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A MILKMAN with a lotta bottle has made his final delivery after 23 years of early-morning starts.
A MILKMAN with a lotta bottle has made his final delivery after 23 years of early-morning starts.Ray Page, whose customers have dubbed "more than a milkman", has left his last gold-top on a doorstep in Peterborough, where his round covering Stanground, the Ortons, Alwalton, Warmington and Oundle saw him deliver the white stuff to more than 600 people.
For nearly three decades, while most people are tucked up in bed the alarm would go off in Ray's house at 12.30am as he began his early morning shift whatever the weather.
And his round has given him plenty of drama over the years as he survived a vicious mugging, had his float stolen three times by thieves and came to the rescue of a woman who had collapsed.
Ray (65), of Hinchcliffe, Orton Goldhay, said: "Unfortunately, company policy means I have to retire which is sad as I am going to miss all my customers who have become like friends to me.
"When I started out, I was like Benny Hill's Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west, but over the years I have slowed down a bit but I can still show the youngsters a thing of two.
"I got clouted on the head by a thief who took my money but you just plod on and get on with it and I had to dig out the float from the snow after it got stuck on a round with the help of a kind customer.
"I even found an old lady on the floor of her house who had collapsed and called an ambulance, which to me is all part of the customer service and giving something back to the community."
Such is his standing in the community that more than 300 people from his round has sent him good-luck cards.
Now he is spending the next three weeks passing on his know-how to the next generation of milkmen before splashing out on a new car to take his grand-children on holiday.
For wife Jo having her husband around in the evenings will come as something of a shock. She said: "I have my own routine and all my programmes lined up as he has to go to bed so early so it will be strange having him sitting here with me but he deserves a wonderful retirement.
"He will really miss all the friends he has made over the years as he was more than just a milkman to them."
Ray says he has seen many changes over the year from using a dog-eared notebook to taking the orders on a hand-held electronic device but the people have remained the same.
Ray added: "It is an old-fashioned job and you do become the eyes and ears of the neighbourhood and people really trust you, which is great and I wouldn't have changed the last 23 years for the world."
Factfile: Milkmen
The first milk deliveries began in the early 18 century when a milkmaid or man carried the milk to homes using a shoulder yoke with a pail on either end.
In the 1860s carts were introduced followed by the first bottled milk in 1845. The electric milk-float was not introduced until 1945.
Milkmen's frequent daytime deliveries to homes during the day led to a high level of familiarity with many homemakers — often female — which has made the occupation a central figure in numerous milkman jokes.
In the Uganda region an often used title for "king" is "Omukama", which means "superior milkman or milk bringer". The lead character of Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, is a milkman.
The comedian Benny Hill was inspired to write his hit 1970s novelty song about Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West), after starting out as a trainee milkman in Hampshire.
The job has even inspired a satirical punk band. The Dead Milkmen.
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