Healthy half century for parks worker Barry » Local Government » 24dash.com

Open air working clearly suits Barry Dunwell as he has taken less than two weeks off sick in half a century’s service to Leeds’ parks.

The farm and gardens officer, who helps to keep the gardens of Lotherton Hall looking beautiful, is retiring just a month or two short of an astonishing 50 years’ service with Leeds City Council’s parks department.

He is particularly proud of his almost-unblemished attendance record- but admits after all those early starts he is looking forward to throwing his alarm clock out of the window!

Cllr John Procter, executive member for Leisure, Leeds City Council, who presented a retirement gift to Barry, said: “Barry is a great example of a dedicated, hard-working and long-serving member of staff. He has devoted his career to the upkeep of Leeds’ parks and open spaces and he has certainly been doing an excellent job here in the lovely Lotherton grounds. I wish him all the best for his retirement and long may his excellent good health continue!”

Barry, now 65, began a five-year apprenticeship in horticulture back in December 1958 at Micklefield Park in Rawdon, before moving on to Nunroyd Nursery in Yeadon. At Micklefield one of his jobs was to precision-cut the bowling green with a manual mower two or three times a week.

He took on the job of propagator at Nunroyd after a period of training and was responsible for growing a vast array of plants and flowers in the nursery for use at weddings and dances in town halls and churches, as well as seasonal bedding plants for Aireborough’s parks and cemeteries.

He was also responsible for the staffing and maintenance of a number of open spaces around Rawdon, Yeadon and Guiseley, before transferring to Lotherton in 1980.

Here the work was very different, since it was all focused on one large site. Barry immersed himself in the creation of a large orchard and the playground in Lotherton’s grounds, as well as overseeing the update and maintenance of many of the estate’s features.

His DIY, tools and repairs skills came in very useful on the estate, where he is believed to have saved the council a small fortune by servicing and maintaining a fleet of farm machinery and passing his skills on to other staff.

In his spare time he is known as a bit of a daredevil, having completed 11 parachute jumps, flown a small plane and a helicopter as a student pilot, been up in a hot air balloon and driven a racing car.

His hobbies have also included building a Ginneta sports car and an E-Type Jaguar kit car, archery, upgrading computers, flying model aircraft and target shooting. He is also still fond of riding a motorbike. Retirement will give him more time to spend with his wife, Sheila, as well as for his hobbies.