Happy retirement John Corbett!

After many, many years of being SB's highly skilled and friendly slaughterman John Corbett has retired. Along with the many who have gone before her and followed since, John played a vital part in Jayne's PhD studies and she enjoyed getting to know him and his humour while learning several new skills she never anticipated would be necessary in her life! [I'll spare you the details - J]

We were sad not to have been able to get back for his retirement do but have been sent a couple of pictures and a letter from John which we thought we'd post here - anyone who knew John will no doubt appreciate them as much as we do.

John is the only slaughterman we know to have (and play!) a piano in the abbatoir! He was known to tickle the ol' ivories in between doing his work at SB, running his own newsagents, and keeping an eye on the stock market and his shares over lunch.

It's lovely to see John still looking so chipper at his retirement do! My bet is he's day dreaming of trains and railroads...

So here's his letter:

Dear Everyone

Any jobs going???...........

Just a few lines to firstly, thank you Monica and Emma for arranging my departure in such a memorable way – certainly an event I will never forget. It was very moving for me to see everybody there, including people from the 70s and 80s, like Andy Peters; Kev Stickney; Mike Varley and Janet Dawson. I could not get over just how far these good people had travelled - just for me! I felt I said a lot on Friday but, I could have said so much more about the place. The travels I’ve had, all the people I’ve met and worked with both at SB and the many outside organisations, but I’m sure you would have been bored with it.

The many cards I received are still proudly on display. The more I read them, the more I become convinced I have actually left SB and I’m not on holiday! However, reading them can be upsetting. It’s like reading my own obituary, with lines like….
“you’ll be sadly missed”; “you’ll be difficult to replace”; “how will we manage”? “SB will never be the same”. In fact, I’ve been checking the “deaths” column in the local paper – so far not in, thank God! Obviously Julian, you read some of these comments too and was similarly affected and too overcome with grief at my departure as your simple message demonstrates: “What can I say?, Julian”. However, should you think of anything in the future, please let me know……(only joking!).

To everybody who sent their good wishes and, indeed, to those who didn’t, many many thanks for over 40 years of happy memories. It was so much more than a simple fella like me could have wished for.

Should anyone be in the vicinity of [address withheld] at any time during the hours of 8 am to 9am on the first Wednesday in January, in any leap year, do please call in – you will be assured of a warm welcome. I’ll rephrase that last line to read: “open all hours”…..

Your friend and colleague
John

PS: Just applied for a job as a train driver!!!

Well John, we're sure you'll have many, many years of enjoying your hobbies before you feel any need to check the obituaries again! Take care out there and enjoy yourself.