ONE of Wellington’s oldest residents will celebrate his 102nd birthday at the end of the month.

Local historian, World War II RAF veteran and lifelong member of the Wellington Bowling Club, Richard (Dick) Northam is looking forward to celebrating his 102nd birthday on October 24.

For his age, Dick says he doesn’t “feel so bad” and believes the key to his long life is his faith in the church.

He said: “I believe at the back of it all is the church. I’m not a 100 per cent religious person but I also believe, strongly believe, that every church is Christ.”

Dick Northam was born in 1922 in Martin’s Buildings along Champford Lane or “gas lane”, behind what was then the site of the Wellington Gas and Coke Company.

His older brother was born at Trinity Farm near Hilly Head Road which Dick says was made into a road during his lifetime.

He said: “Wellington has changed a lot. I suppose one party would say its better and the other would say it’s not so good.”

The only time Dick spent living outside of the town was during World War II, when he was stationed in India as a plane engineer as part of the RAF bomber command. He left in 1940 and in 1945 he moved on to work in South Africa where he learnt Afrikaans.

When he was a boy, he had spent time helping his mother with her work making leg wrap puttees at the Fox brothers’ Tondale Mill. Dick and his brother adopted the nickname of the “puttees brothers” as a result.

Having left his school on Corams Lane aged 14, Dick had been destined to act as an apprentice chairmaker to his grandfather who ran a chair manufacturer in Holcombe Rogus, opposite the old Baptist chapel.

His grandfather unfortunately died the same week, and Dick took up a role as an office boy which he said he hated.

Upon returning to Wellington in 1948, the war veteran began work locally before taking on a job with the wholesaler booker, travelling around the county as a representative.

The local historian is also well-known for his role in the Wellington Bowling Club, where he also met his late Bristolian wife.

“I joined in 1959 and was made a life member in 1992.”

“The last time I played bowls was against Wales. I can’t remember if it was a success?”

“My memory is not so good,” he added.

But Dick recalls many of the changes the town has undergone during his lifetime.

He said: “We had eleven butchers. Now there are two, Tim Potters and MJ & AG Coate in Rockwell Green.

“Bakeries, we had five or six and they’ve all gone – we haven’t got a greengrocer now do we?

“North Street, opposite the fire station, used to be the registry office. My mother and father were married in the registry office there.”

But despite the changes, he says there’s no place he’d rather be: “I’d come back to Wellington. This is my home, and this is where I want to end my days.”