We were the first people to live there and I still live there now

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After they pulled down the rooms in Copenhagen Street I was driving along Caledonian Road and for some reason I had to turn into North Road. I had lived in this area all my life and I do not remember ever being in North Road but I drove up past the road and half way up saw that they were building a new estate. Right near the entrance I saw seven maisonettes with seven garages underneath and I thought that will do me and so I went to see the Housing Officer and said I would like one. We moved in the week before Christmas in 1972. We were the first people to live there and I still live there now.

By now I had a job with British Rail at the goods yard. The British Railway Swimming Championships could be held anywhere in the British Isles but it just happened that they were being held at my local pool Hornsey Road and so I decided to enter them. I was 40 years old and so I decided to enter the over 40s one-length race. I had no idea what the opposition would be so I trained very hard every day.

On the day of the race I stood on the blocks and I took a deep breath and went out like a madman. I swam the whole length without breathing and I won it. I was completely shattered and I went up to the balcony to sit with Joan and she said “look at the state of you, you are not doing anymore.” She was sitting right next to where the prizes for the winning swimmers were displayed and she said to me “look at that beautiful canteen of cutlery, I wonder which race that’s for?” I found out that it was for the winner of the men’s one hundred freestyle race. Joan asked me if I could swim in that race, which I did. I did not only win the canteen of cutlery, but I also won a cup. I held that cup for each of the next three years.

Later I became a dustman and topped up my wages as a swimming teacher and PE teacher. I taught all sports and at one point I was working for Islington Council in the morning, Camden Council in afternoon and Hackney Council in the evening. I have not named the schools because I don’t think that they would like to know that their children were being taught sports by a dustman.

So we had plenty of money to go on good holidays and we did. We went on several cruises. We went to America many times and toured Europe. The first cruise we went on was to the Mediterranean and that was wonderful with sunshine all the time. One we went on was to Florence and that was really lovely and we saw the statue of David. How the sculpture carved that out of marble I just cannot believe.

We went on a three-week cruise to the West Indies which was absolutely fabulous. We would go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning on a different Island in a different country. When we finished that cruise I said they could never better that. However, our girls booked a cruise called Mexican Magic for us to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. It really was magic. We saw the giant turtles and rays swimming. We also went to the Bahamas and were swimming inches away from the dolphins. Below is a picture of myself and Joan on one of our cruises. We also went to the Norwegian Fjords and America and Mauritius. The best thing we did was Route 66.

Fred has been part of the North London Cares community since 2012. He has attended film nights, Grand National Watch Parties, Saturday Night Dance Parties (of course with his beloved Joan until 2017) and so much more – deepening his years-long one-to-one friendship with younger neighbour Alex at the same time. A natural leader, Fred has spoken on behalf of North London Cares on BBC London Radio, on BBC1's One Show, on BBC1’s Inside Out series and in several of our own films. Joan also had a Love Your Neighbour friend, Lorna, and was delighted to be part of Lorna’s baby daughter Isla’s life. Fred and Joan even shared their 63rd anniversary at a North London Cares social! Fred wrote his memoirs during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 and is thrilled to publish them via the North London Cares website.