Gloucestershire's amazing milk deliveries through the years
Well into the 1960s the clip-clop of a horse drawn milk float followed by the rattle of bottles in the milkman, or milkwoman’s crate announced the arrival of a new day for many. When supermarkets came on the scene it seemed that the days of having your milk delivered were numbered. However, with present concerns about the environmental damage caused by plastics, along with the recent necessity of staying at home as much as possible, the future is looking decidedly bright for deliverers of our door-to-door full cream, semi-skimmed and skimmed pintas.
Tewkesbury-based Cotteswold Dairy, which was originally called Spa Farm Dairy, was founded back in the 1930s by the Workman family and remains a family run concern to this day. During the 1960s Cotteswold took over a number of smaller operators, including Cheltenham’s Bayshill Dairy with its yard in Swindon Road.
If you were a customer of the Co-op dairy in days gone by you will recall milk tokens. These red and blue plastic discs, about the size of a 2p, were bought from local branches of the Co-op, not forgetting to give your divi number, of course, and were left on the doorstep to pay for your daily pinta of gold top (Jersey full cream), silver top (ordinary full cream) red top (semi skimmed) and so on.