Show us your milk floats?

[anonymous user]

You could hear the hoof-beats pound as they raced across the ground, the rattle of the wheels as they went round and round, as he galloped into Market Street his bag across his chest, his name was Ernie and he drove the fastest milk-cart in the West.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about that

[RoadworkUK]

I used to absolutely love the noise the Co-Op Dairies milk float used to make around Frinton-on-Sea. It used to pull away with a loud, mid-pitched hum that sounded like it was enthusiastically agreeing with you.

[DVee8]

[DVee8]

I had 1 of these.

 

[Split_Pin]

Growing up in Linlithgow, we were served by Ivybank Dairies in Polmont.

They initially used Mercedes 207ds which were incredibly noisy but these were ousted for a year or two in the early 90s by electric floats. The Mercs came back again a few years later though.

 

Where I live now the float is a standard Transit Van which careers around the street with reckless abandon, side door open, rounds-lad hanging out like something from the A Team.

[Ghosty]

Creamline Dairies had a smiley Transit flatbed with a roof on the back half when they ran on my manor. 

There was also a bloke with a 2WD Ford Ranger but I don't think he serves us any more either. We have hills so an EV is no good.

[plasticvandan]

The bus museum in Wythall has a fine collection of milk floats,i found them much more interesting than the buses actually

[phil_lihp]

It was a shame when they stopped using them in my parents' area around the late nineties, although by then most houses had stopped having it delivered as it often didn't turn up until 9AM when most folk had gone to work, leaving it at the mercy of blue tits and warm sunlight all day.

 

Much as I like a smiley Transit, it just wasn't the same being woken up on a Saturday morning by the sound of a banana diesel being caned from house to house in first gear.  It definitely seemed like a backwards step and I never quite understood the motivation, as the electric floats must have required minimal maintenance.  The depot site they operated from is still partially there but it's now housing and a used car dealer.

[DSdriver]

As promised, here is the Chatham Historic Dockyard floaty thing.

Dockyard is full of stuff that will never float again.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grundig]

You could hear the hoof-beats pound as they raced across the ground, the rattle of the wheels as they went round and round, as he galloped into Market Street his bag across his chest, his name was Ernie and he drove the fastest milk-cart in the West.

 

 

 

 

Sorry about that

 

Rows and rows of disused milk floats stand dying in the dairy yard

And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk bottles to their hearts

Hanging out their old love letters on the line to dry

It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come fast and furious

In a town called malice, yeah

[quicksilver]

Where my dad grew up in Northampton there was a dairy at the end of the road so he'd get woken up by a whole fleet of electric floats with the old clunky rheostat controllers that made the milk shake every time the driver changed the setting. Whirr-clank-whirr-clank down the road over and over again in the early hours of every morning. We still have a local milky but he comes mid-morning in a modern Transit and doesn't wake anyone up so it just isn't the same.

[Timewaster]

I knew someone who's dad worked at the dairy.

His Saturday job was to top up all the batteries in all the floats.

 

Imagine them letting a 13 year old go in on his own and splash acid around with no PPE now?

 

God bless the 80s.

 

Also, why "Float"?

I can understand parade trailers with a home made skirt being called a float but not a Wells & Edwards.

Maybe because there is no gap between the front and rear wheels?

[dollywobbler]

I remember as a kid riding on the milk floats, from the age of about six upwards. The nice milkmen would let us play with the wipers and lights - though not for long! Ken from the Co-op was the best. I remember him complaining when his float was in for service, as the replacement wasn't fast enough.

 

In those days, there were three different brands delivering in our road. Co-op, Unigate and Birmingham Dairies. 

 

[catsinthewelder]

These things are still rattling around Hereford

 

 

In Ludlow the milkman has traded his Carry in for a Fiat Doblo pickup

[eddyramrod]

You could hear the hoof-beats pound as they raced across the ground, the rattle of the wheels as they went round and round, as he galloped into Market Street his bag across his chest, his name was Ernie and he drove the fastest milk-cart in the West.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about that

Now Ernie 'ad a rival, an evil-lookin' man,

named Two-Ton Ted from Teddington, and he drove the baker's van.

 

Wait a minute... My name is Edward, and I drive a baker's van... I don't know any widows in Lily Lane though!

[alcyonecorporation]

I followed our milk man round with a camera a few years ago. 

Didn't uncover any Pat Mustard-esque activities - but a ten second snippet of the footage I shot ended up in the final edit of the BBC's 'Britain In A Day' documentary. 

[stephen01]

Had to pop to the shop as I literally needed bread and milk, how 70's!

 

 

Very friendly chap, I've spoken to him a few times in the past and he recants tales of yesterday when they ran a fleet of these around at 4:00am.