DAVID Eastwood is dedicated to Altrincham.

With a colleague he is writing a book about the town going back to Saxon times.

The first time he visited it was in 1961, after meeting his wife Mary, who had lived with her mother in the same house in Timperley since birth.

He said: “I was stationed at Yatesbury on the M4.. A friend asked me if I was going to the RAF Officers’ Mess Christmas party and I said I would be propping up the bar.”

The friend brought Mary along with his wife and they had a wonderful evening.

“After a few dates, she invited me to meet her mother in Timperley," he added.

David fell in love not only with Mary but also with her home town. Even after Mary’s death last year, he still lives in the same house. The 82-year-old is especially keen on preserving the town’s Victorian and Edwardian architecture.

He said: “ I hope it stays like it is and isn’t ruined by modern brutalist architecture.”

David is honorary vice-president of Altrincham Civic Society, and Altrincham Little Theatre, an Alderman with Altrincham Court Leet, and also belongs to the National Trust, Altrincham History Society, and South Trafford Archaeological Group.

He said: “All these organisations contribute to the interest and well-being of our citizens and the civic society can be thanked for retaining the architectural style.”

Recalling how he started the Friends of Altrincham Town Hall, he added: “We made ourselves such a by nuisance the council couldn’t ignore us and invited us to help choose from three final projects. We picked the refurbishment of the Town Hall and the office next door.”

David is also a good actor: “I joined Altrincham Little Theatre in 1976 taking part in 50 plays.”

No-one will forget him as the very Welsh Emrys Evans in the Wind of Heaven or as the Inspector in An Inspector Calls.