After 30 years spent as a loyal assistant group secretary at NFU Clitheroe, Colin Metcalfe is swapping his desk for an HGV cab.

Aged 61, Colin is officially retiring on Tuesday 21 December, and with a class one HGV licence to his name, he fully intends to hit the road again and do some part time driving after leaving the NFU.

Before joining the organisation as a staff member back in 1991, Colin worked on farms within Lancashire and completed an OND Agriculture course at Myerscough College.

His first group secretary partnership was with Stephen Fawcett and the pair initially worked out of Clitheroe Auction Mart before taking up residence at Wade House on Church Brow in 2004, the former premises of the original NFU secretaries Cooke and Smith and an office which is still NFU Clitheroe’s base within the town today.

When Stephen Fawcett left NFU Clitheroe for NFU Chorley, Colin remained in position and partnered with group secretaries Andrew Rothwell and Kevin Woodcock.

“I’ve worked with great people and always as part of a well-functioning team,” explained Colin whose Clitheroe NFU look after approximately 400 members.

“It’s the people who you meet doing this job that I’m going to miss. To be invited into these family farms is quite a privilege.

“Many have become close friends. I’ve seen these people grow up and have children of their own and so the cycle goes on.

“Crises such as BSE and FMD stand out as really tough times, but we pulled through them together.”

When working on farms in the eighties, Colin would transport produce into Liverpool wholesale market. With his HGV licence under his belt, he left a farming job in Northamptonshire in 1984 and returned home to drive for his father who owned a small haulage business. Following that he transported around portacabins for a Blackburn based company called Premier Buildings.

Apart from a return to driving HGVs in retirement, Colin is also looking forward to spending time with his wife of 31 years Suzanne and their grandson Arthur George.