Present for my young 86 year old Dad?

[BarbaraVineFan]

I am really stuck this year on what to buy my old dad. He is still pretty active, so would be offended by typical 'old person' presents like heated throws etc. He likes history, but already has a subscription to History magazine. He is a fan of coffee and of marmalade, but I have gifted him subscriptions to those in the two previous years! Looking to spend £50-80 ish. Any ideas gratefully appreciated!

Do you have a rail museum nearby? We have one which has a nice cafe and they do short runs in diesel and steam trains. My DM loved this last year - brought back loads of memories for her.

That's a great idea @Whatevershallidowithmylife but we did that in the summer! Thanks though

Which parts of history is it that he's interested in?

English Heritage / National Trust membership?

Oldie or Critic magazine subscription?

Decent trainers ? Your dad sounds great

My favourite present ever was a heated throw and I'm 38!

Anyway, what about music in whatever format he prefers, or tickets to a (sitting down) gig? Or a good Bluetooth speaker, headphones etc depending on how good he is with tech?

He sounds a lot like my dad! Where did you get the marmalade subscription from?

I'm getting him a couple of history books that I'm crossing my fingers he hasn't read: The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Devil in the White City. I used AI for suggestions (but the first few were crap).

I might get him some nice cheese or pate from Booths as well.

Audible subscription
hiking poles or backpack
merino socks

Where do you live and what's his background? Round here we have a country store that sells nails, barbed wire, rat poison, toys, birdscarers, lawnmowers, greetings cards, plants, clothes and all sorts of farmer's things and has an excellent cafe. If my dad were still alive I'd take him there, buy him a shirt and treat him to lunch.

Hot air balloon flights? We got one for my dad when he was a bit younger than yours, and the wind direction meant that he flew right over the top of his house! He was delighted.

My Dad used to love those books with aerial photos of areas he had visited/knew well.

Also for a birthday in his 80s he went on a hot air balloon trip which he absolutely loved ( clearly a theme here!)

Snap! How strange!

The coincidence of our posts I mean 😊

Unless we have the same dad, of course...

which I doubt, unless you are my brother going deep undercover.

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat 😂😂

Thanks everyone for some great suggestions.

He is a real technophobe, so gadgets/audible subscription are out. He also only really listens to Classic FM.

He doesn't wear trainers and has decent walking boots/welly boots already.

I don't know those two magazines - I will look into them, thank you @tedgran.

He likes modern history (20th century mainly) and local history @TinyMouseTheatre.

He would love a hot air balloon flight, but it's out of my budget unfortunately!

@drspouse the marmalade subscription was from Rosebud Preserves- in fact it was marmalade, jam and chutney.

A Jigsaw of a map of his area with a house shaped piece of exactly where his house is. Bit ££ for a jigsaw but very unique

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/hellolovely/product/happy-mother-s-day-map-jigsaw?attributionToken=pwHwpgoMCNn-jboGEJ_WtvoCEAEaJDY3ODI4ZmZkLTAwMDAtMmYzZC04NWQwLWM4MmFkZDdmY2RhMCobR0ExLjEuMTkzNjY5MDgyNi4xNzMyNDc2NzE4Mjya7sYwt7eMLajlqi3Fy_MXjr6dFdSynRWQ97IwnNa3LdqZsS-c3dgwwvCeFY6RyTCjgJcin9a3LZnd2DA6DmRlZmF1bHRfc2VhcmNoSAF6Andh&referredBy=search

@Furball I got that a couple of years ago ! He loves it- great suggestion

Your dad sounds fab! What about a nice waterproof coat for when he’s outdoors? Or a scarf, glove and hat set?

A good book, and a trip for afternoon tea at a local NationalTrust/Historic England type place?

'Historical' ordnance survey/other maps of his local area (or other areas of interest)?

Walking history tour of his local town?

family history website subscription?

@Elderflower2016 he gives those tours 😂 he's a local historian