Hi fred219,
I'm new here as well, I'm 54, and also from the UK....
I wanted to learn C++, but I didn't just want to see stuff being outputted to the console, so I use SFML, so that I can see what is going on graphically.
I've been learning C++ and SFML for about a year now, and I practice by, trying to re-create the mechanics of older style arcade games.
Programming is a great hobby, and SFML is a great library.