FROM childhood to adulthood, into middle-age, and old age (if you’re lucky), defining moments come thick and fast.

The nervous excitement of wearing a shiny new uniform for that first day at school is a hazy memory.

At 17, I could learn to drive. A year later, I was entrusted with the right to vote.

By my mid-thirties, I was making a grown-up will, having somehow become a father-of-four.

Fast forward to the grand old age of 50, and I remember being a little affronted at being told I suddenly qualified for “veteran” tennis matches against other clubs in the local league.

Now, as a........

© The Northern Echo