My generation: Swinging 60s are enjoying new life

Well entering your seventh decade no longer means hours spent in front of the television, but can actually mark the start of the best years of your life.

Official figures show the proportion of people suffering from serious illness associated with old age has almost halved in the past 10 years.

Only 7.7 per cent of the 60-64 age group have dementia, cancer or Parkinson's, or have survived a stroke or a heart attack, down from 13.8 per cent in 2002.

Among 65 to 69-year-olds, 11.7 per cent have at least one serious illness, down from 17.3 per cent 13 years ago. It's official: 60 is no longer considered old.

"I don't know why some people seem to think that when you get to 60 you should curl up in a ball and die," says Ann Wilde, 68, of Old School Lane, Worthen, near Shrewsbury.

"I thoroughly enjoy my life. Some of my friends think I'm mad for being on the go all the time, but I love it."

Ann is the chairman of trustees for local charity, Shropshire Seniors, but she used to work as a teaching assistant and she says that working with young children keeps you young.

"But it's also to do with attitude, and the way you dress. I can remember my granny who always dressed in navy. Navy coat, navy hat, navy shoes – and she always looked old. But you don't have to give into it."

Important

Ann says: "I like to go and watch groups play. I went to see The Wurzels and I just had to get myself to the front of the crowd, but some people my age think I'm bonkers!

"The right attitude is important, though. Get out there and enjoy yourself."

It is a sentiment share by Peter Dicken, 63, and John Sproson, 72, who have launched a campaign to be allowed to ride in the the Ludlow Charity Race Day at the town's racecourse.

The Shropshire Star revealed yesterday that the pair have fallen foul of a new rule banning over 60s from riding because of health and safety worries.

Hilary Knight, deputy chief executive of Age UK in Telford and Wrekin, is a prime example of the new generation of fit and energetic sixty-somethings.

"I don't think you can be considered old at 60 any more, I certainly don't feel old," says Mrs Knight, who is 62.

"I go walking, I do gardening, I work full time, I'm not slowing down."

She says a change in the jobs market and advances in medicine had played an important role in keeping people youthful for longer.

"Years ago, men would retire at 65 and would only have a few years before they died. Fifty years ago, men would work very hard in very physical jobs, and by the time they reached their 60s they had worn themselves out.

"Medicines have also moved on, so we do not have so many people dying from heart attacks and things like that. Nowadays, people can expect to live to be in their 80s, 90s or 100, so how can we say they are old at 60?"

She adds that the vast majority of volunteers for Age UK were past retirement age.

"I think life begins at 60," she says. "You're certainly more confident."

Roy Hudson, of Ketley, Telford, is 73, but says life for today's senior citizens is very different from his parents' generation.

"Older people are far more active now. I walk to Oakengates every day, and when I'm not walking I'm cycling," he said.

He believes part of the reason that people stay younger is down to the greater affluence we enjoy today, which means that older people have far more options open to them.

"My mother and father never had the money that people have today," says Mr Hudson, a retired area manager for Goodyear in Wolverhampton.

"Today, everybody's got a car, which means you can go to different places.

"My father had a car, but it was an old banger."

Allen Mantle, aged 66, from Sutton Hill, Telford, is a match-day steward at Molineux.

He says there is much more for older people to do these days.

"I'm taking a computer course and we're starting to do cooking as well."

Ros Altmann, the Government's adviser for older workers, says: "It's fantastic news. Most people in their 60s will not be old in the conventional sense any more."

The findings, in a report by the International Longevity Centre, show the onset of serious illness is occurring later in life for most people. While a diminishing proportion of 55 to 80-year-olds have at least one serious illness, the proportion affected among the over-80s has risen.

Centre director David Sinclair says: "The NHS has got a temporary reprieve — had we seen the same incidence of serious illnesses as we saw 10 years ago, it would be experiencing huge extra challenges." He says the research showed a potentially healthier population aged under 70.

"But it also paints a bleak picture of more people in their 90s suffering from serious illness."

The report, Serious Illness in the Over 50s, uses the latest English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data for 2002-12. It finds that the number of people living with serious illness is 2.5m in England, and 3.1m in the UK. It predicts the UK figure will rise to between 3.4m and 4m by 2025.

A drop in the proportion of 60 to 64 year-olds is significant because it is at this age that the highest proportion of people are first struck by serious illness.

The report says the drop from 2002-12 is mainly a result of a reduction in strokes and heart attacks, helped by a fall in smoking, improved diet and better health management.

Talking about my adventurous generation:

Age should no longer be a barrier to active living, insists our 60-something writer Shirley Tart

Even in our younger time, folk were held up as prize specimens if they survived in reasonable nick to celebrate a 50th birthday.

Get to 60 and still more or less in one piece, wow, what a hero.

Still working? Goodness, pop them in the oddments section of the annual carnival as an exhibit.

Now, of course, all that has changed. Except that is for 50 and 60-year-olds who choose retirement as soon as they can then maybe have another 30 or 40 years to while away.

But just because the calendar tells you one thing, you are allowed to disagree.

If you are heading off way beyond what used to be the age norm, still paint your toenails (girls) and are last out of the pub on a Friday night, consider yourselves as having broken the mould.

Better health, better lifestyles and a bit extra to spend have all helped.

But mostly, attitudes and a refusal by more and more people to acknowledge that age has anything to do with growing older (if you know what I mean) has clinched the deal.

And so the senior generation is on its own age of discovery and adventure, of fun and new friendships and even – glory be – many are still in meaningful careers.

In case you are wondering, yes, I am one of them.

How old? Oh why bother with trivia. I started work on a weekly newspaper in 1957 when I was 16 and have been with the Shropshire Star since it started more than 50 years ago.

Work it out for yourselves. Pass the nail polish please!