Newmarket delivery driver Alan Grimwood retires from wine merchants Corney & Barrow after nearly half a century
A long-serving member of staff at a Newmarket wine merchants has retired this week after nearly half a century as a delivery driver.
Alan Grimwood has worked for London-based Corney & Barrow at Belvoir House on the junction of the High Street and Rous Road since they took the business over in 1990 but his connection goes back much further than that.
There has been a wine merchants at the site since 1904 when the Linford family began their business which closed in the late 1980s following the sudden death of the then owner Barry Linford.
Alan’s grandfather and uncle had worked for Linford’s as delivery drivers and cellarmen and he was drawn to the trade as his family ran a bottle store where, as a boy, he had helped during school holidays.
When Alan turned 16 in 1975 he joined Linford’s, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle and stayed on with Corney & Barrow becoming a familiar figure in their red van making deliveries of wines and spirits.
Over the years his job has included the roles of cellarman, stock taker and bar tender, serving drinks at many prestigious occasions, and he has been a regular behind the scenes at Tattersalls where he ensured stock levels were maintained during the sales.
The long history of Alan’s family with the business at Belvoir House has come to an end this week as he has reached 65 and decided to call it a day.
Paying tribute to Alan’s long service, shop manager James Aldridge said: “Alan will be greatly missed by all of here at Corney & Barrow.
“His work ethic is unparalleled and his remarkable 49 years at the shop is testament to this along with his dedication.
“We wish his a well-deserved rest and a happy retirement.”
Following a retirement party at Tattersalls, Alan is looking forward to putting his feet up after years of lifting heavy boxes of wine and the only pouring he will be doing is as a Serving Elder of Newmarket’s United Reformed Church at Holy Communion.
