit www.bt.com/includingyou to find out more. Tourism Swansea Bay Tourism Swansea Bay represents tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses across Swansea Bay including Swansea, Mumbles, Gower, Neath, Afan Forest Park, Swansea Valley & The Vale of Neath. Come and visit Swansea Bay in South West Wales - a perfect holiday destination for long or short breaks… We have award-winning beaches, spectacular scenery - including many of Britain’s favourite views on the popular Gower Peninsula, which is Britain’s first designated AONB - with wonderful waterfalls in Neath and Wales’ Coastal Path. Thing to do – we have a wide variety of activities and attractions... walking, cycling, a variety of watersports… history & culture… the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, castles and gardens, food tours and more. Places to stay - you can stay in a luxury hotel, caravan and camping or even glamping… For more information visit www.tourismswanseabay.co.uk / www.visitswanseabay.com

www.SOplusShow.com

Competition

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TLH Leisure Resort Visit Stand V10 for our show offers and enter our free prize draw for your chance to win 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at TLH Leisure Resort, Torquay. The prize includes use of the fantastic range of leisure facilities and nightly entertainment.

The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

COME AND VISIT

HealthyHearing At Our Stand L1/L4, Hall 8

Johnnie Walker, MBE BBC Radio 2 DJ and na�onal broadcaster Healthy Hearing Ambassador

“I'm very proud to be an Ambassador for Healthy Hearing and I'm committed to spreading the word to those with hearing problems and letting them know that help is at hand that can make an amazing difference to their lives.” Johnnie Walker MBE

If you are living with a hearing loss and don't know what to do about it, then come and listen to Johnnie Walker's inspiring story and how he overcame his hearing loss. Johnnie Walker, Healthy Hearing’s Ambassador, will be appearing on the Main Stage in Hall 8 at 2.30pm on Saturday 18th February 2017.

Meet the team!

Come and visit our Stand L1 /L4 in Hall 8, it’s your opportunity to: • Discover how the latest technology could help you. • Learn how our unique and FREE Lifestyle Hearing Assessment identifies precisely how you can be helped and what technology is correct for you.

Why You Deserve

HealthyHearing Healthy Hearing are the UK’s premier fully independent and family owned hearing care provider. We give you a lifelong commitment that oﬀers the best tailored hearing solu�ons, through the latest digital technology, supported by the excep�onal one�to�one service that we’re renowned for. For more information, please call

0800 298 7261 Stamford Hearing Centre, No.1, The Old Police House, Cliff Road, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1AB Tel : 01780 759133

www.healthyhearing.co.uk email : info@healthyhearing.co.uk

Fitness is fun with LadyXsize! When I was young, when someone said they were 50 this was seen as old age. Now, you only need to take a look at the active older adult population to realize that a revolution is truly upon us. Nowadays, 50 is the new 30! People are no longer just giving-in to age and accepting that weight gain and inflexibility are inevitable as we age. We can greatly improve our prognosis with regular exercise - and it doesn’t have be boring. So here are my top ways of making fitness fun... 1- Join a local community fitness class rather than a gym - As a fitness and health expert, I work with clients of all ages and in particular the over 50s. When I started teaching local classes to this group, despite the fact that all my clients lived in close proximity, they had never met. In fact two ladies practically lived opposite each other. Community fitness classes tend to be more social, so get fit and make local friends! 2 – Try a workout that makes you feel like you are on holiday, like Zumba, or Zumba Gold. The latter is more suited to the active older population. If the music doesn’t get you going, then nothing will. The beauty of this workout is that the steps are simple and fun. They help to improve dexterity and range of motion and you won’t even notice you’re exercising. There are Zumba chair-based workouts as well. 3 - If you love ballroom dancing, but are missing a partner, no need to hang up your dancing shoes just yet; try FitSteps. Created by Strictly come Dancing stars Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite, this workout will have you jiving and quick stepping and will make you feel like a teenager all over again. 4 - Dress to impress – Just because you are over 50, doesn’t mean that when you are working up a sweat you should ignore your appearance. There are some fabulous, fun and funky outfits that will shape you and flatter your every curve. Daisy Fitness has a range of supportive outfits that will make you look and feel like a million dollars! 5 - If getting out is difficult or you just want to top up your exercise regime and maintain your level of fitness, then try my fun workouts on my FLEXIBLE ME package on www.ladyxsize.com. There are different workouts for various levels of mobility. Choose ones that are suitable for you and exercise at your own pace from anywhere in the world. Sign up at the show for just £10 per month (normally £15). You can cancel at any time. Come and see me at Stand E2 or join in at the show. The secret to maintaining interest in exercise is variety and challenge. Exercise is ongoing and lifelong. So, keep it interesting, exciting and above all, fun!!!

Meet Rustie Lee with The ExtraCare Trust Celebrity chef Rustie Lee will welcome visitors to the ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s stand at The 50+ show in Birmingham. Rustie is planning to be on the stand between 11:30am and 1:30pm, located at H1, next to the Performance and Activity Zone. The charity will showcase the new Longbridge Retirement Village which opens this summer. Longbridge Village will provide 260 one and two bed apartments, along with an inspirational lifestyle and award winning care. The village will have a range of communal facilities including a bar and bistro, village hall, IT suit, hair and beauty salon, gym and shop. The ExtraCare Charitable Trust has already opened four retirement villages in Birmingham. These villages are transforming the lives of older people. For many village residents new homes have meant new friends and a new lease of life. Activities include everything from IT classes, to wheelchair aerobics, abseiling, and reminiscence groups. The villages offer health and well-being support and care is provided where it is needed. They have also become social hubs with facilities available to the local community. The charity is also opening Stoke Gifford Retirement Village in 2018 which will provide a new lease of life for over-55s in South Gloucestershire and Bristol. BBC One has announced that hit travel documentary series The Real Marigold Hotel will move to the channel when it returns to screens in early 2017. The new cast of famous senior citizens embarking on a journey of a lifetime includes Rustie Lee. The series documents the authentic experience of eight characters in their golden years as they head to India on an experimental adventure to see if they would consider retiring to the other side of the world. Local older people and their families wishing to view the apartments at Longbridge Village can phone 0300 303 2333 for more details or go to www.longbridgevillage. co.uk For more information about The ExtraCare Charitable Trust go to www.extracare.org.uk The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

How to be a birdwatcher By Ashley Grove Many people enjoy watching the birds in their garden and it’s a great place to start if you want to tell the different species apart and perhaps develop this interest into a very rewarding and fulfilling hobby. Birdwatching will increase your knowledge of nature as a whole, it’s a great stress-buster and when you start to travel to see new species of birds either in the UK or further afield, you will undoubtedly go to some wonderful places that you may never have even thought to visit before. Mandarin duck Blackbird Ashley Grove is a midlands based professional wildlife photographer, tour leader and nationally known speaker and we are lucky enough to have him at The 50+ Show. He’ll be giving you some tips on how to get started as a birder and some initial pointers to tell those garden birds apart. On Friday Ashley will be advising on how best to attract birds to the garden, what food is likely to tempt which species, what equipment you might need to get started and also how to tell some familiar garden species apart. Part 2 of the talk on Saturday will take you past the garden gate, to discover some more of Britain’s wonderful bird life, from the Scottish Highlands, to the Isles of Scilly. Running his own business called ‘Experience Nature’, he offers a range of UK and foreign experiences for Birdwatchers and Photographers alike. These include Dawn Chorus Walks, Photography Workshops, Weekend Birdwatching Breaks and Tours to various destinations worldwide. Ashley’s talks will be held in the Travel Seminar Theatre, so look out on the programme to find out more. Being recommended as a speaker by the Royal Horticultural Society and the RSPB, his talks are bound to be both entertaining and packed with some quality images from his wildlife portfolio. Why not take a sneak preview at his website, www.ashleygrovewildimages.co.uk Each talk is 30 minutes long and with a tight schedule, built for your entertainment, there won’t be time for asking questions afterwards, so please visit Ashley and his wife Wendy on stand O2, near the Cookery Theatre to find out more. Ashley also took our front cover photo, of two puffins! The 50+ Show Magazine

Starling

February 2017

TRUE STORY WINNER

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The Reunion True story by Jim Rumsey,

winner of this year’s writing competition on the subject of ‘fathers.’

had not seen him for a while – was it fifteen months or so? Probably because of that, I was not prepared for the shuffling gait as he entered the bar. I knew he had suffered a stroke, I had visited him in hospital on his road to recovery. The last time I had held a conversation with him he had begun to speak more clearly, if slowly, than in the aftermath of the stroke when he had barely been able to utter a sound.

could not tell me then when I would be able to join another ship. I was told to report to them once a week. I found some digs in the Rocks area by the port. That way, also, I would be able to see if any ships arrived.” I noticed that his glass was empty and had it refilled. “The weeks soon became months,” he continued. “In the end I gave the consul my address and told them to get in touch with me! In the meantime, I had made good friends with a local hotel owner and eventually he gave me a job serving drinks and beer. My waiter’s experience proved very valuable.”

Was this the father of whom I had such limited memories? Apart from his career as a merchant seaman which meant he was away far more than at home, he and my mother had separated – and then finally divorced – when I was still at Junior School.

“But, you were – what – twenty two years old,” I queried. “Were there any ‘distractions’ in that time?”

Although I did not know it for many years later, his mother – my grandmother – had applied successfully to social services to act as my guardian. This meant that I was always within ‘touching distance’ of my father although he was rarely there. Ultimately he had remarried and raised another family that contained four children. I never felt marginalised since that marriage had happened away from my grandmother’s home and I just got on with my life.

“Here we were, two men of the world. His life had been full of incident.”

It was the ‘and other things’ that captured my attention. He was a year alone with no responsibilities. I tried to think of myself in the same situation. But more pointedly I was about to visit the city where he had been all alone some forty years before. How could I phrase it? Eventually, I asked directly, “Am I in for any surprises when I get there?”

Now here I was meeting him in a local pub after getting in touch with him to see how he was. “My wife and I are off to Australia for a holiday,” I began, “you must have been there in your sailing days.”

I know that he knew what I meant. Here we were, two men of the world. His life had been full of incident. I knew that he had spent time in prison in Argentina in the 1950s when he had been caught smuggling cigarettes to British prisoners held by the Peron regime. There were other adventures and stories I had heard over the years. Now, looking at his rather frail man who had shuffled into the bar, I thought how virile and active he must have been in his twenties.

“Too true,” he replied with just the slightest hint of slurred speech. “I know Sydney particularly well, for I spent over a year there.” My interest grew because we were intending to stay in Sydney for a few days. “When was that?” I enquired. “We went to pick up some Australian soldiers during the war. I managed to get appendicitis and was rushed to the hospital. The ship sailed while I was recovering. I went to the local consulate and explained the position. They were sympathetic but explained that because of the war conditions and the necessity for secrecy they The 50+ Show Magazine

“Well. It is true that as soon as I got my strength back and what with so many Aussie young men going to the war, I found myself in demand for dances and other things.”

“Any surprises?” he repeated. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, as he sheepishly raised his glass to his lips. For a brief moment, the father I had known in his prime re-surfaced, as I caught the twinkle in his eye. v 14

February 2017

TRUE STORY RUNNER-UP

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Carrots for Christmas

True story by Ann Wilson, runner-up winner of this year’s writing competition

he carrot in my hand would never win a carrot beauty contest. It will never join the ranks of shiny, attractive vegetables in the local supermarket, or appear in a TV advert, or star in a cookery show, but as I gaze at its knobbly face and green hair, it’s the most beautiful carrot in the world to me.

“If all he had left in the world was a fiver and you needed it, he would give it to you without hesitation.” were sent to soldiers and patients smoked in hospitals. His health had never been good, but amazingly his positive outlook beat the cancer.

I am performing my usual Christmas Eve task of preparing vegetables for the traditional feast. A familiar carol plays on the radio and I am transported back to my childhood, sitting at my dad’s feet as he sang us a song about a little boy that Santa Clause forgot. On reflection, the song probably meant a great deal to my dad. His own childhood as the eldest of eight was far from happy, but my brother John and I just loved hearing dad sing and were thankful that we were not that little boy.

When given the all-clear he was determined to not waste his chance. Having had a close call, he paid for and arranged his funeral so that when the time came no one else would have to shoulder the burden. He ensured the house was decorated and in good order for my mum. He gave, as he had always done, to all of his grandchildren and to John and myself, everything he could.

Dad had a good voice. His Al Jolson impression was legendary and he was the star turn of the Review shows performed by the nursing staff at the psychiatric hospital where he worked. He loved his nursing role and was heartbroken when the ‘Care in the Community’ policy forced the hospital to close. His passion for his job was typical of many of the things he did. I remember watching fiercely competitive table tennis games, a dining room filled with water colours, handmade cards and easels during his artist phase, observing him patiently making fishing flies and pondering the merits of different rods, coming home to cook his catch. Giving his all to each new hobby.

He gave up smoking and researched as much as possible without the aid of Google, although he did have a go at joining the digital age. True to form he bought a computer and printer and taught himself how to use them. He decided that the way forward was definitely home-grown organic vegetables. The back garden was set to work. Every patch available was given new soil, fertilised and tilled within an inch of its life. Carrots, potatoes, onions and sprouts were lovingly planted. Glass domed nurseries cherished young seedlings. No weed dared to raise its head above the loamy brown carpet, or tangle its limbs with the roots of the precious legumes. Strange homemade foul-looking concoctions, many smelling of fish, were sprinkled as offerings of nourishment. Dad was excited and proud and shared his greatest wish of the whole family sitting down to Christmas dinner, eating his very own home grown organic vegetables.

He started running when he was well into his fifties and considered himself lucky to complete the London marathon twice. He was a very generous man. If all he had left in the world was a fiver and you needed it he would give it to you without hesitation. He started a football team for the local lads, buying kit and equipment with his own pension, turning blue with cold as he cheered on the side lines.

My thoughts return once again to the carrot before me, and its misshaped companions waiting on my work top. We will be eating dad’s hard won vegetables this Christmas day, but the whole family will not be enjoying the feast. Stomach cancer defeated dad in a devastating six weeks. He did not see the full fruits of his labour, and will not taste their sweetness.

I think back to the chilling phone call when he told me he had been diagnosed with Leukaemia, the smile in his voice as he tried to make light of it. Dad was the life and soul of the cancer ward, laughing and joking with the nurses despite the hell and suffering caused by strong chemotherapy. He had been a heavy smoker since the age of 14, a byproduct of a different era when cigarettes The 50+ Show Magazine

His legacy of loving and giving will be with us at the v table however, as I dry my tears and start to chop. 15

February 2017

TRUE STORY RUNNER-UP

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My Dad was a hero True story by Cecil Lowry

family would not have been able to buy in post war Britain because of the rationing still in place. When he tipped them all out of his kit bag onto the kitchen table, their mouths opened wide with surprise: they had not seen such luxuries since before the war. Of course his family and friends would quiz him about his experiences in the Far East and what it was like to be free again. The only words he could find to reply to such questions was to thank God for looking after him and to say, “Think to yourself: water is there for you at the turn of a tap; bread, butter, beans, milk, eggs, a cup of tea, an aspirin. Deprive yourself of them for even two or three weeks. Add in some bashings and a few deadly diseases. Take away your freedom to walk, talk and do what you like, when and where you like. Maybe you might just get a glimmer of what freedom means to me.” They would just nod their head in amazement. After his traumatic experiences in the Far East, life in the beautiful little county town of Downpatrick was idyllic for my dad. My grandmother cooked him the most wonderful meals and his young sister Patricia worshipped her elder brother. With his back army pay he was able to help the family with the household bills and was able to afford the luxuries of post war life, especially the local hostelries of Downpatrick. Getting a job was not important as he enjoyed his much sought-after freedom. Unfortunately, he had forgotten what life was like out of uniform and it was obvious to his family that the horrific experiences were still playing on his mind. He would spend most days in the pubs and would often stagger home in a drunken state shooting Japanese soldiers. Whilst post-war Downpatrick was not exactly the West End, there was a lively dancing scene, particularly in the church halls and sports clubs. Of course with his dark good looks and plenty of available cash, he was popular with the girls. There was one attractive brunette however who had caught his eye on several occasions and eventually he plucked up the courage to ask her out. One of five sisters, she curbed his drinking, persuaded him to get a job and was eventually to become my mum. Army back pay of course did not last forever and as he had been trained as a driver, he obtained a job driving a fuel tanker supplying the expanding petrol stations in Ulster. Of course with his new job and the influence of my mum, his drinking was considerably reduced and with his traumatic memories fading, he settled down into a much more stable lifestyle. On boxing day 1946, he married my mum and on 12 March 1948 I entered the world. I was the apple of his eye for the next 42 years until he died of cancer in 1990. “Why me, after all I have gone though” were his last words. The fall of Singapore on 14 February 1942 was said by many to be Britain’s greatest military defeat. 137,00 Allied soldiers including my dad were taken prisoner on that fateful day. They have often been dubbed cowards for surrendering, but they had little choice as history will tell you. v My dad was not a coward, but a hero and I’m proud of him.

On the 16th August 1945 my dad was languishing in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp near Kanchanaburi, Thailand. For the previous three and a half years he had suffered at the hands of a brutal and ruthless foe. More than 90,000 men had died building the infamous Thai/ Burma railway and he himself had been close to death on several occasions. On that day the Japanese camp commander strode into my dad’s hut and said in broken English: “All waru pinish, u men to Englando and make babies.” He was closely followed by a Japanese interpreter who calmly informed the men, “Two huge bombs have been dropped by the Americans, killing many Japanese people. The Imperial Japanese Army has surrendered. It is very bad,” he said, “Japan is appealing to the United Nations.” After four years of hell, it dawned on my father that perhaps he might just see his family again back in Ireland. Yet he was fearful of such a thought as it had become so ingrained in his mind over the past three and a half years that a violent and painful death was inevitable. His hopes of survival had been dashed so many times that he simply refused to believe these men, for whom he held such hate. A senior British Officer came into the hut and confirmed that the Japanese had indeed surrendered. Many of the men knelt down to pray, others were shouting and some were crying, some didn’t move at all and those who were too weak to move just lay there staring up at the ceiling. They were all going home. From Chungkai camp, my dad was transported by train to Bangkok and from there flown to Rangoon before finally boarding the SS Ormonde, arriving into Southampton on 24th November 1945. It had been seven long years since he left England with the East Surrey regiment, as a fresh-faced 21 year old. He was now 28 and felt as though he had left his youth behind in those stinking prison camps in the Far East and that he was now an old man. It was a truly emotional moment when he stepped off the Liverpool/Belfast ferry onto Irish soil again. He dropped to his knees and kissed the damp concrete, breathing in the cool Ulster air. He was really home. An hour later he was alighting from the train in Downpatrick station and walking the 300 yards up Market Street to the family home in Saul Street, carrying all his worldly possessions in his kit bag. My grandparents, aunt and uncles, were unaware that their son and brother was arriving that day, even though they had been informed by telegram that he had been released. Details of exact travel arrangements were not possible in a Britain that was still recovering from the after-effects of the war. Tears flowed freely in the Lowry house that day when my father was reunited with his family - a very emotional time. Four of the Lowry boys had served King and country in WW2 and all had returned home unscathed, much to the delight of my grandmother and grandfather. On the journey home my dad had accumulated all sorts of luxuries; sweets, chocolates, cigarettes and many other small items which the The 50+ Show Magazine

February 2017

TRUE STORY RUNNER-UP

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So, thanks Dad True story by David Shuttleworth

‘

You’re turning into your Dad’ is a phrase many of us dread as it’s usually said in a negative way.

My father didn’t share much of my creative, sensitive nature and the only comment of encouragement that I remember from him was- ‘is that the best you can do at your age?’ But I now also think about the way he introduced me to the outdoors - camping and mountain climbing and making a bike seat so he could take me on his epic cycling days out through hidden moorland villages and quiet country lanes, ending up with huge shared pots of tea in cyclists’ cafes. This shaped me as much as the constant bickering did and led to my obsession with travelling and adventurous outdoor pursuits. I’ve been round the world twice and at 58, I still don’t own a car but brave the elements and explore those country lanes on my trusty bicycle. The highlight of my foreign trips is often renting a rickety brakeless bike for the day and meandering through banana plantations, mangrove-lined riverbank paths or dusty villages being followed by hoards of inexplicably excited little coloured faces. I attempt to pass this on to my daughter and we rented bicycles in Egypt; getting up at dawn to cross the river and explore the Valley of Queens before the day got too hot and the tourist coaches flooded in. Next week I’m off to Wales with my mates, the week after going walking up the snowy Alps and in a couple of months I’ll be climbing a lava lake volcano in Congo

I get annoyed when I recognise some typical ‘Dad’ traits such as increasing ‘pedanticness’ and general irritability and intolerance but then have to laugh at the sad inevitability of it all and hope that as a species we will improve as each generation become a little less infected with ‘Dadness’ Like most teenagers I rebelled against just about everything; especially everything my parents did, wore, said and suggested and especially, especially my Dad. We were poles apart yet uncomfortably similar. I turned away from his rather traditional manly aggressive nature by metamorphosing into a vegetarian hippy pacifist wearing ridiculous home-made patchwork threadbare rags which I called clothes. He didn’t understand me and I didn’t understand him. Furthermore I was puzzled by his apparent lack of affection, encouragement and interest in anything I did unless it related to something he was interested in, but I did learn from these traits, which I perceived to be his shortcomings. When my daughter was born I vowed to be a different kind of Dad - to not repeat these shortcomings and have a better, healthier and more fulfilling relationship with her. I would mercilessly squash any sign of my father that appeared in me and curse those inevitable ‘Dadness’ traits that grew as the years went by. But I had a bit of a revelation recently. A chance remark that literally changed the way I thought about, and responded to my Dad. Quite simple it was this:

“He didn’t understand me, and I didn’t understand him...”

So, thanks Dad. In a way he was even responsible for my dress sense that used to annoy them both. I remember when I was young and wanting to go on my bike in winter but could only find an odd pair of gloves. ‘He can’t wear those- people will laugh’ said my mother. ‘It doesn’t matter what people think - if it keeps his hands warmhe’s wearing them’ was my Dad’s reasonable response. And I took that to the nth degree and pushed it- making it one of my raisons d’etre - to deliberately wear things that would annoy or at least perplex as many people as possible.

‘You might think it’s okay to blame your parents for your inherited faults but make sure that you give them credit for the good things about you too.’ Wow - so simple and so obvious! So why did it take me 50 years to realize it?

It took me quite a while to realise I wasn’t the perfect son. In hindsight I was a bit of an arse. Actually, a lot of an arse. I’m not going to say I got everything wrong (I still reckon my threads were way cooler than anything they tried to make me wear) but my attitude sucked. I am trying to make amends and it’s not just because my father is no longer a fit and healthy man, or because he’s inevitably mellowing out with age - I think maybe I’ve just finally grown up.

Strictly speaking it’s not even fair to blame them as they could just blame theirs and so on back to Adam or the missing link whichever you believe in. But I realised I had been doing that all my life - being critical of their weaknesses and failures and frankly unattractive attributes that affected my personality and my development without ever praising them or being thankful for the ones that shaped me into who I am in a positive way.

The 50+ Show Magazine

Not too much though - I’ll be wearing my lime green silk suit for v their 60th wedding anniversary bash in July...! 17

February 2017

THE 50+ SHOW PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Winners & Runners-up

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February 2017

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