WITH more strings to his bow than Nigel Kennedy, Gordon Ward, chair of governors, freelance photographer, electrical engineer, inveterate traveller, gardener, fundraiser and pillar of the community, is not a man to let the grass grow under his feet, least of all his own.

And despite "retiring" five years ago, Mr Ward, bon viveur extraordinaire, shows no signs of letting up.

Stourport born and bred, he lives round the corner from Wilden All Saints First School which he first attended as a schoolboy and which he still attends, nearly 70 years later, as chair of governors, a position he has held for 10 years.

His commitment to the children is evident and one of his proudest achievements is helping to set up a nursery and playgroup, with the headmaster, at the school.

After leaving Wilden - he also attended Stourport First and was later vice-chair of governors there - he worked as an electrical engineer with Bond Worth, before setting up his own heating consultantcy business with partner G T Ward, now G T Ward and Son.

Not content with that, he developed an interest in photography into a profitable sideline, freelancing for the Times/Shuttle & News, among others, as well as commercial firms.

More recently he moved from "wet" photography into desktop publishing and currently produces calendars, brochures and other materials for businesses.

A co-founder of Wilden Village Cricket Club, he has recently retired as chairman - "to make way for a younger man" - and because of the amount of time he is out of the country.

Mr Ward has visited more than 40 countries including Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and China where, for reasons he is unclear about to this day, he and his wife Marie were given the freedom of the city of Xian. "We were suddenly picked out of a crowd," he says.

The couple were given ceremonial keys and a silk-bound book and were guests of honour at a splendid pageant.

Another favourite place is Egypt which he has visited several times and on which he delivers talks to schools.

A former competition ballroom dancer, he helped out as a teacher at the John and Patti School of Dancing in Stourport where he met Marie whom he married 47 years ago.

If all this were not enough, he is a keen gardener, as is his wife, and winemaker. He also chairs charity fundraising quizzes for the Independent Order of Foresters.

Although he moved briefly out of the area to Areley Kings more than 50 years ago, he is in Stourport to stay.

He says: "My big love of the area is Hartlebury Common (which his garden backs on to). It's why I came back here. It's a wonderful place."