HAGLEY Golf and Country Club has reached the end of an era after popular maintenance man Bob Brettle finally flicked the switch on his career after 36 years with the club.

The 73-year-old has been a permanent fixture at the Wassell Grove complex ever since it first opened in 1978.

Yet remarkably, Bob has never played a round of golf in all his time with the club.

Managing director Peter Johnson said: "Bob has been part of the furniture here and was very well liked. He knew how everything ticked and worked. He's not a golfer, but he knew all the members here and his departure will prove a big loss."

Bob said: "I saw the first few bricks being laid at the club and I've watched it grow ever since."

Having been involved with his own electrical business, Bob then went to work for Garratt and Co, who run Hagley Golf and Country Club.

He added: "I've seen the club expand from a nine-hole course into 18 holes and then the development of a driving range.

"We used to have four squash courts as well, but one was converted into a conference room which now hosts civil weddings.

"Another was turned into a bar, while the other two became changing rooms.

"In my time here, I've never really been involved with looking after the course, we've got our own greenkeeper and his crew to do that, Although I have been called out to mend the odd sprinkler system or two.

"You get to know quite a lot of the members and the club becomes a big part of your life."

For the past eight years, Bob has worked part-time at the club, but he said: I've been working for the past 58 years and I think that's long enough for anyone."

A keen photographer and long-time member of Stourbridge Photographic Society, Bob has left a lasting legacy at the club as his pictures adorn the walls.