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Midland Counties Dairy

My dad worked for midland counties from the depot in Shirley between Stanton Road and Sandy Hill road on the Stratford Road, He started in 1940 with a horse and cart and his round was Haslucks Green Road and its side roads from the Baldwin Pub upto the Colebrook pub.He left the depot when he was called up into the army in 1942 and returned to it in 1946 after de mob until 1948.
He still had a horse and cart but at the time electric hand carts were just started appearing,which he did not like nor trust, the co-op and midland couties roundsmen used to work hand in hand in those days, if anybody refused to pay one company and thought they could get a free weeks milk out of the other they used to find out different, as my dad and the co-op milkman used to meet in the colebrook pub every saturday and tell each other of the customers who owed more than 2 weeks money,that was of course after finding the husbands in the pubs and getting them to cough up the money owed as the wives used to tell him the Husbands were.
When I was nine I became a runner for the local midland counties milkman who ran out of the Solihull depot in Yew tree Lane,wrapping the yellow and white packets of butter in little paper bags trying to balance them on top of the pass bottles, all they used to sell back then was butter,unflavoured ski yoghurts,orange squash and sometimes third of a pint and a pint of made up orange squash, the roundsman was called Eric, a very tall thin man and it was round 4.
I stayed as a runner flicking in between the co-op and what later became Unigate, the last 2 yrs I stayed with Unigate still doing the rounds from the solihull depot deliverying my last bottle way back in 1976 and it was on round 4 I finished on.
At the Solihull depot I remeber the yard supervisor,his nickname was "H", about 6 yrs later I married and moved to Shirley,it was when I was in the front garden I heard a voice shouting me,it was "H" himself and he only lived 2 doors away, my dad turned up a few days later to visit and H and his wife was outside, it turned out that "H" and my dad had worked together as roundsmen after the war in Shirley and "H"s wifes dad had been the Depot Manager then
Small world ! though never did find out what "H" actually stood for
 
This aerial photo was taken in 1950 and the building in Phyllis Nicklin's 1967 photo had not yet been built. I've marked (green) where she probably stood on the zig-zag bridge. The Church Tavern is top left in the photo.
1950zigzag.jpg

The dairy (see post#116) had 'come and gone' between the date of the above photo and today's view below.
IMG_1293.jpg
 
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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 WORKED AT MOLAND STREET DAIRY. I WAS A YARDMAN . LEN HIGGINS WAS THE MANAGER, NORMAN WAS THE UNDER MANAGER. I REMEMBER JIMMY YAPP. OLD GEORGE.BEITTIE SHE WORKED IN THE OFFCE. DAVID WAS THE YARDMAN I DID HIS DAYS OFF. I WORKED MOST OF THE TIME AT KINGSTANDING DAIRYTHEN TRANSFERED TO PERRY PONT AS DRIVER. THE BOSS WAS HARRY GRAY ,NORMAN AND JOE BALL, DRIVERS I REMEMBER --COLLIN RENOLDS,WINKY AND MANY MORE NAMES I CANNOT REMEMBER AT PRESENT. HAPPY DAYS
 
Hi all, loved reading these replies, my late father worked at the Brierley Hill depot, then relocated to the Kidderminster branch, I remember sitting on an upturned pop bottle crate in his old bull nose mk1 transit, battering around the village of Wolverley and Fairfield estate, he stayed until retirement but saw the changes to unigate, co op, dairy crest and now milk and more, he also went on to the wholesale side driving an old Bedford tk, before finishing off as the yardman before the depot closed, great memories, stay safe..
 
Hi , anyone here from Kingstanding dairy I worked there late 70's into the 80's. I remember working with Roy T when I first started, showing me all the tricks of the trade. The guy was a legend. Others around that time Big Roy, Alan Brian and Ken the yardman. Happy days.
 
I was a refrigeration engineer at Midland Counties Ice Cream from 1973 till 1981 I ran and maintained the refrigeration plant that froze the machines that produced the Ice Cream and Lollies etc, Most of the Ice cream on the production area was produced in bulk for large supermarket outlets. But up on the top floor there was a large plant for producing Baskin & Robbins 31 flavours, and on the first floor there was a Cryo production line using liquid nitrogen to freeze and harden the Bertorelli range . It was a very nice place to work for in those days, and it was a shame that Lyons Maid chose to shut the Birmingham factory down.
 
Welcome Paul. I worked there as a student, just the summer night shift about 1970. Worked on the ground floor on packing choc ices, soft scoop in big tubs and orange lollies (great to have to hand in the heat of the hot summer). I also did some nights up on the floor that did the mivvies - they were processed on frozen flat trays. You had to wear gloves to handle the icy trays otherwise the trays stuck to your hands. And I worked on the fancy whole frozen (real) orange and lemon ices/sorbets - were they the Bertorelli ones you mention ?

Shan’t forget the constant slushy floors with the running water to clear away spillages. It was an interesting experience having never worked in a factory before. When it was hot in the night it was good to get a fag break alongside the canal where it was marginally cooler. Shan’t forget the constant slushy floors with the running water to clear away dropages - just as well we had the white wellies for footwear.

And the money was good - well it seemed so to me. I think it was a long shift starting at, I think 8.00 pm until 8.00 am. Played havoc with your sleep pattern. Don’t think many factories generally employed females on night shifts at the time.

And what a relief when you went off shift at 8.00 am and out into the fresh sunny morning. The experience made a very big impression on me. Viv.
 
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Didn't Midland buy up Wakeden daires about 1960? Cheers Tony
MCD / Wacaden

For much of the last century, the WACADEN (Wathes Cattell & Gurden) dairy was the third largest in Birmingham, after Birmingham Co-op and Midland Counties Dairy. The main Wacaden processing dairy was in Nova Scotia Street to the north of Curzon Street railway station (where Millennium Point is today). The Wacaden dairy business was acquired by Midland Counties Dairy in about 1963. Midland Counties opened their new dairy in Aldridge Road, Perry Barr in 1964 to replace their old dairy at the top of Corporation Street which was demolished in the mid-1960s to make way for the Aston Expressway. The new dairy at Perry Barr could accommodate the extra capacity to meet the former Wacaden customers needs and so the Nova Scotia Street dairy was closed soon after in 1964.
 
So as a boy when Wacaden, came to the new housing estate at Bartly Green, by horse, to deliver our Milk, they had to travel from Birmingham center, they must have started around 2 am, in the morning and some of those winters were cruel in those days, heavy snow, don't remember them missing.
 
So as a boy when Wacaden, came to the new housing estate at Bartly Green, by horse, to deliver our Milk, they had to travel from Birmingham center, they must have started around 2 am, in the morning and some of those winters were cruel in those days, heavy snow, don't remember them missing.
There was probably a local Wacaden milk depot, there were several around the city. The Nova Scotia Street dairy was the main processing dairy.
 
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I’m sure Wacaden dairy was in Hubert Rd or Tiverton Rd. Selly Oak. I think there was a small dairy in Bournville which was taken over by Midland counties
 
I’m sure Wacaden dairy was in Hubert Rd or Tiverton Rd. Selly Oak. I think there was a small dairy in Bournville which was taken over by Midland counties
Wacaden had a depot at 1135 Hubert Rd. Bourneville Model Dairies were at 36 Selly Oak Road up to 1961 when it was absorbed by probably Midland Counties.
 
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Thanks, What a relief, even though to think that with a horse, from Bornville or Selly Oak was still quite a pace to Bartley Green, for the poor old horse, but the roads were a lot quieter in the 50's.
 
My husband, Ray Horton worked as a roundsman for MCD at the Swan Depot on Yardley Road.
Couple of guys he worked with were John Nimmons ( unsure of spelling) and a lad called Geoff …..
many an afternoon on finishing work, they drove to Barry Island for a bit of fun, stayed until late, drove back and went straight out the following morning with no sleep !
Be great to get in touch with John and Geoff for Ray to meet up and chew the cud.
 
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Don't really know where to put this!
My dad worked for them in the fifties...
I'd wait for him to come home on a Saturday, with a block of icecream wrapped up in white ice in newspaper!!
The ice would be immediately put into a bowl so that it would bubble and pop, and the icecream was naturally eaten up!!
He would park his truck (front end without trailer) at the top of the road - all the kids were jealous!!
I worked at midland counties Perry pont garage servicing the electric milk floats from 1968 to 1973 and visited all the depots to carry out maintenance work and repairs on all the trucks, we had Bedford HA Viva vans, Moggie 1000, and CA Vans spent many hours in those. Passed my driving test in BVP 168 Morris minor van. Happy days.
 
I worked at mcd Perry barr garage repairing and servicing electric milk floats from 1968 to 1973 we serviced all the depots from there and kept the wheels turning. Spent many hours on them, Smiths ,Wales and Edwards, Morrison Electricar, Brush and C M's
 
Midland Counties had a depot on the Kingstanding Road in the 40s 50s. I think one of their guys got killed by a bus just by the junction with Cranbourne Road.

I had a part time job on the Wacaden horse and cart milk round in the late 40s around the Kinstanding area. E.
We had a depot opposite the Deers leap pub on the hill, the wind was raw up there in the winter servicing the trucks and topping up the batteries with distilled water
Midland Counties had a depot on the Kingstanding Road in the 40s 50s. I think one of their guys got killed by a bus just by the junction with Cranbourne Road.

I had a part time job on the Wacaden horse and cart milk round in the late 40s around the Kinstanding area. E.
We had a depot opposite the Deers leap pub on the hill on Queslett Rd topping up the truck batteries with distilled water was freezing in the winter with the wind howling across the fields
 
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