CYCLE OF LIFE
OAP still in the saddle after 60 years in one job
TONY Baines started work in a bike shop age 15 – and he’s still behind the counter 60 years later.
Amazingly, the 75-year-old hasn’t had a day off sick for nearly 50 years.
He thought he would only be pedal-pushing on a short-term basis when he started work in 1957, but his six-week summer job has run and run.
Tony reckons he has worked more than 120,000 hours at the D.Speight store in Scunthorpe, Lincs.
His loyalty paid off in 1991 when its owner Don Speight died and left him the store.
Despite being well past retirement age, Tony plans to continuing grafting for years to come.
The father-of-two said: “I left Doncaster Road Boys’ School in Scunthorpe in 1957 in my teens, expecting to be called up for National Service when I was 18.
“But they scrapped conscription, so I kept on working at the bike shop. I suppose it is remarkable to be in the same job straight out of school and working in the same shop for 60 years.
“I used to do a lot of cycling. Cycling to Scarborough on a Sunday was one of my favourite rides, and that has kept me fit, so I might have aches and pains but I don’t take days off sick.
“My next door neighbour Don, who was in the RAF, opened the shop in 1951.
“We shared the same birthday so we were quite close. When Don died he left the business to me.”
Tony has been nicknamed Arkwright by other traders on Frodingham Road in a nod to his Open All Hours-style of business.
He planned to retire this year to mark his Golden Wedding, but his wife Anne sadly died aged 69 last year, sparking a rethink.
Tony said: “I’ve no plans for retirement yet. I’ll carry on as a long as I am fit to do so.”
Tony recalls the times when Scunthorpe steelworkers rode to and from their shifts.
He said: “You could not get across Frodingham Road for cyclists.
“They were riding four abreast on the way to the steelworks.”
Tony’s shop remains as busy as ever. Mending punctures at £8.50-a-pop is a money-spinning sideline, and he credits litter louts for keeping him busy.
He said: “People just throw away bottles these days, and as a result the roads are strewn with broken glass.” DOC, via email