CHEDDAR Wilson believed it was his daily appointment with “Dr Thames” that kept him fit.

The veteran swimmer would take a dip in the river every day, even at the age of 80. He was never deterred by bad weather – he is pictured here about to take his daily swim, in the snowbound Long Bridges bathing pool.

His morning routine was to get up, eat a hearty breakfast of bacon, sausages, bread and cheese, warm up with a bike ride to the Thames, then dive in.

Oxford’s “man of the river” – real name Frank – celebrated his 65th birthday in 1965 by swimming the 2,552 yards from Folly Bridge to Iffley in 59 minutes.

Five years later, on his 70th birthday, he completed the same distance in 70 minutes, swimming alongside Oxford police officers, whom he often joined on their annual Thames swim.

Second to his daily dip, his greatest loves were the Bible, Shakespeare, Byron and other romantic poets, from whom he could quote reams by heart.

No-one who met him in the street could escape without hearing a brief burst from the Bard.

He was born in West Street, Osney, where a love of poetry was instilled in him by his father.

Even he didn’t know why he was known as Cheddar – a schoolmate, Harry Dexter, casually christened him with the nickname which was to stick with him for the rest of his life.

He attended St Frideswide’s School, where he soon made his mark at football, another lifelong passion. He played for Oxford Boys in the 1913-14 season.

After the First World War, he played for the St Frideswide’s team – known as the Vicar’s Angels – and helped them become the first junior side to win the Oxfordshire Charity Shield. After three seasons with the Angels, he joined Cowley Lilywhites and made the right back position his own.

He worked on the railways and his promotion to engine driver made it difficult to play football regularly and he hung up his boots in 1929 to become a football supporter. He was ardent fan of Pegasus, the combined universities’ team, and was among the 100,000-strong crowds that packed Wembley to see them win the FA Amateur Cup in 1951 and 1953.

On the second occasion, he set off with what he thought was a packet of sandwiches, only to find when he reached Wembley he had picked up the Sunday joint by mistake.

Soon after his 70th birthday, he emigrated to New Zealand, but the call of his beloved Oxford became too much for him and he returned to enjoy his retirement – and daily swim. He once said: “I have had a happy life, blessed with good health.

“Although I make the most of life, I look after myself never drinking, smoking but not inhaling, and always getting to bed by 10pm.”

He was found dead at his home in Blackbird Leys in 1981, aged 81.

The Oxford Mail obituary described him as “Oxford’s oldest water baby”.