My kind of shopping

At about 6.00 in the morning, a van trundles down the track you can just see at the bottom of the featured photo. It’s the milkman, and he leaves us our pint of milk. If we leave an empty egg box out, he takes it, and replaces it with one full of eggs from the farm in a nearby village. Perfect.

The empty glass milk bottles we leave out go on being used and used. They travel sometimes too. Today’s comes from Southport, 90 miles away. We love this blast-from-the-past daily delivery. During lockdown, milkmen like ours became so busy that they had to close their books to new orders. Let’s hope this sustainable form of shopping continues, even when (if?) the pandemic abates.

#Kinda Square

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

60 thoughts on “My kind of shopping”

  4. How funny – since lockdown started we are enjoying the delivery of milk again from the milkman. I was lucky to get in before their books were closed to new customers. Our milk delivery company will also deliver eggs and all sorts of dairy and non-dairy items. It’s wonderful.

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      5. Oh yes. And we didn’t have a fridge when I was small. A terracotta cover soaked in cold water was as good as it got. Also – school milk at break. Warm in summer (yuk!) and frozen in winter.

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      8. Probably brought on by lack of milk diversity. We all built up an immunity to all sorts of things because the milk changed according to season, diet of cows, pollution etc. Once they started to pasteurise and homogenise, many of the natural immunities were killed off.

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  13. Fair point. I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve only seen the Lancashire (OK then, Greater Manchester) branch of the family once since March 😦

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  14. Nice that this is coming back. I had a job as a teenager running the goods from the truck to the porches. Very early in the mornings. That was a long, long time ago.

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  17. What a treat! Milk deliveries here ceased many many years ago; though I’ve heard of an organic farm north of Auckland that does deliver and I keep meaning to investigate. No glass bottles though sadly.

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  18. We no longer have dairy products though I have fond memories of delivering bottled milk as a teenager, the then-current beau’s uncle was the local milkman, and I think it was a way to keep us both occupied one summer holiday 😉

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  19. Cheers to the milkman’s role is still viable. I remember them as a kid – but I haven’t seen one in years. However, you made me think of an interesting site I saw several years ago in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There was a fresh milk machine/dispenser on the main market square.

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  20. I love this! I grew up in the country and when I was a kid, the milkman delivered the milk. My grandparents raised
    chickens and had fresh eggs every morning. They had one cow, but she didn’t produce enough milk to sustain the family. She would produce enough to make fresh butter once in a while. Love this blast from the past!!! 🙂

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      3. I used it as a kid, helping my grandma do it, but have no intentions as an adult. I have a bad back and it just isn’t anything I want to do. I’ll keep buying the yummy Kerrygold. 🙂

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  22. Surprisingly, for what we all consider an English tradition, it’s my American neighbour opposite who has the local ‘organic farm’ milkman deliver milk in bottles every morning. My Green and veggie neighbours have soya and I switched to oat milk a year ago. Changing times. It’s still nicest to have drinks in glass bottles (and their recyclable) rather than cartons or, God forbid, plastic!

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      1. I worked through all varieties five years ago when the doctor told me to stop dairy and I found Oatly the best. Unfortunately, the Swedish brand has recently received a 10% investment from Blackstone Group. This has somewhat taken the shine off regarding the sustainability credentials for the brand.

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  23. This is a blast from the past. I love the glass bottles. We used to get home deliveries here when I was a kid. Interestingly at the back of our current house towards the plantation there is evidence of old pits for domestic waste. It is extraordinary how many old lass bottles emerge intact from the ground! Even more surprising are the number of old milk bottles that should have been returned to the dairy …

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