THE WORST MILKMAN IN THE WEST

I felt compelled to write after reading your article on the price of milk in the April issue of Scottish Field [Skimmed Alive]. I too am concerned by the falling price of the white stuff. The thought that our countryside may soon be devoid of grazing cows to make way for huge batterystyle sheds is nothing short of horrifying.

So when I was approached by a local dairy that was setting up an old-style milk round a year or so ago I jumped at the chance to have fresh milk delivered to my door. I had a romantic idea of waking up to a bottle of milk, so chilled it was almost frozen with a layer of luscious cream on top and hopefully a shiny silver top which hadn’t been tampered with by the local blue tit population.

However, the reality was somewhat different. The plastic bottles cost not far short of double what I would pay at the supermarket and still considerably more than the local shop. The milkman (or perhaps they are milkpersons nowadays) regularly delivered my milk to my neighbours (both left and right). And the worst came at Christmas, a time when space in fridges across the country is at a premium, when the milkperson decided that rather than doing three deliveries a week he would just deliver a full week’s worth of milk in one fell swoop. Unsurprisingly, this left me with a sour taste in my mouth and I cancelled my deliveries.

That said, I do feel that old-style milk rounds could be the answer to dairy farmers’ problems, but a happy medium on price and some thought to customer service is a must.