At 97, he is one of Britain's oldest drivers, oldest crown green bowlers and oldest snooker players.

He is also a brilliant draughtsman and provided drawings for a classic reference book on birds.

But this Oakwood grandfather has no intention of letting up and is a phenomenon to his GP.

"He sits back and says to me: 'Tell me, Jack, what's your secret?'" he said. "So I have him a list of 10 tips – like always trying to be cheerful."

Though his mind is still as sharp as a knife, he worries he might get Alzheimer's.

"I have told my doctor to give me a pill if I go ga-ga," he joked.
Jack, of Montagu Avenue, plays snooker regularly at the Parochial Hall on Fitzroy Drive, Oakwood; and he plays competitively for North Leeds Bowling Club on Old Park Road.

Four years ago he organised what he believes was the first bowls tournament in the world for the over-90s.

"I won it one year and I was one point off winning it this year," he said. "I was handicapped because I was on my own green.

"We have now got sponsorship from Age Concern to keep it going as long as we want."

Jack's skill as a watch and clock repairer has won him a reputation in, of all places, the Yorkshire Dales and he drives his 22-year-old Fiesta out on jobs.

"Farmers often have timepieces they don't want to part with," he explained, "but don't know how to repair.

"Because I once repaired a grandfather clock at Sessay, near Thirsk, people in the Dales have heard about me and call me up."

Jack learned his skills when he was conscripted during the Second World War.

Although he says he was a duffer at Burley Road Council School, he passed an Army intelligence test to do instrument repairs.

"They were looking for people who were above average," he said, "and I was put on training courses for over a year. On the last course, only two men were to be chosen and all the other men had higher ranks and better education than me.

"The officer in charge told me: 'I don't know why you are on this course but you will never pass'.

"That was like a red rag to a bull to me," Jack recalled, "and so I swotted every night for three months while the others were out enjoying themselves.

"After the final exam, the brigadier said he was pleased to announce I was the second pass and he apologised for what he had said about me."
Jack was promoted to Staff Sergeant and was soon sent out to the Middle East where he repaired tanks and equipment like gunsights.

"We were just a mile behind the front line during the Battle of El Alamein," he said, "and I had some near misses."

Jack was hoping to get a gold watch when he left Gilchrist Brothers printers on Clay Pit Lane but he was just three months short of 50 years' service.

"They told me if I stayed on another three months I would get one," he said. "I thought that was a bit mean. So I left and never did get the watch."