Bruce Balden, one of the original stars of ITV’s Seven Up! documentary series, says he is enjoying retirement more than ever as he reflects on his life in 70 Up.
Now 70 and living in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Mr Balden spends his days walking his dogs on the beach, singing in a choir and volunteering with the RNLI.
“I start each day walking the dogs on the beach and then I do choir in the evening,” he says. “On a Wednesday, I tend to go to the lifeboat house to do some training.”
He adds: “I feel lucky. I’m enjoying life probably more than I have ever done. I think what you want to do is live a good life and whatever helps you do that.”
Mr Balden was seven when he first appeared in the programme in 1964. At the time, he said his greatest wish was to see his father, an RAF serviceman stationed in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
“My heart’s desire is to see my daddy, who’s 6,000 miles away,” he said in the original interview.
His parents later separated and Mr Balden returned to Britain with his mother. He attended boarding school in Hampshire and spent holidays with his aunt while his mother worked.
He has since spoken of an estrangement from his father, but said his father later told him he was proud after seeing him in 28 Up.
Mr Balden also discovered a photograph sent to him when he was about seven or eight, accompanied by a poem. He has had the photograph framed with a picture of his father.
The poem included the words: “You bring undreamt-of joy to a distant heart now aching.”
Although he had once said he wanted to become a missionary in Africa, Mr Balden studied maths at Oxford University. He went on to teach at a comprehensive school in London’s East End, in Bangladesh and later at St Albans School in Hertfordshire.
He married history teacher Penny in 1997 and they have two sons. In retirement, he volunteers at the RNLI’s Spittal Beach lifeboat station and sings with a choir, including in a performance of Handel’s Messiah.
The Up series began by interviewing 14 seven-year-olds from different socio-economic backgrounds and has followed them every seven years.
Reflecting on his younger self, Mr Balden says: “I do see myself in that seven year old. I don’t know whether some aspects of my character are immutable or I’ve changed. But I see a rather lost soul. I want to reassure him that it will be a ride, but life is going to be all right.”
He says he takes pride in being part of what became “a social document about Britain”, adding that he has no regrets about his choices.
70 Up is due to air on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm.
