A GROUP of people in Ludlow are trying to revive a species that has almost disappeared.

It is a bid to try and see the return of milkmen making daily deliveries.

But the idea behind the campaign is not just a nostalgic yearning for an age that is gone but it also has an important environmental element.

Apartment Owners at Churchill Retirement Living’s new Betjeman Lodge development in Ludlow have formed a new initiative to ‘bring back the milkman’ and support their local dairy, while at the same time helping the town’s mission to go plastic-free.

The Lodge has joined forces with Dave Havard, the owner of Corve Dairy in Ludlow whose regular round of deliveries supplies the local community with a range of bread, butter, yoghurt, juice and eggs as well as milk.

His milk is delivered fresh every day, with the nearby Bartonsham Farm collecting and sterilising all the glass bottles.

Mr Havard is very grateful for the business, and believes it is a win-win solution.

“The delivery service helps the Owners at the Lodge, it helps my dairy business, and it also helps the environment,” he said.

“We all know the damage plastic is doing to our oceans, so the more we can get people using glass milk bottles rather than plastic ones, the more it helps make a difference.

“It costs about 10p to make a plastic container for milk and 20p for a glass bottle, however the glass bottle can be sterilised and reused countless times.”

Lodge Manager Gill Eades said that a daily delivery also reduces the need to go out to the shops to stock up on supplies.

“I think by making our Owners aware of what Dave at Corve Dairy can bring to the Lodge, it not only helps the environment but can save people having to go out for essentials in bad weather and could help prevent slips and falls,” said Ms Eades.

“We have a very active and independent group of Owners here, but it’s always nice to have a helping hand through a service like this.”

Churchill Sales, Executive Louise Gossage, helped set up the initiative.

“Small changes can make a big difference when we all make them together,” she said.

“I heard about the campaign to encourage Ludlow to go plastic free, so this is our way to help reduce the use of plastics and take small steps to get big results.

“The milkman is an English tradition that is slowly dying out, so I’m proud of our ‘bring back the milkman’ initiative as I believe it’s great for our Owners at Betjeman Lodge, it supports local business, and it helps protect the environment for future generations.”

There was a time when the daily round by a milkman and also someone delivering bread was a common part of life.

But this started to change in the late 1960’s and early 70’s as more people had their own transport. Then there came seven day a week supermarket opening.