Manor Farm Dairy - 12 Herne Hill Road SE24

My uncle George Bowen and his wife Rene ran the Manor Farm Dairy out of 12 Herne Hill Road.  According to my mother who would visit them during the holidays - milk was delivered in those days in big churns pushed on a barrow.

The housewives would bring out their jugs and milk was ladled into the jug.  There was only one kind of milk no choice with regard to skimmed or semi-skimmed.  Butter came in big blocks and was put on marble slabs and weighed, it would be shaped and cut up on the marble slabs and shaped into rounds and stamped with a pattern of a cow.

There was a shop attached to the front of the house and Auntie Rene was in charge of that - she sold groceries and there were tables and chairs for refreshments.  A favourite drink in the summer was ice-cold milk with a dash of soda water.

At the back of the shop was an office where the roundsmen used to come in when they had finished their rounds - they would 'do their books' as they called it and put in their orders for the next day.

I know this address is the correct one because I have old postcards with this address on which were sent to my mum by her mother when she was staying with her uncle and aunt.

If there is anyone out there that might remember any more about the business I would love to hear from you.