The twinkling eyes and warm smile could only belong to one person – caretaker Fred Petch.

This straight talking, no-nonsense Yorkshire man, has worked at the school for 34 years – claiming only to have had one day sick in all that time.

During his long and loyal service, Mr Petch has witnessed an education evolution – from the phasing out of corporal punishment, blackboards and O level exams to the introduction of computers, the internet and interactive whiteboards.

And he is about to see another huge milestone in the school’s history – its federation with “rival” school Raincliffe.

But, as reporter Kirsty Beever found out – there’s more to Fred Petch than meets the eye.

Fred, 81, grew up in the picturesque surroundings of Castle Howard, near Malton.

He said: “My mother was a cook there. And I had a nanny, not many people can say they had one of those, not at Castle Howard anyway. We had a farm as well, so I was brought up in the farmer’s fields. We were up at 6am milking the cows.”

He said while on the farm, and through his mother’s cooking, he had learnt to eat well.

“I don’t eat any modern food. Boiled bacon is as good as any. It’s kept me going. And I’ve seen two or three recessions. I’ve carried more jam sandwiches than enough.”

Mr Petch went to Welbourn Primary School and left at the commonly accepted age of 14.

He said: “After school I started at Castle Howard as a page boy with Mr Henderson the butler. Those were the days where you never left, you never had a holiday. You got up at 5am and cleaned the household’s shoes. You didn’t ask for time off.

“Then at 18, during the war, I decided to join the RAF. They sent me across to India, to fight the Japanese.”

Mr Petch joined the maintenance unit.

“We had a good time in India. I got on well with the people, they were never nasty, they were all very friendly.”

While in the RAF he met his wife-to-be, Dolly. They were married in 1948, and this year celebrate 60 years together.

After the war, Mr Petch returned to farming and after many years of hard work and raising a family, the two decided to move to Scarboro-ugh.

And that’s when Mr Petch decided to apply for the job at Graham School.

He said: “I came to Graham in 1974 as associate caretaker. Two years later I was head caretaker.”

Mr Petch, now semi-retired, says another full-time caretaker looks after the day-to-day duties.

But Mr Petch was keen to stay loyal to the school and continues to look after the building and its grounds.

He said: “I’m still around should there be any phone-calls or break-ins, and if anyone wants to come back during the weekend. A few teachers ring me and ask if they can come in for a couple of hours.”

Fred has many memories of the school of years gone by – most of them good. He said: “We have never had a bit of trouble here. We’ve never had a broken window or anything. It’s a good school.