At 86, the great grandma is the oldest bowler in Yorkshire and one of just a handful of competitors born in the 1920s.

Many pensioners have a set routine, a well-established way of life. A routine that in all likelihood does not involve hurtling colourful balls at a neatly-arranged triangle of ten 15-inch tall skittles from 60ft away.

In theory you should be able to pick the cliché you want - about being long in the tooth or over the hill. But for one Harrogate great grandma, Freda is proving that her hobby - ten pin bowling - really is child's play.

Competitive

With a steely glare and the competitive instinct of someone half, even a quarter, her age, Freda grips the eight-pound ball with her right hand and strolls forward towards the narrow bowling lane.

With a small backlift and a neat follow-through, she launches the ball towards the pins, watching intently as it curls from right to left, homing in on the head pin.

Seconds later, I hear the unmistakable sound of pins dropping to the floor, knowing she's scored a perfect ten.

Kingpin Freda, who has three children, five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, said while her abilities may have deteriorated with age, she still loves the thrill of competing.

"I still like the challenge, but some days you have a good day and others you don't do as well. I am not as good as I used to be and sometimes that can be a bit frustrating.

"I was one of the eldest members at the bowling alley when I started. But now when I play, nobody takes any notice. They treat me just the same as everyone else," she said.

Friendship

"I have made a lot of good friends through bowling and it is fantastic that I am still in contact with them.

"I have friends from eight to 70 years old - there is no barrier to bowling. I don't feel 86 years old, and I am still very independent which is quite remarkable really."

Freda's story is little short of remarkable. Having not started bowling until she was 50 years old, she got her first taste of the sport at an age when many other bowlers had already stopped.

She said: "I am a sports fanatic, but I started bowling through my daughter. We met some people at a football match at Elland Road when my daughter Jane was 12 years old and they invited her bowling. It turned out she was good enough to bowl in the senior leagues so I had to take her there and home each week.

"One Friday night they were a player short and she said I should give it a go. I told her 'I'm not doing that. Not at my age.' But I gave it a go and I learned through watching them.

"I had never picked up a ball in my life, but on my first two goes I got two strikes," she said.

"But she got married and I kept playing. The Merrion centre where I bowled had a special offer on where you got a special price if you bowled before 6pm and I got so attached to it to the point where I loved the game.

"If I had to give up bowling now after all these years it would be a great shame."

Twice a Grade 1 bowling instructor, Freda has played in tournaments and matches all over the country, including Sheffield, Manchester and Blackpool during her four-decade involvement in the sport.

She said despite her age she would still play in the more competitive evening leagues in Leeds if she did not live so far away.

Freda, who grew up in Wetherby where her father was a horse racing trainer and jockey, gets the Little Red Bus from her home in Harlow Oval to the bus station, the 36 Harrogate-to-Leeds service into the main station and then a taxi to the Merrion Centre.

"I only pay £1 for three games of bowling, but then £10 for my taxi," she joked. "I am allowed to play up to three games a day, but I only play on Friday afternoons now. If I lived in Leeds, I would probably play in more leagues."

Recognition

Editor of industry magazine Go Tenpin Eric Hayton said: "It is very likely Freda is the oldest bowler in Yorkshire, although I am not sure about in England because bowling started in the south.

"The sport was originally billed as age eight to 80, but with people like Freda it could soon become more suitable to say five to 95. If you swing an arm, you can bowl."

To ensure Freda and other members have an equal chance of competing, there is a handicap system in place, as in other sports such as golf.

Bowlers substitute their average score from 195, and the difference is their starting score. So Freda, who averages 145, gets a 50-point head start if she plays someone who averages 212, for example.

"My eyes are not brilliant and my heart is going, but I can cope with that. My hands are fine and I don't have rheumatism. I am so lucky when I see other people my age which swollen hands and feet.

"I try and do well," she said, "and I don't mind losing as long as I've done my best."