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Midland Counties Dairy

oh yes i remember the old midland dairyies i was a milk man and my round was handsworth
i used to have a laugh with the customers and i could tell you some carring on,s
all aroun the park ; grove lane and brunswick rd and virtualy every where it was a very large round indeed
my brother worked inside the dairy in the yard with his father inlaw
those was the good old days best wishes Astonian ;;;
 
I am not that fussed about ice cream but Midland Counties was different. Our neighbour in Holte road a Mrs Wragg was a supervisor there in the 50's. We paid a visit there from school one day. Jean.
 
Hello peoples,

Please stop confusing me, I ain't myself today ! don't know who I am but it's no improvement.

I thought Midland Counties Dairy was in Corporation St. Aston { Gosta green } ??????

There was a sort of garden come island outside and I learned to roller skate there.

You could see into the building and watch the bottles going round.

I don't remember anything about ice cream only the milk.

Betty.
 
MCD was at the top end of Baggot St. I spent hours as a kid watching the bottles going round and round. (Perhaps explains my lifetime in a state of hypnosis)
 
Bern I remember it as being on the Aston road by Aston Cross. Mind you my memory plays tricks these days. I think it was close to HP Sauce. Jean.
 
Jean i think Tony 1 has got it right the MCD that i remember was on the corner of Aston Rd and Baggot St like him i remember the bottles traveling along the conveyor in the windows it was one of those things that caught your eye when going into town on the tram. i assume they made their ice cream on that site i don,t know for certain. Dek
 
Hi all. When I worked there (early 1970s) they only made ice cream but it was talked about that milk was processed there in the past. Baggot Street rings a bell. The factory was I think located along the road that was (or became) aston expressway. There was a canal next to the factory. It was just outside Bham city centre on the Aston Uni side. Never been able to eat much ice cream after working there - indulged too much while I was there!!! I think the brand name was Lyons Maid. They also made a fancy range (sort of italian style) which was like little fruit bombes. Got through a lot of their real orange lollies during the very, very hot steamy summer I worked there. The best product to work on during the summer months was on the strawberry mivvi line as the mivvis used to come along the line on frozen trays (so cold your fingers used to stick to the trays). Nice and cool..................Also remember they had a great staff canteen - proper meals for us starving students.............Viv
 
MCD was on the corner of Bagot Street and the last little bit of Corporation Street where it met Aston Road at the canal. I also remember watching the bottles going along quickly on the conveyors. I remember the brick of ice cream too with wafers. My brother and I used to fight for the thickest slice so one of us was made to slice it and the other got to choose a slice. Those slices soon became regular sizes!! Lovely ice cream but I think Walls was better.
 
Dave was the walls ice cream round and fitted into a cornet?. I loved those too but none of the rubbish you get these days. Mind you there was a whisky flavoured one I quite liked. Jean.
 
Not sure if the round "roll" was only Walls' Jean but they also did a brick which is what I thought was nicer the than MCD brick.
 
Hi All,
Got a feeling that the round roll was Walls, can remember my grandfather selling it in his shop.
 
HI all
yes jean was correct it was the best ice cream them days and still is today there was never comparison
between midland counties and walls , ice cream even thou i worked for the midland
i would never bring home there ice cream
and on the question of rolls yes it was good old walls with there round rolls and there square cornets
even today , walls fly the flag for me
have a nice day every body best wishes Astonian ;;
 
I'm a bit confused about the ice cream rolls wrapped in paper and open at each end. Walls may have had them but our local shop that had a Midland Counties Dairy ice cream server fridge sold them after WW2. Here's another interesting site about the company with lots of illustrations and a photo of the Midland Counties fridge just like the one in our local shop back then. https://www.kzwp.com/lyons/midland.htm
 
I worked at Moland Street from leaving school in '69 to going "on the buses" in 76. I started as a "runner" learning all the rounds. When I was 17 I took my milk float test. This was taken at Perry Pont and I think lasted around 10 mins. I then took over my own round covering Aston and Witton. Names I remember are Len Higgins my first manager then after he retired Eric Steel took over. Other names were George Williams, John Jukes, John Cartledge, Steve Cleaver. I can remember a number of other first names, but not their sur names, its an age think I think.
 
I noticed the name John Jukes and wondered if he lives in Great Barr?. The one I know used to help out at swimming club.
 
I am going back 35 years now but i think he lived somewhere in South Birmingham
 
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