"I haven't got a wife. I'm not on the pull and I haven't got a job interview"

Meet Royston…A 67-year-old with a passion for motorbikes, dogs and tattoos. I went and visited Royston last Thursday in his bedsit in Tunbridge Wells to talk to him about the stories behind his tattoos, the tattoos he's got and his plans regarding tattoos for the future. Also why he thinks old people get tattoos? 

Royston got his first tattoo while he was still at school at the age of 14. He laughed as he told me about the experience: "I fainted! I only had my name written on. I was at school and I came out of school and went to someone like Nobby the Tat or some other stupid name. It was in the 50s and it was a bet really. So I went and had it done and I came out and feel over. It was ever so funny."

What really stood out to me about Royston was how down to earth and matter of fact he was. The ink skulls that stamp the left side of his neck and cheek draw much attention to Royston. But whether the attention is good or bad Royston always expect comment.

"I think anything you do you should expect attention. If your walking around with a tattoo on your head your not gonna expect people to say nothing are ya."

From his tales and the ornaments and photos around his home you can tell Royston has already lived an exciting and fun-filled life full of different experiences. He spoke about his six years travelling in India, the time he meet the the Dalai Lama and his years as a Beatnik. His passion and nostalgia really shone threw and his on-look on life was something to admire.

Royston was happy to show me all his tattoos that decorated his body from the head down. The snake that marks the back of his cranium relates to the times he was the snake man in India (as does the snake that wraps around his right arm). During his time there he would carry antidote for people that had been bitten by snakes and would not be able to get to the hospital in time. He could not speak their language and so people would recognise he was the "snake man" from his tattoos. 

He spoke about the time he got the snake that wraps itself around his right triceps done. It was done in a hut. Lit by a single lightbulb and was done just by scratching in the colour with no lines: "It was remarkable. A real work of art". When Royston returned he got the lines put in: "I ruined it really. I don't know why I did it."

His other tattoos don't really have a meaning: "I got them just because I wanted them really. I'd walk in the shop, maybe just for a conversation, and I'll see something and think yeah I like that and I'll get it done."

"For me it’s like choosing a pair of jeans or a shirt... only a shirt wears out a tattoo doesn’t."

Royston lives on his own with his pet pug, Holly. He doesn't have a wife to say no and no restrictions from a job so as far as he is concerned he is free to do whatever he wants to do. In his own words "he's not young anymore" and doesn't have many responsibilities. 

"When you get older you don’t have as many responsibilities, doesn’t mean you’ve got to get a tattoo but doesn’t matter so much so you're a bit freer to do what you want."

He believes that we are now in a society that hasn’t got that bad stigma about tattoos like they used to have: "not that you live for what other people think, but it's easier now and I think I just happen to be older when people think abit freer about things." 

"Don’t get it done if you don’t want people to make comments. Do you do it to be noticed? That’s always a question isn’t it? Do older people do it more psychologically because they think they’re not noticed…I don’t think so."

A great guy and I am glad to have had the pleasure of meeting him. A real inspiration.