The Ice Cream Van

A Lewis Brothers Ice Cream Van delivers treats the market place in sunny Leek, Staffordshire.

""We used to have an Ice Cream seller who came EVERY Friday evening called Mr Serretti. Many a treat was had from his little red and white van. Best part was taking a glass to him for sixpenny worth of ice cream with raspberry sauce, then rushing in and adding a small amount of milk to it (I used to think it went further that way).""

A memory shared by Stephen Winder.

""I loved Caddy's. Sometimes if I think hard enough I can get the memory of its taste, mmm. I remember having a tall glass of lemonade and ice cream and sitting on leather upholstery in the parlour in town. It was such a treat.""

A memory shared by Patricia Breakell.

""In 1955, I was ten years old and would work here during school holidays. My Great Uncle (my Grandmother's brother), was Frank York-Jones, the Managing Director. His son, Alan York-Jones, ran the factory with my father, Dick Sinfield, who was the Finance Director. In this picture, you can see the two brine tanks against the back wall in the background. The brine was cold and would freeze the ice-lolly liquid in the metal moulds. This is where I would stand for ages putting the sticks in the lollies, before they froze completely. Later on we had all this automated.
On the right are two large tanks where the ice cream would be 'cooked'. This was my Uncle Alan York-Jones' job. Once cooked, it would be pumped through to the machine on the left of the picture (there were two of these). The ice cream would be like Mr Whippy's ice cream as it came out, slightly cold but soft enough to guide through a nozzle into large trays on the table shown. These trays would be put into the deep freeze (rear, centre left, of the photo is the door), called a 'hold', at about minus 14 degrees. When frozen, the blocks of ice cream would be taken out, cut into small blocks and put through the choc-ice machine or larger blocks, called bricks, would be packed for people to take home. Happy days!""

A memory shared by Colin Sinfield.

""I remember that the Ice Cream van would come by most nights in summer time. It was Hartley's Ice Cream of Egremont and the van was a cream colour. The driver would sound his horn (no music) and I remember he parked at the top corner of Kersey Road and Harpur Place. He was a popular vendor in Thornhill and the Ice Cream tasted great.""

A memory shared by George Middleton.