Arthur Riley doesn’t regard himself as remarkable – just fit for his age.

That’s probably the understatement of the century for someone who turns 82 next month and who enjoys nothing more than cycling four miles for a few games of tennis, in Austwick, then cycling home again and tending his ultra-neat vegetable plot and cottage-style garden.

Oh, and then there is the small matter of kayaking!

When the times suits them, Arthur and his partner Val Whitehead, of School Lane, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, load up the caravan, put the crafts on the car roof rack and set off for a bit of river or lake kayaking – even on Loch Ness, where you never know what is lurking beneath the surface.

“I have always tried to keep fairly fit and don’t regard myself as remarkable though people often say it,” said Arthur, a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce.

Just a couple of weeks ago Arthur went on a cycling and kayaking holiday to Kings Lynn, in Norfolk, with three other North Craven men: John Wilyman, from Stainforth, who at just a year younger than Arthur is another age-defying local, and the much younger Ian Plimmer and Neil Thompson, from Austwick.

“I just enjoy being active. It’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve cycled all my life and took up kayaking about ten years ago,” he said.

“Val and I are members of the Kayaking and Canoeing Club which allows us to paddle on a lot of rivers, lakes and canals. We always take the bikes and kayaks with us when we go away.”

Val, a peripatetic music teacher in Craven and other parts of Yorkshire, and Arthur have also taken their sport to the United States and kayaked the Kennebec River in Maine a few years ago.

The couple play tennis at Austwick, even in the snow, but when it’s particularly bad they’ll play table tennis instead.

And then twice a week they give their lungs a musical workout. Arthur plays trombone for Earby and Settle and Giggleswick brass bands. He also plays in Colne and Settle orchestras where he is joined by Val, who plays the trumpet.