For someone who has never EVER been late for work, 66-year-old Steve Mellor clearly didn’t need his official retirement gift - a stunning Omega gold watch - to keep good time.
“Even though I used to joke that I wanted a gold watch when I retired I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw it inside a plush wooden presentation box,” said Steve, a former chef who has baked Grasmere Gingerbread for the last 33 years.
Yet, having eagerly anticipated a clean break retirement with lots of foreign travel lined up with wife Paula, Steve is now back baking Grasmere Gingerbread® three mornings a week.
“We had several holidays abroad planned but with Covid turning everything on its head they are all on hold until next year at least,” explained Steve.
“As I’m not the sort of guy who enjoys just sitting in the garden I asked if I could come back part-time as I have always loved the camaraderie at work.”
Also known as the King of Rum Butter after making the shop’s famous tasty sweet spread for decades using a set of old-fashioned imperial weighing scales, Steve’s partial volta-face thrilled his bosses and colleagues at Grasmere Gingerbread®.
Yet, having eagerly anticipated a clean break retirement with lots of foreign travel lined up with wife Paula, Steve is now back baking Grasmere Gingerbread® three mornings a week.
“We had several holidays abroad planned but with Covid turning everything on its head they are all on hold until next year at least,” explained Steve.
“As I’m not the sort of guy who enjoys just sitting in the garden I asked if I could come back part-time as I have always loved the camaraderie at work.”
Also known as the King of Rum Butter after making the shop’s famous tasty sweet spread for decades using a set of old-fashioned imperial weighing scales, Steve’s partial volta-face thrilled his bosses and colleagues at Grasmere Gingerbread®.
Steve with HRH, Prince of Wales.
“He’s been part of the furniture for so long and is such a great guy and so reliable with his own set ways of doing things that I actually dreaded him leaving,” admitted Grasmere Gingerbread® co-director Joanne Hunter.
“Although I know he is officially ‘retired’, being back in three mornings a week means I can tell myself that nothing has actually changed which is a lovely feeling.
In addition to being presented with his gold watch at a retirement dinner with colleagues at Greens Bistro in Grasmere, Steve - originally from Yorkshire but now resident in Grasmere - was also given tickets for a luxury trip on board the Northern Belle steam train and ‘entry’ to a special event at Hampton Court Palace.
“Steve always wanted to visit Hampton Court Palace and also work on an outside event so we booked to attend an event there next year so he could do both at once,” said Joanne.
“My retirement do at Greens and the incredible gifts from Joanne and Andrew came as a complete surprise as I thought I was just turning up to a normal staff meeting,” said Steve.
