We think Mary Tissington's amazing.  She's just celebrated her 80th birthday and still works on her the family market stall, often getting up at 3.30am and working through to teatime. Quite rightly, she decided that after 60 years on the stall she ought to be taking things a bit easy now so she decided to... take Fridays off! - just for a few weeks mind until the weather improves at least.

Mary first started working on Smith and Tissington’s fish, crab and poultry stall at Castle Market, Sheffield when she began helping out for the Christmas rush when she was in her early 20s, helping out her husband Roy when their son Paul was just a little lad. Roy sadly died in 2009 but had carried on working on the stall until he was 80.

Their son Paul now runs the stall. Paul said: “The ball is very much in mum’s court. I’ve told her to work whenever she likes - and I have to say she likes working down here a lot. Like my dad she has a great desire to work and long may that continue. But if she wants to take it little bit more easy then that’s fine by me. She certainly deserves to.”

Mary said: “It is hard work at the market but as one of 13 children I soon discovered that you need to work hard to get by. Anyway, I love the market life,  the people, the traders, the customers, everything about it. I had Friday off for my birthday but I was back again the day after. And you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who came to the stall and said ‘where were you yesterday? I think they missed me!”

We're not surprised, you sound a lovely lady!