Many thanks to Kevin Radford who sent me the above photo of an old milk float belonging to the once Hoylake based Ashfield Farm Dairies. The road in view is Rudd Street and Kevin is on the left – his dad was having a tea break.
Kevin recalls that Ashfield Dairies were located toward the main road end of Manor Road. Express Dairies later took over Ashfield and moved to the Carr Lane. I’m guessing that the garage in Manor Road that is there today and pictured below used to be part of of the dairy. Am I right do you think?
The front:
the rear from the entry:
Possible related posts (computer generated):
Before Ashfield Dairy’s had the elctric float, they delivered milk by bicycle and pony and trap. The stables were situated in Black Lane and later converted for charging the electric vehicles.
I used to live the other side of Manor Road and looked-out on the building shown. Our first neighbour was Bill Shaw who was born and lived all his life in Manor Road from the early 1900s and he advised the building shown was the cold store for the dairy. I was shown inside once and it is certainly not a stable – the floor level is about a meter above ground level – presumably designed as a loading dock.
Roger
I LIVED AT 11 NEWTON ROAD IN THE 40s.AND SOME TIMES WAS ALLOWED TO RIDE ON THE
HORSE AND TRAP DRIVEN BY A ELDERY CHAP TO DELIVER TO THE POSH HOUSES BETWEEN
HOYLAKE AND MEOLS.YES THE DAIRY WAS AT THE TOP OF MANOR ROAD YOU COULD SMELL THE
MILK AS YOU WALKED PASSED ,THEY KEPT A SHOP ON THE CORNER WHICH SOLD DAIRY PRODUCTS
Yes, the building in Manor Road was a cold store, the machinery was located where there is a silver car jammed into the yard in the photo. Milk delivery was very early in the morning, The loading door was level with the truck beds, you just had to drag the clinking stack of crates into the store with a hook. I lived a few doors away and you didn’t need an alarm clock! The trucks came from “Pool Bank Dairies, Tarvin” which is in Cheshire. There was broken glass all around, making it difficult for me as after school, as I would often run bare foot down to the sea for a swim. The milk floats were charged at the old stables behind the Parish Church yard, you could hear the humm of the chargers when you walked past.
Kevin Radford, I remember you ! Your mother was Maureen and she worked at the Winter Gardens as a cleaner and usherette. You lived at 12 Rudd Street and later moved to West Kirby. A relation of mine then bought No. 12.
Your father used to stop for a teabreak at the Winter Gardens, too, and I have a photo of the milk float outside there in April 1962.
Charles Morris
Just thought I’d share this piece of useless knowledge with all re the Express Dairy in the early 1960′s.
On their foil milk-bottle tops they had the word EXPRESS with a small star over one of the letters, if it was over the “x” you knew it was Tuesday’s milk as the word Express was a code for M,T,W,T,F,S.S.
Thanks to all the contributors for all the bits of Hoylake history and why doesn’t the same happen for West Kirby,
Cheers & Regards to All
Hi Keith
I do have a West Kirby site too but not really enough time at the minute to publish on a regular basis.
Old West Kirby photos are always welcome though !
John
we lived at 1 Manor road during and after the war,i remember it well ashfield farm dairy;
Charles,
Do you hace a copy of the photograph?
Yes Mum and I moved from 12 Rudd St to Caldy. Then to 111 Market St,1 Shaw St and my last Hoylake address was the flat above Cunningham’s paper shop on Market Street.
I moved across the pond to USA, Mum remarried and lived in Birkdale until she passed away. Dad also remarried and moved to Cornwall and paseed away down there.
12 Rudd St was up for sale a few years back. The Estate agents had photo’s of the interior. That little house has had many changes over the years.
Cheers
Kevin
Dear Kevin,
Yes, I have the photo and could email it to you if you can somehow get me your address – or is it done through this site by some means ? An aunt of mine by marriage (Mrs Edith Shackleton) bought 12 Rudd Street from your family, I think; must have been in the late 1960s, early 1970s. She died in 1994 and I think she had owned the house till then.
Whilst your Mum worked at the Winter Gardens, she organised a petition to oppose its proposed closure in January 1961. The cinema then survived for another twelve years until it was threatened with bingo. This time I led the opposition, and the cinema survived a futher twenty two years !
It was upon meeting you and playing football in the car park of the cinema that I was able to inveigle my way inside, and thus began an association with cinemas lasting fifty years to date !
The last time I saw your Mum she was helping in the bar at the reconstructed Parish Hall (Community Centre ?) in the mid 1970s.
Best wishes,
Charles