A CHEERY face will be missing at Saltburn's world-famous cliff lift tramway this weekend.

Engineer Ken Fellows - known as the town's Fred Dibnah after the late Lancashire TV steam engine buff - retired yesterday after 20 years of looking after the 121-year-old tram.

"This has been the best job I've had in my working life. You meet people and the seafront is a pleasant spot," he said.

Mr Fellows, a 65-year-old bachelor, of Park Lane, Guisborough, started work with his father, Ron, who ran a coal and haulage business in Guisborough.

But when he retired, Mr Fellows did not want to run the business and joined the maintenance team at Welford's bakery, Middlesbrough, spending 14 years there.

Then he became a service engineer with the Fairworld chain of cinemas in the North-East.

Speaking of the cliff lift, he remembered a "horrendous day" ten years ago when a force eight gale forced the lift to be shut.

"The best day was in the mid-1980s when the first Victorian week was held and thousands of people flocked down to the beach, especially at night when there was a fireworks display.

"We were kept going non-stop from 10am to 11pm. We've never been busier."

He praised the investment put in by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, and its predecessors - including emergency braking and a new electronics system for doors.

"I particularly remember the major refurbishment eight years ago when a new winding wheel was installed. The lift makes money provided the weather is good.

"It's running the new with the old - the electronic age and the Victorian age.

"The record number of passengers was in 2003 when 100,000 people travelled on it. Last year we were just short of that figure."

Mr Fellows said the renovation of Saltburn pier had been a "smashing job". He looked forward to the opening of the seafront building, next to the lift station, next month.

The tram will be open daily until the end of September from 10am to 7pm, and then at weekends only to October 31.

The 60p single fare remains the same as last year with pensioners charged a reduced rate. Pensioners from Redcar and Cleveland borough travel free.

Edna Vernon, who runs the gift shop next to the tram station, said: "I would say Ken is like Fred Dibnah. He's nursed this tram all these years and is an expert. He also helps other people quite willingly."

Mr Fellows is being succeeded by Alan Ismay, a former Customs and Excise officer, who has been understudying him in recent years.

Meanwhile, Mr Fellows will be kept busy in his retirement with his oilcan by continuing to help the group of volunteers who maintain the water pumping station at Broken Scar, near Darlington.

* History note: Saltburn's tramway is one of only three in the country which is run by a water system. The others are at Folkstone and Linton, North Devon.

Engineering enthusiasts from all over the world visit the tramway.