Kept 'bins'? 'Binman' already has the bins in it. Kept 'fifty' or 'years'? That is how long he has done it; 'oldest' tells you the same thing in one word.
This one really happened. John Wesbroom is 82 and has collected bins in South Oxfordshire since the 1970s, sixteen years past the usual retirement age. He gets up at 3.30am for a 5.45am start, walks about five miles a shift and helps empty up to 1,000 garden waste bins with a workmate who is 22. 'I love what I do,' he said. 'It keeps me fit and happy.' His family tell him to keep going. (Oxford Mail, 12 November.)
Every word, accounted for
AfterA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
fiftyHow long he has done it. A number, and 'oldest' already tells you it has been a long time.
yearsGoes with fifty. How long, not what happened.
ofA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
earlyWhat his mornings are like. Colour.
alarmsHow his day starts. Colour.
andA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
upA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
toA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
thousandHow many bins. A number, not the news.
binsThe best wrong word here: 'binman' already has the bins in it.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
shiftHis working day. Colour.
inA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
SouthPart of the place name.
OxfordshireWhere his round is. A map detail; 'Britain's' says more.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
manWho, but 'binman' says it better.
billedIt tells you someone else gave him the title. The title itself is what you keep.
asA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
Britain'sOldest in the whole country, not just on his crew. Stays.
oldestWhy he is in the news. Stays.
binmanWho he is. Stays.
won'tHe could stop. He is not going to. Stays.
retireThe thing he won't do. Stays.