Leslie was born on the 17th February 1930 in Collyweston, Peterborough. His mother was a lady porter at Peterborough Station whilst his father was in the army.
Leslie’s fathers time in the army took him around the world and Leslie remembers some of the stories he used to tell him. One of these was when his father was riding around on a horse when his leg was injured by a German soldier. Another was when his father was serving in India and took a photo of a large crocodile with a chunk of wood in its mouth. He remembers his father showing him the pictures and thinking how otherworldly it looked.
Leslie has two sisters, Joyce and Susan. Leslie was very close to Joyce as they were similar in age and he remembers her being very hardworking. Leslie said, “she was one of the boys and that was another reason we were very close."
In his younger years, Leslie moved around quite a lot but remembers his favourite house was on Atkinson Street, this was because it had two floors and a bathroom on each of them.
The moment Leslie met his wife was both surprising and memorable. He was walking home after a night out with a few friends when he bumped into two Italian ladies. They got talking and Leslie said, “I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner then.’ He didn’t expect this to go anywhere, but the next day, the lady was waiting for him where he said they would meet the night before. After enjoying six months together, having lots of fun, Leslie asked her to marry him – of course, she said yes
Despite injuring himself on a railway one time in his youth, Leslie decided to pursue a career in railway engineering. When he started, he was earning £1.75 per week. As he grew up and developed his experience, he worked on steam, diesel and electric trains. He said his favourite to work on were stream trains, as he felt more comfortable with the way they worked
Now living at Hunters Down Care Home, Leslie said, “Life is short, and I wish people could come together; be friendly and help each other.” He finished by saying, “be strong-willed and keep healthy.”