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Wacaden Dairy Wathes Cattell & Gurden Dairy

Hi guys
I can recall wacadens dairy,s because when I was sixteen years old I got a job as a lorry drivers mate
And it was at a company called the Birmingham bottle exchanged which was situated at the bottom of st Michaels hill Hockley. Come handsworth boundaries I used that term
The company was owned by a solicter firm whom offices are or was based there as well
They had the contracts for all trades of dairies ,and brewers mineral trade supplies
Whom handle bottles
We weren't to all the waccies , the co/op ,midland counties ,hands worth dairies and other
Small time traders along with all the brewers from around the midlands
You name it any part of the country they was contracted to collect thousands of bottles from every trader
All there grates stacked to the heavens on a huge twenty ton lorries they had four great big
Long lorries and they went to every corner of the county each having thousands of bottles
And they was washed out and sorted into there own special crates for where they came from
Whether its a dairy or brewers ,
It was a big business they employed women to sort them out
Once the lorry drove into the yard depot we the driver and mate would unload these crates
Off the lorrys and stack them up along side of the track that was running from out side
Of the building and from out side and through inside there would be women looking and plucking
The odd bottles that was not of the said company coming through before going to the wash out
When they was cleanse and sorted and put into there correct crates for the dairy and like wise
Thousands of mix beer bottles had to be sorted out they was the most mixed up ones
Brewers from all the globe was found and grated
It was my uncle billy smart, and his brother Joe was the yard foreman and billy was the yard charge hand
They knew the owner very well for years apparently and it was those guys whom got me my first job
In the winter it was a terrible job high up on there lorrys especially when we had the frost and snow
On the road and the grounds it was then you felt it because the crates have stacked up in the depot
Of all traders yard and covered in ice those metal milk crates was the worst
As I said I have been to all waccys depot and brewers of Wolverhampton
By my worst hate was going to the co/op at Vauxhall it was horendus for crates to be picked up
It was hundreds of them waccys was not to bad nor the brewers
On the subject of waccys, which no/one mentioued was that there was one on pershore road up until
1961 and then they moved out shortly after that year the postion would have been the bottom end
Of the police training grounds and just short of what was a chiefs of police semi that was there one time
We had a huge lorry big and wide and there front gates on pershore road was slim we got in okay
But being a narrow road then it was arkward
The Tally ho was not built then nor was there social club, and every year the licences Christmas
Party was held there and they had collections buckets going around to collect for certain charities
And believe me they give very generous including the brewers MB. I know because years later
In my life I was part of the brewers team and my old Dutch ESS included
Sorry for waffling on but its to easy thast waccies depot was on the site before the old bill ,police
Best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,
 
My grandad worked as a delivery boy for his uncles William Cain and Abel Jones who eventually sold their business to Wacaden ... they were based in Farm Street near the corner with Bridge Street West. They used to deliver by horse and cart and so had a livery stables on Farm Street. My grandad was born in 1910 so he was working for them in the 1920s but both were listed as dairymen or milk dealers on their marriage certificates in 1898 and 1908.
 
hi rob welcome to the forum...how interesting...if you have any photos to share would love to see them

all the best

lyn
 
When we lived in Knowle Road in the 1940s, which milk brand you used was rather like which football team you supported - Blues or Villa, Wacaden, Co-Op, or Midland Counties! My mother wouldn't buy pasteurised as she thought it watery and didn't colour your cup of tea, so we always had steralised. Midland Counties did a nice steralised, and the Co-Op (divi number 70718) was passable, but the Wacaden steralised tasted foul. I always thought it tasted like you were chewing an old rubber mackintosh! Of course, once we had a divi number, we always had it delivered by the Co-Op, and the only time we would buy from the opposition was if we'd run out and their delivery man was in the road before the Co-Op arrived.

As to the ice cream, I never saw any by Wacaden, and loved that by Midland Counties. And you couldn't beat Mason's Jaffarade, but we always had our six bottle of Corona delivered! Both of those were part of life's essentials, even if you were poor.

Maurice
 
Hi Maurice
on that subject of steralised milk , we was brought up on it for drinking it from the bottle and for a good old cuppa
All my life of growing up we never had the pasure ,it was only when i came into the Irish communitity
that i came onto the pass; because it was my wifes family that got me hooked on the pass as that was what they was brought
Upon in Ireland and never used the stera so now in our house hold its pass all the way
but i will say we found the stera is the one for colouring your tea, and on that subject of tea
And coming from a catureing famiy of jelfs tea and coffee houses , i am a natural tea earn belly
I love my tea and i will drink as many pots of it ,you can put in front of me
And on that subject and at this time of the evening i will pop on the kettle for a brew ,
and incidently my mothers co/op number was 2360
best wishes my dear friend Alan,, Astonian,,,,,
 
Sterilized milk was dreadful, as far as we were concerned. It was an insult for it to be called milk it was said.
I did see 'stera' as some called it but I have never seen it in Devon. I believe some holiday centre shops stocked it occasionally for the holiday makers who were used to it and found real milk strange. :D
 
Hi Alan,
when we was on the road for Dyno rod of palmaston road spark hill we used to spend alot of time in different cafes
up and down the midland and pull into the little cafes and the old transport cafes for lorry drivers
long before the councils came on the scenes for closing down alot of road side cafes for lorry drivers and before the motorways
and down passing the old brick works the making of bricks there just before them there was very thriving last stop
lorry drivers cafe before hitting the old folehill road before coventry was befor being reformed
and he was not alone in operating his business ,
But what i an leading up to here is the difference between stera , and passureise
the owners of fransport cafes would asked you when orderin a cuppa or mug of tea , what is your
preference he would asked . stera or pass , and my answer like most drivers was stera , because it does had colour to your teas
and less on quanty of milk is added to the cup but where as upomn pass it takes extra milk to colour your tea
Its water down and thin in texure and its very weak and taste less best wishes Astonian,,, Alan,,,
 
We also had the option of James Holt's dairy on Rodway St. Our mom would get it some time if we ran out of our co-op milk. I hated Holt's milk as it sometimes had skin on it that would float around in your tea, AND it tasted "funny". I would not drink anything that had something floating around, including tea leaves.

Dave A
 
Ha ha, Dave, you and me both! Hot milk with skin on it - REVOLTING. I found out nearly 30 years ago that I was allergic to milk - it was guaranteed to give me migraines. After a few spells in hospital I reverted to putting fruit juice on my cereals and now I can't stand milk in anything, so the stera -v- past argument doesn't arise. No milk - which ruins good coffee anyway - and no migraines!

Maurice
 
HI Dave
On the subject of floating around in your cuppa or tea what ever , i am very caution when it comes to my tea,
but being you have mentionioned holts milk and the skins floating in your milk
firstly do you recall the Automatic milk machine they introduce in birmingham and its first introduction of carton milk
well this as pronted me to reply to your thread on the subject of floaters in milk and the pasurised as well
because many years ago i got myself a job at Handsworth dairies in island road inside
I had previuosly prior worked for midland countys daires round man
So i got the job inside and around there dairies and of course by then the carton of milk became popular
with people
So Handsworth dairies bought some new Austrian milk macines for cartoning the milk
Ther machines was clean and it stoof for the likes of sounding in a hugh square troth all around the machine
and the operators stood out side of it , but was happening the machines was breaking down regular as clock work
And the cartond would get jammed and broken down there for they would break down the machine and openen it
and release gallons of milk out onto the trough on the floor along with damage crunch up cartons
It took ages to release but these operators had wellingtons on walking around the machine uop and down to fetch some one
to get it up and running but whilst all this is going on they was tramping around in those troughs in wellie
up starts the machine and sucks it all back in and carton and carry on and then all there bathes are dated six or more
In advace i high cold storage that put me off milk for awhile so thats why i will never buy a carton of milk ever
best wishes Astonian,,,
 
our mom used stera for tea and pass for drinking...i can think of nothing worse than putting stera milk yer cornflakes yuk :D i have never bought a bottle of stera in my life

lyn
 
You know that my memory is not what it used to be. I left Brum when I was 16. I haven't a clue about sterilized or pasteurized milk. I just never liked milk, and warm or hot milk even less! In those days it seemed that milk was more prolific in daily life than it is now. Our mom would make tomato soup with milk, which, even to this day, makes tomato soup not one of my favorites. She would cook haddock in milk, my older brother still doesn't eat haddock...coffee made with milk instead of water and rice pudding with lots of SKIN on the top, still makes me gag!! I wouldn't eat rice pudding at all until Ambrosia (the 10 second sweat, delicious to eat) came out in tins. School milk was a problem, I recall only looking forward to milk so that I could make a spinner out of the foil top (stick a penny in it and make a good rim) anyone remember doing that?
Dave A
 
hi dave you have just bought to mind that when the bottles of pass milk was left on the step too long in the winter the milk would freeze and rise out of the top of the bottle forcing the silver tops to rise with it...looked like the milk had a little hat on:D

lyn
 
The small milk given at one time to school children - in my days anyway - was pasteurized. There was also TT (tuberculin tested) which was much the same as pasteurized. One very retrograde step, in my view, was the curtailment of milk to some school children: I looked forward to my daily bottle and was always first in the queue for the spares not taken by absentees, wimps or haters of milk. :D
Moving away from the city (and maybe on the outer fringes) would find milk being delivered in churns and ladled into your own jugs. This was usually a horse and cart delivery, often a lady was the dairymaid. I had an aunt in the Potteries who, although it being a built up area, had such a delivery of milk. In some areas the pasteurized milk was in a wider topped bottle with a cardboard top. Many dairies had their company names on the bottle, etched or painted having become collectors items I guess nowadays. Due to the easily penetrated tops, by birds and some youngsters, maybe the more secure sterilized bottle cap was another reason , beside the longer lasting attribute, that caused it to be favoured by many ladies.
 
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yes i can recall those little bottles of milk at school in those early years
Iwas a milk monitor at st marys school Aston
and in the winter bleak winters then days , deep in snow we had to dragg all those little crates across the play ground
to the school building and eventualy we had to take them all around the school classes
luckly and very nice indeed at that school we would get the cup of cocco first , then in the after noon we would get our milk
Iam sure there is quite afew guys and possible gals on this forum have been at that school as well
I was living at my nans house in whitehouse street and the play ground wall backed on to our gardens
so i never had to walk down and around to the school it was always a bunk up the wall and i am in,
good old days i think , saying that i always thought that when you get older it gets easy
but by golly it aint by a long chalk ,, well thats my theory Astonian,,,, Alan,,,,
 
It was the school milk that thoroughly put me off milk. We were forced to drink it and, as Lyn says, in winter the milk often froze. It would then be left in front of a fire for several hours to melt , which resulted in vile-tasting warm tepid milk - Ugh
 
our mom used stera for tea and pass for drinking...i can think of nothing worse than putting stera milk yer cornflakes yuk :D i have never bought a bottle of stera in my life

Your must have been very posh then Lyn :)

We used stera in tea, then when mom had a baby she would get him the odd bottle of pass.
 
Then, of course, was the creamy topping on pasteurized milk. As most milk today comes in plastic containers the cream content is not so evident. I did not notice the amount of cream as a youngster but since living in Devon I did notice. when it was the old 1 pint glass bottles, that in other parts of the country the colour of the mild was slightly a lighter colour and less cream at the top. All this reminds me of the tubbies. :D
 
Garden, cookie. My Mom's first job was with them as a Dairy Analysis. She left them in 1930 when she married my Dad. When she went to work during the war (WWII ) it was as the cook in a factory ( Gold's ) which was on the other side of the yard from Wacaden's.
Life's a bit strange isn't it
 
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