Man, 91, gets 'dream job' as tourist guide at chapel in Cambridge

Updated
Man, 91, gets 'dream job' as tourist guide at chapel in Cambridge
Man, 91, gets 'dream job' as tourist guide at chapel in Cambridge

A 91-year-old man has landed his dream job - as a visitor guide at the Kings College Chapel in Cambridge.

David Pollock, who started the job four weeks ago, dons college robes every Monday morning for three hours and answers visitor questions about the stunning medieval building, which was completed 466 years ago.

David told Cambridge News: "I saw the ad in the paper in May, applied for it, and then started boning up on the chapel's history.

"I told them my age, and they didn't seem concerned. Their only worry was that I'd be able to stay on my feet for three hours."

A spokesman for the college told the BBC: "We are very proud to have him. He's an excellent volunteer."

The college's personnel manager Joanne Preston, said it had abolished retirement age rules a few years ago. She told the BBC: "We'd take someone on if they were 101, and could do the job. I'm working on that."

David lived in London for 45 years before moving to St Ives to work for a printing firm.

As well as his volunteer tourist job, he also entertains care home residents by singing in a choir as well as volunteering for a hospital charity.

He said: "I would like to go out with a bang - not a whimper."

King's College Chapel is the chapel to King's College of the University of Cambridge, and it is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture.

The chapel itself was built in phases by a succession of Kings of England from 1446 to 1515, a period which spanned the Wars of the Roses. However, the chapel's large stained glass windows were not completed until 1531.

Related articles

World's oldest backpacker books two-month Europe trip - at 95

Skydiving terror as 80-year-old almost falls out of safety harness

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-161617%

Advertisement