It was like leaving family when Mervyn Lane – known as Ogy – retired from Glenside Nurseries at West Pinchbeck.
Ogy retired after 50 years at the same business, having worked with four generations of the Chappell family.
He started as a 16-year-old at a time when horses were still used on what was then an arable farm. On retiring from what became a nursery, Ogy says he has seen changes, not all for the best, such as health and safety regulations.
Ogy worked first with Harold Chappell and his son Maurice and then Maurice’s brother Bryn and, in recent years, Adrian and his son Matt.
Ogy lives very close to the nursery at Glenside South, but Adrian says: “He always came in the car. He was always very reliable and he’d do anything for anybody and has done virtually every job going on the nursery.”
A party was held for past and present employees and retirement gifts handed over.
Ogy said: “It’s like a family. I was a bit upset really because some of them I have been with for quite a while.”
Ogy plans to keep busy with fishing, clay pigeon shooting and his work at the Tulips ground.
Pictured at the retirement party are: back (from left): Nicola Chappell, Blanche Robinson, Gavin Ellerby, Denise Bradford, Matt Chappell, Ogy’s partner Bridget Croft, Thomas Bateman, Michelle Coaten, Rosalind Coupland; front – Adrian and Susan Chappell, Ogy Lane, Vera and Maurice Chappell.