“ I‘m 93, but quitting my job would drive me off my trolley”
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“ I‘m 93, but quitting my job would drive me off my trolley”

                                                                                      By Keith Harper

        Jim Dowd 93. Perhaps the oldest working man in Britain, was taking a rest yesterday from his six day week as a trolley supervisor at Sainsbury’s. Mr.Dowd, a retired motor fitter, said he might put his feet up and watch television, “but it’s usually very boring and I prefer to work”.

At Sainsbury’s Finchley Road branch, north London, he pushes trolleys from bays in the car park to the store for customers. He works a 33-hour week Monday to Sunday, and said he was fit as a fiddle, apart from a slightly gammy knee. “I intend to go on working until I drop. There is nothing else to do, and I love it.”

         He joined the company eight years ago, having returned to work at 69 because he was bored and missed his job repairing cars. Sainsbury allowed him to cut the tape when the store opened several years ago because he was so popular with customers.

The manager, Jim Rutledge, has offered him a job in the store but Mr.Dowd said: “I have refused it. The only job I want inside is his, and he won’t let me have it”. Mr.Rutledge said: “Customers are very fond of  Mr.Dowd, although they sometimes ask how long he can go on working. He is always cheerful, and we value his contribution”. He travels to work by bus from his sheltered accommodation in Hampstead. His wife died five years ago.

          He spends most of his six weeks of holiday in the Lake District, driving 300 miles to a farm near Cockermouth. He does not go walking but admires the lakes “by driving round all the passes”