Bill Bannerman, who took him on as an apprentice in 1974, interrupted his 94th birthday celebrations to join son and third generation partner Ewan at the firm’s Dunkeld Road Colour Studio for the send-off.

When Davie started out, the obligatory paint-splattered workplace radio was pounding out hits like Abba’s Eurovision classic “Waterloo,” the Bay City Rollers’ “Shang-a-Lang” and the year’s best seller, Mud’s “Tiger Feet.”

“It was great to see Bill again. It brought back a lot of great memories,” said Davie (66).

“But I reminded him I didn’t start out with Bannerman’s.

“One of my pals was a painter and when I was leaving Perth High School, he said it was a good trade to get into.

“I decided to give it a go and initially landed an apprenticeship with D. Smith in Princes Street.

“How did that go? It was terrible, a nightmare.

“Back in those days there were railings stretching from the North Inch and the full length of Tay Street.

“I must have painted every one of those railings, and the two bridges. Then it was on to railings for the council in Glenearn Road.

“Enough was enough six months in. I was seeing railings in my sleep.

“I told Bill what was happening. He said I’d never learn anything just painting railings.

“I told Smiths I was leaving to join the navy and got a good reference. A few months later the old boss spotted me in a Bannerman’s van and realised I hadn’t joined up to see the world.

“It was a four-year apprenticeship, and it was some team I was working with.

“A lot of the tradesmen had come through the war. I was just a daft laddie. If you showed willing you were fine, but they didn’t take any prisoners.

“It was a different world. When you were working off scaffolding, health and safety didn’t come into it. You were up three-part ladders using an extension pole and roller.

“We were doing up loads of flats in the centre of Perth, pretty much every hotel in Pitlochry, painting shooting lodges and battling midgies up the Perthshire glens. Whitewashing the exterior of Blair Castle was another memorable job.

“The craziest one was working in a big house in the Isla Road.

“I had a feeling something wasn’t right when I spotted some blood on the staircase wall.

“It turned out a Canadian grey goose had flown in and was stuck in an upstairs lounge.

“I beat a hasty retreat when the thing came at me. It was angry, and huge. It tried to stick the heid on me.

“No mobile phones in those days so I shipped out and used a neighbour’s landline to tell the boss there was a goose loose aboot the hoose.

“Jack Hutchison the foreman came to the rescue, flinging a dustsheet over its head and getting it out.

“The 50 years have flown by. Bannerman’s have been a grand firm to work for and I was lucky to work with characters I’ll never forget.”

Keen Celtic fan Davie earmarked a holiday with wife Kate to mark his retirement.

“I’m a member at King James VI so I hope to get in a bit more golf,” he said.

“I’ve been a trustee with the Perth City Boys Club Trust for 12 years.

“The old Dunkeld Road clubrooms were sold for £90,000 years ago and now we give out grants to help local sports clubs and individuals.

“When times are hard the first thing that folk stop are club memberships for their kids so we try to give a helping hand.

“The boys’ club was fantastic for supporting youngsters and I remember a squad of us from Bannerman’s going in to do up the clubrooms one winter and they didn’t take a penny. That was some gesture.”

Davie is just the second tradesman to mark a half century with Bannerman’s, which celebrated its centenary three years ago and also has a Colour Studio in Dundee.

“Davie genuinely is a legend in the local building trade. Everyone knows him and he’s a fine tradesman,” said Ewan.

“Dad set the alarm on his birthday to make sure he joined the team gathering to wish Davie well in his retirement.”