Britain's 'oldest' barmaid - 82-year-old Ann Wilson - still pulling pints & kicking out troublemakers in Birmingham

Britain’s 'oldest barmaid' is still pulling pints and kicking out troublemakers aged 82 - and she has no plans to hang up her apron anytime soon. Ann Wilson has worked in pubs for 60 years and has poured over three million drinks during that time.

Straight-talking Ann - nicknamed 'Nanny Annie' - started working in bars in Birmingham in 1964 so she could buy a fridge for her family. She got a job in The Old Yewtree where she spent ten years before moving onto the Journey’s End pub in 1974 where she still works today. Ann reckons she’s seen 12 bosses come and go in her 50 years at the popular boozer.

Despite her age, Ann, who has two children and four grandchildren, still works two days a week and says she has no plans to retire. She said: “It all started in the 60s when I got a job to save up money to buy a fridge. At that time we had two children and were surviving on my husband's wage.

"One day I thought I’d work in a pub at night and I just never looked back. Once it gets in your blood, you can’t get it out. I started March 1964, in the old Yewtree. I enjoyed ten years there and knew every customer by name but I fancied a change so made a straight transfer to the Journeys End in 1974.

“When I first went to work, there were only two jobs married women with kids could do. Ann continued: "Either working in a school or working in the evenings. I was brought up with pubs, it was in my blood. My mum and sister used to work in a pub. I was used to going with them when I was younger.

"It’s a trade that you need to like, you can’t wake up in the morning and not want to do it. The person walking through the door is the most important person. You make their day by greeting them. I’m a face-to-face person. If you give them a good pint and a nice meal, they’re going to remember and come back. Most of my customers are regulars.”

Earlier this month, managers and locals at the Journey's End threw Ann a celebration party to mark her 50th year behind the bar. Despite her age, Ann insists she's no pushover and will quite happily bar rowdy customers if they cross the line.

She said: “I’ve always been here backing whatever management’s come in and putting them right. Every boss that has come here has inherited me. So I must be doing the job right. I’ve seen teenagers become engaged, get married, have children and children who are now grandparents, so we’re all family.

“No mean things have ever happened in the Journey's because we don’t let it happen. They get once chance, they do it twice and they don’t come back. They are the losers, not us. All I say to people is just be kind to everybody. At least once a day tell somebody that you love them as you don’t know what’s around the corner.”

She added: “I’ve got the nickname of ‘Nanny Annie’. A little boy came in and called me. It’s stuck since then, roughly five years. I like it, it keeps you fit. When I was younger I was doing six days a week. It’s slowed down now but I can still do it. It’s a job that I can enjoy that much.

“Every new boss that has come here has inherited me. I must be doing something right to stay in a job. There must be about 10 or 12 bosses since I started. A lot of the younger lads are in the memory books. You’ve got to like it, you’ve got to enjoy the job and coming to work in the service industry."

Ann, whose husband Leslie died last year, says she has no plans to hang up her barmaid's apron. She added: “I do two days a week, Thursday and Friday. That’s eight hours a week 12-4.

"My husband passed away last year and I still class myself as a couple. I wouldn’t want to be at home and sitting on my own. I used to work six mornings and two nights but I never worked Sunday. I left school at 15 and worked at a Co-op in the kitchen, then went on the floor.”

Assistant manager Jo Lees said: "She makes a fuss out of us so we decided on a bingo day, which is one of her days, that we will make a fuss for her and celebrate her. She's extremely popular and we all love her to bits."