He is certainly cool; you could call his old-style sailor hat trendy, just the young is missing from the usual description of an inline-skater. Leslie is 82 and he’s decided it’s time to get rolling.

It was a decision made for health reasons, something “fresh” to keep him fit: “I didn’t want to stay indoor and slowly fade away,” he say and adds: “It’s company and it’s physically and mentally doing me good.” What started as a measure against pain caused by a recent knee operation soon turned him into the attraction of Serpentine Road. Notably the ladies seem to be loving it and Leslie receives constant encouragement and photo requests from passer-bys when he is tackling the difficulty of moving on eight wheels.

Asha Kirkby of Skatefresh is the one holding Leslie’s hand while he’s getting the hang of bending those knees, v-stepping and rolling and stopping in ready position. ”I was initially worried about his physical condition, but he told me walks a lot and cycles. But it was his unshakable enthusiasm that told me he could skate,” she says.

Leslie is learning fast, maybe because this is only a continuation of a life of adventures. He used to skydive. When? 2 years ago. And before that he did some flying himself and scuba diving and white water cannoning and play the violin and mandolin and and and, this is all after his retirement and the fitting of his pacemaker at 57. “We’re only here once,” he says and continuous to tell just how to make the most of it all.

He’s always kept himself busy: concerts at the Royal Albert Hall when he was a boy, bore shooting from the age of 20 and all this fitted in with his work as a plumber, a job that eventually took him abroad when he specified in ship plumbing.

“I guess you are wondering when I had time to work, this was no problem as I enjoyed working, my biggest problem was I never and still do not know how to go slowly, and it is the same with the skating I need to be good. Now I just need to remember I am not 30 years old anymore and enjoy the pleasure I am having with a wonderful caring instructor like Asha I think she is fantastic and hope that I never let her down,” he knows his limits he says: “No good giving myself a heart attack.” His doctor “nearly fell of his chair laughing” when he heard what his patient was getting up to again, but gave his blessing and the support comes from the family as well. For his first lesson his daughter and grandchild came to drop him off curious what he was getting himself into, now he makes the train journey from Essex on his own.

Les is struggling to get his skates on for his next lesson but politely refuses a helping hand: “I like the satisfaction when I eventually manage to get it done on my own”. There are big and small adventures at every stage of life, we just need to learn to engage and enjoy them and Leslie is definitely enjoying his new found challenge. “It’s been remarkable I can’t give up. Other’s have stopped too and said “God there is hope for us” and I hope I can bring more people to do this.”

Off he goes v-step after v-step with Asha cautiously skating next to him ready to offer support if he becomes a bit wobbly. One cool and trendy inline-skater!