After 55 years service a Blythe Bridge pillar of the community is retiring. Set to retire on Thursday, Jenny Elton has worked at the Blythe Bridge pharmacy since she was 14 years old.

Having started out as a Saturday girl at 14 thanks to a tip off from her paperboy brother, Jen started with the basics – mopping the floor, checking for dates and dusting. However after leaving school she started working full time and has never looked back.

During the more than half a century of working Jen said she's seen some changes, "When I first started we used to hand write the prescription labels on the medicines, then it was the typewriter and then we went computerised. So I've seen all the changes there.

"We used to make ointment and creams up with the different creams and powders with the spatula and whiteboard. We made the medicines with the big winchesters and everything is pre packed these days.

Jenny worked at the pharmacy on Uttoxeter Road for 55 years (Nub News).

"We've got that many services we can offer now compared to what we used to do, now we do blood pressure checks, ear wax removal and I never thought we'd get to that stage but there's such a lot we can do. The pharmacist can do all the minor ailments now, it is certainly different and it's busy busy busy."

Having lived in Blythe Bridge all her life she has seen the same customers for all of their lives and says they are more like friends then they are customers.  

Colleagues are quick to say how much they are going to miss her when she retires. The owner of the Uttoxeter Road pharmacy, Nik Morjaria said: "She's amazing, you know, been here for 55 years and is part of the fabric of the pharmacy, of the village and the community. 

"It's hard to put into words how sad we'll be not to have her in the pharmacy. She's going to be missed by patients, by the team, by everyone who's had an interaction with her. So we're going to be really, really sad."

Jen said she never thought about changing jobs thanks to great bosses and colleagues who keep her young. She continued: "I never thought about anything else which is very strange in this day and age and I've always had good bosses and maybe if I hadn't that might have been a different kettle of fish and I always had good work colleagues.

"Meaning even now, even though I'm 70 next month and they're younger, they don't treat me like an old person, so they keep me young. I'm hoping I don't age as soon as I finish."

Turning 70 next month Jen plans to spend her retirement spending time with her husband, family and looking after her grandchildren.

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