Blade runner pensioner becomes a cult figure at 70

Aug 17 2007 by Deborah James, Liverpool Daily Post

Jeff Dornan a 70 year old roller blader who lives in Ormskirk _180

AN ORMSKIRK pensioner who enjoys roller-blading around the town at midnight has become an internet sensation.

Jeff Dornan’s antics have made him a cult figure among late-night revellers in the town, and now that has spread to internet social networking site Facebook.

The Rollerblade Grandad Ormskirk Appreciation Society has more than 1,000 members. Created by Elizabeth Thompson four months ago, it attracted 109 members within the first 15 hours.

The website shows pictures of Mr Dornan with his “fans’’, as well as video footage of him skating outside Liverpool’s Lime Street Station. But despite all the adulation, Mr Dornan who lives off Ruff Lane, seems unfazed about his growing celebrity status.

He said: “People keep telling me this but I haven’t seen it because I haven’t got a computer.

“I’m just bewildered by the fact that everyone seems to think I’m great. I just go along with it.

“The whole idea is at 70 you’re not supposed to do this. I’m just using all this adulation as an incentive to keep me on the move.

“People ask me all kinds of strange questions like: ‘why do I go out in the evening?’

“If you’re going to speed skate you don’t do it on a Thursday afternoon. There’s so many old people getting in the way.”

Mr Dornan denied internet rumours he learned to skate teaching his grandson, as he has no grandson.

He said he took up the hobby in an effort to get fit, while saving his knees from the strain of other sports like jogging.

Mr Dornan is currently writing a paper for the council about why more people should be encouraged to skate around Ormskirk and he hopes to teach a group of older people to skate.

He said: “If you do exercise you needn’t die at 70 or become a useless person who’s spoiling the landscape.

“What old person wants to get old? I couldn’t row across the Atlantic on a rowing machine but skating is useful. Utilitarian skating is what I do. I’m too idle to go by car.”