This Is Your Life: Charles Stewart

Charles STEWART MBE (1918-2008)

The 1000th edition of This Is Your Life

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Charles Stewart, road sweeper, was surprised by Michael Aspel - with the help of the Rowntree Brass Band - in the Yorkshire village of Heslington, having been led to believe a local film crew was filming him.

Charles, who was born in York and known as Fred, began his working life at the Rowntree's confectionery factory before being called up for war service in 1939. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France as an infantryman with the West Yorkshire Regiment and later as a paratrooper with the 6th Airborne Division. After the war, he returned to Rowntree's, where he continued working as a chocolate refiner until he retired in 1983 after 47 years of service.

Following his retirement from Rowntree's, he took on the job of the village road sweeper in Heslington. Charles was named Yorkshire and Humberside Street Cleaner of the Year in 1994 and 1996 and was awarded an MBE for services to village life in 1998.

"Thank you very much! What a shock!"

programme details...

Edition No: 1000
Subject No: 975
Broadcast date: Mon 7 Sep 1998
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 22 Jul 1998
Venue: BBC Manchester
Series: 39
Edition: 1
Code name: Broom

on the guest list...

Gladys - wife
Elizabeth - daughter
Sarah - granddaughter
David - grandson
Jean - daughter
Geoffrey - son-in-law
Richard - grandson
Kitty - sister
Richard - brother
members of the York branch of the Parachute Regiment Association
Len Hall
Tony Jacks
Charlie Goodrich
Jim Elliott
Philip - nephew
Dickie Bird
David Pearcy
Freda Arronson
Helgi Arronson
The Rowntree Brass Band
residents of Heslington
Kathy Staff
Bill Owen
Frank Thornton
Peter Sallis
Jane Freeman
Stephen Lewis
members of York RLFC
Brig James Hill
former work colleagues from Rowntree
Gordie McGuinness
Darren Gough
Alec Stewart
Ann French

production team...

Researcher: Ruth Malone
Writer: Joe Steeples
Directors: Chris Fox, Peter Wisdom
Associate Producer: Helen Gordon-Smith
Executive Producer: John Longley
Series Producer: Jack Crawshaw
Producer: Sue Green

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Jack of all Trades

from domestic cleaner to teacher

The Night of 1000 Lives

a celebration of a thousand editions

Timeline

the show's fifty year history

Screenshots of Charles Stewart This Is Your Life

The York Press 23 July 1998

Village secret is out as Fred finds TV fame

The man with the famous red book paid a visit to Heslington, York, to make 80-year-old street sweeper Fred Stewart a VIP.

Fred caught the eyes of the producers of long-running TV show, This Is Your Life, when he was awarded the MBE in the recent Queen's Birthday Honours for services to village life over the last 15 years.

Over the last two weeks, secret preparations for the programme's visit had been going on at Heslington.

But by all accounts, Fred, stayed as cool as a cucumber when presenter Michael Aspel sprang his surprise.

"He was really laid back about it," said one villager.

Heslington had been sworn to secrecy for nearly a fortnight by TV programme's producers, so not a word had reached Fred.

The Rowntree Brass Band was employed to parade through the village as a decoy, and after being presented with the red book, Fred was whisked away to the BBC studios in Manchester to film the programme with friends and family.

Fred has served as Heslington's "lengthman" for 15 years, walking a six-mile route round the village every day to keep the streets spotless.

But David Pearcy, a former chairman of the parish council who originally employed Fred and who nominated him for his MBE, explained he did far more than just sweep streets.

"He always cheers up all the people in the almshouses and has helped some of the ladies there when they've fallen. And since he's been doing the job, Heslington has won Best Kept Village once and been runner-up twice."

A spokeswoman for the producers of This Is Your Life said they had spotted Fred on the national news when he got his MBE.

"It was an interesting story and we thought he'd catch people's imaginations. We like to get a bit of variety in the show."

Fred will feature in the new series of This Is Your Life, which will be broadcast this autumn.

Series 39 subjects