Final whistle for 79-year-old army physical trainer
BBCA 79-year-old physical trainer has given his last fitness class to military personnel at a Hampshire army HQ.
Wiltshire-based Barry Atkins ran spinning, extreme circuits, and personal fitness assessments in the Andover base for 25 years.
He first started working as a physical trainer in the Royal Corps of Signals in 1964, and said his pleasure still came from teaching people and seeing them improve.
"I don't really want to leave it, but I've got to retire at some time," he said.
Mr Atkins said, with the exception of a short break as a lorry driver in Germany, he had been a trainer during seven decades.
Colonel John Dagless told the BBC: "One of the things we often say so many times is, 'I hope I'm half as active and as fit as Barry is at 79'."
One attendee said she "loves" his fitness sessions.
"His last one, well, emotional that's all we can say. I am emotional," she added.
Another man who came down for the final session said it "was an honour" to be there.
"Ten years ago he trained me to climb a mountain," he said. "I'm still coming to his sessions and thrilled to be here today."
Mr Atkins spins twice a week, does his own circuits and heads out into the hills on his mountain bike, all things he will continue in retirement.
"My wife is very physically active as well and she's 80. We'll go to the gym together and if i don't want to do Zumba I'll go and do some weights."
Speaking about his motivation over the years, he said he owed it to his mother.
"She was sent home from the hospital for me to die because I had gastroenteritis," he said.
He said as the technology of the day was not what it is now, his mother took him home and fed him "watered-down cows milk", which he said kept him alive.
"So as sad as it might sound, I owe it to her to keep myself physically fit because she's given me that opportunity," he said.
"She would be proud and she would say 'I did the right thing'."
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