CENTRAL METHODIST LADIES FELLOWSHIP

THE story of how the Pennine Dales farmers became city cowkeepers and suburban milkmen was an illustrated talk by Dave Joy from Lytham.

An author who has written several books told of ‘The Liverpool Cowkeepers – a family history.’

In the mid 1800s the family moved from the Wharfedale valley set in the Yorkshire Dales, to the city of Liverpool.

They soon set up successful cowhouses in the districts of Garston and Wavertree.

Over a number of generations the Joy family continued to maintain the tradition, and became one of the remaining cowkeeping families in the city.

In the early 1900s 4,000 cows were living at the back of terraced street environments with milking sheds in ordinary back yards, where you could go directly to get your daily pint of milk.

It wasn’t just a straightforward relocation for farmers to move from country to city.

But the advent of the railways in Victorian England enabled this to happen: as news spread back to the Dales that money was to be made in Liverpool so the cowkeepers and their animals moved there.

At first they were regarded as foreigners because their country drawl was so different from the local accent.

But soon the opportunity to get fresh milk on your doorstep on a daily basis was a massive boost to the Liverpool community.

Milking in a back yard cowhouse would begin around 5am, with delivery by horse and cart at 7.30am – and a second milking at 2pm with a follow-up delivery around 4.30pm.

Prior to introduction of milk bottles, milk was poured from churns into the customers’ milk jugs with a measuring ladle.

If you lived close to a cowhouse you could go down the street for your own fresh milk.

The men handled the deliveries and the ladies the local direct sales from the yards.

Dave reflected on his own family history and related many tales of the life and times of the Liverpool Cowkeepers.

He said that as a boy the family dairy was a very special place for him.

So he decided to research the lives of his ancestors and gained a wealth of human experience into the subject through his family’s long-term involvement in the milking trade.

The ladies of Central enjoyed a really enlightening and entertaining afternoon.

The next meeting is on April 19 when Richard Hall will give a musical world tour. But prior to that the ladies will be holding a coffee morning, followed by lunches, on Easter Saturday.