Milk Round

Dairy woman set to retire after fifty years of milk deliveries in and around Torrington.

Laura Wilton of Torrington has been delivering milk to the same area for the past fifty years and this is her last milk round before retirement. Three of her customers have been regulars since the 1920s when she started. Laura’s husband Tom runs the local dairy farm and has recently been helping Laura on her rounds delivering the milk from the back of their Bedford van. At the time Laura stated that she was looking forward to retiring but that she would miss the early mornings.

By the twentieth century doorstep milk deliveries were common in many countries and in the UK electric milk floats took over from the horse-drawn carts as the embossed glass bottle took over from the milk churn. From 1933 until 1994 the Milk Marketing Board regulated milk production and distribution. A milkie kept to the same milk round prompting many a reference to the not always untrue milkman story whereby illicit affairs between delivery man and stay-at-home housewife could and even did lead to additional family members. Today large dairies continue milk rounds with diverse products but as profitability is linked to fast and efficient deliveries there is no time for anything beyond core business.