Cheers to David for 70 years in the pub trade

A GLASS has been raised to a Plymouth man for nearly 70 years working in the city's pub trade. David Marsden, aged 86, started behind the bar at The Ship when his parents ran the Barbican pub in the 1950s.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

He went on to enjoy a high-ranking career working with a leading brewery in the South West and is still involved with the city's pub industry as a member of the Licensed Victuallers Association (LVA). He was among a delegation invited to enjoy a glass of beer with Lord Mayor Mark Shayer, in the Lord Mayor's Parlour, as he acknowledged the contribution made by Mr Marsden and the LVA to the city.

And Mr Marsden was able to reminisce about how the pub business has changed over the decades, from the days when Plymouth city centre boozers could take £1m over the bar in a year., even when pints cost pennies.

His parents moved from Derbyshire to take over the Ship in 1956. At the age of 15 Mr Marsden started serving pints. "You could do that then," he said.

After his National Service with the Army, Mr Marsden got a job with Charrington United Breweries Ltd, which later merged with Bass and Mitchell and Butlers, and oversaw pubs in the South West.