A BOURNEMOUTH tennis club celebrated the birthday of their longest playing member at the weekend, who has just turned 90 years old.

Norman Shelley, born January 9 1928, joined Victoria Avenue Tennis Club in 1959 and has been playing there ever since.

On Saturday, the club held a party for Norman and many of the members got together to celebrate his long history at the club.

He still gets out on the courts once or twice a week, and often cycles to Victoria Avenue on his bike that he’s had since 1952.

“It helps me keep fit. There’s nothing like exercise to keep you fit,” said Norman.

“If I wasn’t playing tennis and I had given up when I was about 70, as a lot of people do, I might be dead by now.

“Exercise is the best way of keeping fit, better than all the pills and tablets and anything like that. Tennis makes you run. It’s not like going to the gym when you’ve got to force yourself to go through certain exercises.

“I am a cyclist and that also helps. I’m well known for my cycling. My bike is 66 years old and it still gets me about.”

Norman joined Victoria Avenue when he was 31 years old and takes great pride in his tennis club.

He was a stalwart committee member for a number of years, serving many of those as secretary, and vows to carry on playing until he can’t move freely around the court.

He said: “The club’s changed a lot since I first joined. We had no electricity, just the bare essentials.

"We’ve got a fascinating history and our centenary at Victoria Avenue is in 2021, so I’m hoping we can celebrate that year in some way or another.

“I’m going to carry on playing until I can no longer run. I’ve enjoyed this club and I would like to think I’ve been a big part of where we’ve got to.”