FIFTY years ago a young Robin Hitchings went to help out for a day on the family’s watercress beds.

The teenager dreamed of being a farmhand and driving tractors. “But they were busy and they needed a hand and I enjoyed it,” he recalled.

He never looked back, and now even in retirement he will be able to look out over the Chalke Valley Watercress beds from his home in Broad Chalke.

“I’ll be able to pop down and make sure everyone’s doing their jobs properly,” he joked.

The cress was all cut by hand in Robin’s youth. “I’ve spent most of my life bent over, wielding a carving knife,” he said.

“Now it’s more modern and we use a machine like a harvester, the cress goes on to a conveyor belt and into boxes and into the packing shed, where the ladies pack it into bags.”

The Hitchings family first settled on the site in 1880.

“When I started it was Geoffrey Hitchings, my foster brother, running it,” said Robin. “I worked for him for just over 30 years, then his son Keith took it on.

“We’ve got four acres, and we sell the watercress outside the shed for local people and supply salesmen up in London.”

Robin and his wife Vi live just yards apart from Geoff and Keith, and close to their daughter Sharon, whose husband Ian also works in the business.

For Robin’s retirement last Friday, Keith had arranged a surprise - a go-karting trip and a pub meal.

“It was brilliant,” Robin said. “I love fast cars, and when I was 60 I was treated to a drive round a racetrack in a Ferrari.”

In retirement he’ll be travelling rather more sedately, going caravanning with his wife and their Labrador Pepper. The couple are looking forward to being able to visit Scotland for a month at a time.

Robin, who enjoys watching wildlife, also intends to devote more time to his hobby of making bird boxes and tables.

“And if Keith wants me back for a day or two when they are busy I’ll be there,” he said. “I can’t just sit back and get into a rut.”