CARD SHARP

Brian Ashby, chartered surveyor and filmmaker, 82, Derbyshire

By carrying on working, you keep the mind going. I’ve had a property business for a while, but I’ve moved into film too: my screenplay became the film (seen in cinemas in 2017), and I’m forming a new company to make three feature films. I’ve always kept myself busy, and one of the best things I ever did was to start learning about applied psychology when I was 19.

Another thing I do to sharpen my mind and memory is recalling the order of a deck of cards I memorised many years ago. There’s a method of doing it, and the first thing you do is make a route through a place you know well. So you might start in your study, go out into your hall, go past the dining room, on to the drawing room and then go on to another part of the house. You need to find a place for each card, and this allows you to put them in order.

Once you’ve put a card somewhere – the first card in the first place you encounter on your route, and so on – you memorise which card it is by applying either the name of a person you know or the name of a famous person you like and respect. If it’s the ace of clubs, for instance, you need to be able to readily recall a name with the initials A C. Quite a lot of my friends don’t know they’re part of my memory procedure.

I thought I’d left a few million brain cells behind in a motor racing crash I had in 1987, so I was surprised and delighted to get into Mensa three or four years later.

I still surprise myself by being able to go through that pack of cards. I do it a couple of times a week, and it doesn’t take more than two minutes to go through it. I’d certainly recommend it as a way to keep your memory in good condition.

age, most people don’t go near a gym, but I do a great deal of exercise. It’s partly about my pathological fear of being obese, it’s partly about sanity – there’s a link between high IQ and poor mental health – and it’s partly about blood flow. Exercise preserves your mental and physical agility and I value it highly.

My weekly routine includes a personal training session, free weights and rowing, and in the summer I’ll cycle 13 miles every Sunday morning. I walk quickly and act quickly. I like starting businesses alone and then passing them on – I don’t like working for bosses and have worked on my own since 1990 – and my exercise routine absolutely helps me maintain the mental performance I need.