WHEN it comes to journeys with odds-defying twists and turns, Albert Nowicki has come a particularly long way.

Albert retired at the weekend after a proud quarter of a century spent looking after the interests of Darlington’s historic market.

But what were the chances that he – the son of a teenage Auschwitz survivor – should have found himself managing the Victorian covered market beneath the majestic old clock tower of a town in northern England?

With austerity and competition from the internet biting hard, being markets manager has certainly had its challenges. But Albert has been able to view them in the harsh context of his family roots.

His father, Jozef, grew up in Poland, close to Auschwitz, but it was only after his death in 1983 that the truth began to emerge.

Jozef had a private cupboard under the stairs at home and his family discovered an old suitcase inside. It contained documents and photographs that showed he he’d been forced into hard labour in the Nazi extermination camp from the age of 15.

“He never wanted to talk about it but there were photographs of him in the striped uniform of Auschwitz,” explains Albert. “We don’t know the full story but, as a young man capable of working, he’d escaped execution and done what was needed to survive.”

Jozef was transferred from Auschwitz to Belsen, in northern Germany, and eventually made his way to England when the camp was liberated at the end of the war.

Jozef ended up in Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, where he worked in the cotton mills before becoming a miner. He met his wife Edna and they had eight children, including Albert, who was born in 1956.

Right from being a little boy, Albert dreamed of being a soldier. At 17, he boarded a train to Darlington, the closest stop for Catterick Garrison, where he was signed up by the 14th/20th King’s Hussars. He served in Germany and Northern Ireland, ending up as a gunnery instructor, showing young soldiers how to fire tanks. By then, he’d met his wife Lynn, who’d found a job at Hutchinson Telecom in Darlington, so they settled in the market town when he was made redundant from the Army in 1992.

The first Civvy Street job he applied for was markets assistant for Darlington Borough Council and, to his surprise, he was successful. He quickly proved himself to be an asset and, when veteran markets manager Peter Wilson retired, Albert was the obvious choice to take over in 2013.

His proudest achievements include introducing the annual French markets, launching the ever-popular Tea Dance in the market square, and organising the successful celebration of the 150th anniversary of the market in 2014. His duties also included maintaining the town clock along with the bells that ring out on the hour.

There has also been the odd crisis to deal with along the way, such as the night he received a call in the early hours to say a huge blaze had engulfed the King’s Head Hotel in 2008. It was just hours before “Love Your Local Market Day” was due to begin, and stalls had to make way for the emergency firefighting operation, but only one plate was broken in the process and the market was allowed to open at 11am instead of 9am.

Throughout it all, Albert has built a positive rapport with the traders. Veteran fruit and veg stall-holder, Robin Blair, describes him as “a force for good”, adding: “He’s always been fair and tried to do what’s right.”

And butcher David Jackson, who’s been trading in the market for more than 50 years, says: “Albert’s a doer, not a pen-pusher. If there’s a problem, he does his best to get it resolved and he’s going to be a big miss.”

Albert has also demonstrated a keen sense of fun, like the time a market event featured a karaoke. Set up without his knowledge to sing “I’m Too Sexy For My Shirt”, he not only performed it with gusto, but whipped his shirt off as well.

It speaks volumes that his retirement was delayed until he’d played a central role in the market being safely handed over from the council to private operator Markets Asset Management. Much-needed investment is now planned to give the old market hall a new lease of life and, despite the clear difficulties facing town centres everywhere, Albert remains optimistic.

“We need to reinvent ourselves, but we have a great opportunity to do that now,” he says. “The market should be Darlington’s centre-piece. She’s a tired old lady in need of some TLC.”

Albert Nowicki may have clocked off for good, but he’ll always find time to keep an eye on the fortunes of his “second family” at Darlington Market.