Cadburys c 1930-40

[mark99]

Poor image.

[Heartland]

But very useful image showing the milk churns and factory beside the Shropshire Union Canal at Knighton. There are a few post card images which show the movement of milk churns on canal craft there. 

 

However the factory was used to convert milk into crumb which the form in which it was conveyed by boat to Bourneville, Milk was collected from the farms and there was complex organisation for the collection and conversion that involved Shropshire and Gloucestershire

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

What’s the ‘Helter Skelter’ in the back ground?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

24 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

What’s the ‘Helter Skelter’ in the back ground?

I'd make a guess at some sort of first in first out milk churn store come dispenser. Pick one off the bottom and the rest slide down a space.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

51 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I'd make a guess at some sort of first in first out milk churn store come dispenser. Pick one off the bottom and the rest slide down a space.

for the empties though of course!

I imagined them all full of milk 🤡

I could see it was a system of storage which takes up less floor space,

And possibly delivers at the height of the back of a wagon,

 

 

..another case of me thinking aloud before thinking things through
 

 

 

 

[magnetman]

Milk churn conveyor

 

 

 

Images stolen from eBay. 

I like the lift and the parasol. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

..yes delivers perfect for the wagon. 
 

so whilst  possibly saving floor space 🤷‍♀️😃

it’s likely use is to save man power and speeds up a process. 

 

but being gravity fed…how they getting them up there? 

[magnetman]

There is a lift to the right hand side. 

 

It seems quite elaborate. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

they're coming in from the bottom and going up in a ‘Shute’ or what ever you call it. 
 

so the weight of them coming down is lifting the others up?

[magnetman]

I reckon the W C Pantin geyser was quite clever. 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

It’s absolutely brilliant 

So they could well be full, 

not simply a storage space for empties as I thought earlier

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

I reckon the W C Pantin geyser was quite clever. 

 

a genius

[magnetman]

A quick google uncovers the fact they also did beer escalators. 

 

now it IS getting interesting. 

 

 

1 minute ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

It’s absolutely brilliant 

So they could well be full, 

not simply a storage space for empties as I thought earlier

They are definitely full. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

fantastic !

double fantastic!

 

Im gonna sleep like Homer Simpson tonight, counting beer barrels to my boat via a gravity fed Helter Scelter 

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

A quick google uncovers the fact they also did beer escalators. 

 

now it IS getting interesting. 

 

 

something even my imagination would never have dreamt up 

  

😋

Edited November 26, 2023 by beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

[magnetman]

I've often wondered about getting beer delivered by drones..

 

One could have an app 'fly my beer' delivered fresh to your hand anywhere. 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

It’s just sheer brilliance but I see the boaters are loading by hand, no gravity fed load for them .

And same at other end I expect 

no tipper truck for them 

18 minutes ago, magnetman said:

They are definitely full. 

Hopefully a smooth ride down,

if it’s bumperty bumperty all the way down.. it might end as cottage cheese? 

[Derek R.]

I think it is more likely the spiral is for empties.

 

A full milk churn holds ten gallons (Imp), and having had to load same onto the lorry during my teens, can vouch - they are heavy! It would take two of us to lift a full churn from near ground level, to lorry bed height.

A UK gallon of milk weighs a little over 10lbs. Each churn therefore holds 100lbs of milk, plus the weight of the churn. That structure might not withstand the overall weight of over 8.5 tons presuming it can hold upwards of 180 churns (which it looks like there could well be that number).

 

I would suggest that incoming lorries would off-load onto a bay level with the flatbed of the lorry, where handlers would 'roll' the full churns (one in each hand) skilfully into the shed for processing.

 

After washing, the empties would be elevated via the mechanism shown. Gravity would feed the empty churns down to the loader seen at the bottom so that the waiting lorry can be loaded with empties ready for the drivers next collecting round, exchanging his empties for full from the farms.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Derek R.

[magnetman]

Good point about the total weight.

 

Where do the boats come into it if the full and empty churns are being transported by road?

 

Presumably they are transporting the crumb.

 

Now it makes sense. 

 

I'm sure you are right. 

 

[Derek R.]

I don't know how much traffic there was for milk on the cut, but there must have been collection places where lorries would trans-ship in bulk.

Ordinarily, loaded lorries would deliver to milk processing plants for bottling.

 

Whilst the canals pass many farms, I doubt you would find any that would 'ship' their twenty or forty churns canalside onto boats. Those were fleets under contract to 'fill' boats, and that would take a dedicated depot.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Speed processing the full churns would be important. They'd be going straight in to being processed on arrival. You wouldn't want that entire helter skelter full of milk exposed outside on a hot sunny day! I reckon it is a store/dispenser for empties heading back to the farms.

[Tracy D'arth]

Definitely empty, the guy is loading the lorry with churns using one hand.

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

..yes delivers perfect for the wagon. 
 

so whilst  possibly saving floor space 🤷‍♀️😃

it’s likely use is to save man power and speeds up a process. 

 

but being gravity fed…how they getting them up there? 

We used exactly the same system for boxes of frozen peas at Birdseye some 55 years ago

[churchward]

On 25/11/2023 at 08:23, mark99 said:

Poor image.

An interesting photo all the same.

 

Is this the location on the Shroppie or somewhere else?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

The Shroppie, I think,

the overhang is now being used as a paint shed. 
 

 

[magnetman]

Knighton. 

[churchward]

1 hour ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

The Shroppie, I think,

the overhang is now being used as a paint shed. 
 

 

I have passed it several times.