Britain's oldest waitress has told of her disappointment after she's been forced to retire through injury - aged 91.<br /><br />Violet Garratty has been working two days a week at the Kenwood Hall Hotel and Spa in Sheffield, South Yorks,. for the last 32 years.<br /><br />But the mum-of-seven will sign off from her role just after her 92nd birthday later this month after she noticed her mobility had reduced after having hip surgery.<br /><br />Violet says she is 'disappointed' she's leaving the job after 32 years because the staff are 'absolutely fantastic.'<br /><br />She said: "I'm disappointed actually because I was hoping to go back for a little while. I was looking forward to going back.<br /><br />"HR phoned last week, they were asking when I was coming back to work. <br /><br />"Staff were asking and customers were asking when I was coming back.<br /><br />"It is wonderful. I really enjoyed it. <br /><br />"The staff are absolutely fantastic and every one of them has been pleasant and it has been a pleasure to work for them."<br /><br />After having children with husband Ronald, who died aged 82 in 2011, Violet decided she would be a stay at home mum.<br /><br />However when her youngest children started school, she decided to go back to work and took up a role at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. <br /><br />She worked there for 16 years and retired when she was 60.<br /><br />But just two weeks later she started her second career at the hotel.<br /><br />Since then, she's met numerous celebrities including Strictly Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace, boxer Henry Cooper and Coronation Street actor William Roache.<br /><br />Violet, who has 22 great-grandchildren, added: "I didn't work for 21 years.<br /><br />"In them days, you stayed at home and looked after the children.<br /><br />"I was there for 16 years. You had to retire when you were 60.<br /><br />"I'd only left the theatre for two weeks when I was told there were jobs going at the Kenwood Hall, so I rang up and made an appointment.<br /><br />"The supervisor was called Nancy and she led me into the hall and took me to a table that was set out for the afternoon tea.<br /><br />"She said 'Vi, I'm going to tell you two things and two things only. You serve from the left and take from the right.'<br /><br />"At the end, I asked her 'have you enjoyed your meal?' and she said 'yes love, can you start tonight?"<br /><br />Over the years, Violet has visited America, Turkey, Kenya, Hong Kong and Spain.<br /><br />The grandmother-of-13 even took a flying lesson when she was 80 which she thought was 'fantastic.'<br /><br />Violet, who moved to Sheffield from Lincoln when she was four, said: "My brother lived near a mountain and we would watch people para glide. <br /><br />"I always said that one day I would have a go at it and para glide. <br /><br />"My son tried to sort it so I could para glide so he thought the next best thing was a flying lesson.<br /><br />"I thought it was fantastic and was looking forward to it but my son thought I would be frightened. <br /><br />"I got into the plane, we went up into the air and the pilot gave me the controls. <br /><br />"It was fantastic."
