A SEMINGTON man is celebrating 60 years of working for farmers W.D Guley & Sons in Berryfields.
Local man Tony Barnett, who turns 75 last month, left school at the age of 15 and took up work with the local farm and has never looked back.
In his 60 years of employment Tony has become part of the family, working with four generations of the Guley family.
Tony said, “I’m just as happy now as when I first started on the farm. The management treat me as one of the family.
“When I first started my father said I would only last three weeks. He said, ‘A week to get used to it, a week to get fed up with it and a week’s notice,’ so I’ve definitely proved him wrong!”
“I will stay on for as long as possible. If I’m fit enough, why not? I still love the job and I’ll do anything that wants doing around the farm. On this job you can do six jobs in one day; cow man, tractor driver, builder, electrician, everything really, that’s the beauty of the job, there’s variety. Something different every day.”
Employer and third generation farmer, Trevor Guley said, “He’s seen a lot of changes in his time. He’s a jack-of-all-trades and a thoroughly good chap. He’s been a very good employee to the farm. He’s still not talking about retiring and still wants to carry on.”
Tony lives in Semington with his wife Ann. Their children, Julie, Tracy and Paul, all remain in the area working for local employees.