EVERYTHING is tickety-boo for veteran Weymouth barman Robbie Hoodless, who is calling time after almost 60 years in the drinks trade.

Robbie, whose ‘tickety boo’ catchphrase, smart waistcoats and pleasant manner have made him a favourite with drinkers, is retiring at the age of 73.

While he may be Weymouth’s oldest barman, Robbie – who has run 10 marathons – is not feeling his age.

He said: “I had a knee replacement a few months ago and will be having another one next year so it’s time to have a rest.

He added: “I might get a part-time job in the future. I love the job too much to stay away.

“It’s my life.”

Divorcee and father-of-one Robbie, of Westham, has been pulling pints at the Boot Inn, Weymouth’s oldest pub, for the past eight years.

He started in the trade aged 14 less than half a mile away at the Devenish Brewery where he was employed as an office boy, later as a ledger clerk.

Following national service with the Royal Army Pay Corps, Robbie returned to Devenish to work at the cash and carry.

Seeing no opportunity to move up, he searched for a job elsewhere to further his career, landing an assistant manager’s job at Peter Dominic wine merchants, Dorchester.

He said: “It was my mum who told me to go for it. I was petrified at the interview. I sat in a huge chair which swallowed me up. I was very proud getting that job. It set me up for the future.”

Robbie went on to run his own branch in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.

In 1971 he was called back to Weymouth after being poached by Devenish to run its new wine merchants in St Thomas Street.

The shop closed in 1986 after Michael Cannon’s restructuring of Devenish.

Robbie then worked behind the bar at a number of local businesses including the Hotel Rembrandt and the John Gregory at Southill.

He went to work for the Boot’s then landlord, Trevor Vacher-Dean, as house manager in 2002. He became ‘number one bartender’ under the pub’s new owner Ken Russell.

Real Ale fan Robbie said of the Boot: “It’s magic, best place I’ve ever worked.

“There’s a lovely lot of regulars, including a few odd bods.

“It’s the end of an era and I’m sad to go but I won’t be too far way.”

n martin.lea@dorsetecho.co.uk