With an eight-week-old puppy at home, a new grandchild in the family, and an allotment to play with, it’s fair to say these are exciting times for Stuart Alderson.

Known to many as Stuey, his will be a familiar face to many after 27 years working first as a caretaker and then maintenance assistant at Stockton Riverside College.

Retiring after almost three decades of keeping the college shipshape, as you can see, he isn’t one for putting his feet up.

“These are exciting times,” said the 65-year-old from Billingham, who can wax lyrical about his new little plot of land, where the plan is to grow vegetables and flowers, and he has already volunteered a few hours a month working in the allotment shop.

When it comes to college life, Stuey is as much part of the fabric of Stockton Riverside College as the bricks and mortar.

Joining the then Stockton and Billingham Technical College in 1998, his career with the college started as caretaker at the site in Billingham, and just a few years later he saw the new build, new name and move, to its current site on Harvard Avenue, Stockton, in 2003.

Having previously worked as a contractor in insulation, his job had taken him all over the world, so the appeal of being close to home wasn’t lost on him.

“This was a very different job for me, but I’ve never looked back because I loved it,” he said.

While he never would have imagined it to be the start of the job he would retire in, his enthusiasm has remained to this day.

“It’s the people, that I love,” said the dad-of one and now granddad-of-two. Then there’s the job itself.

“You can come in every day and it’s something different,” he added. And he has seen a lot of changes over the years.

With new facilities constantly being added and updated, he joked: “Sometimes it can be hard to remember what it used to look like.”

Most importantly he really does root for the college.

“I do like to see them do well, it means a lot,” he said, not just for the college and the staff but also for the students.

Often the man to close the doors at the end of the day, he has built a rapport with hundreds, and probably thousands, of staff and students over the years.

“It is surprising how many people see you outside of college and say hello,” he said. “I still see people in Billingham who were students when I first started.”

With two grandchildren under two, his wife has a list of jobs for him to do at home, the allotment, and then there’s the two dogs, plus the eight-week-old puppy that he already describes as “a handful”, retirement will keep him busy.

But, while there is lots to be excited about, he admits he will miss the college and all the people in it.

He said: “I had a walk around the outside of the college last week and I did have a lump in my throat.

“I have loved being part of the college, but it feels good to be retiring, and it will mean more time for the allotment!”