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The last pint: Moores Dairies couple retire after decades delivering the milk
AFTER following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, delivering fresh milk to hundreds of East Yorkshire doorsteps, Pam Hemingway and her husband Derek have delivered their last pint.
It is the end of an era for Moores Dairies, which was started by Pam's grandfather Leonard Moore in the 1930s at Hull Bank Farm, off Beverley Road, Hull.
The dairy later relocated to Weel, near Beverley, after Pam's late dad Reg Moore settled in the village with his wife Dolly in 1949.
For decades, Moores Dairies has delivered milk to hundreds of homes in parts of Beverley and nearby villages, including Tickton, Weel, Routh and Eske.
Pam, 61, who began helping her dad on the family rounds as an 11-year-old, is saddened no one has taken over the round after she and Derek decided to retire.
She says: "It's a sad loss for the communities.
"If elderly people can't get out, it's the only time someone comes to their doorstep, it is their way of getting their milk and groceries
Traditional doorstep deliveries of fresh milk are now dying out as more people opt to buy their milk from supermarkets.
Pam says: "Supermarkets have decimated a lot of small businesses and you can't blame people choosing to buy their milk and groceries from supermarkets if it's cheaper.
"We were putting milk on the step at 70p when the price should be 79p.
"We always kept it under to keep the custom, but in the end you can't compete with the supermarket prices."
Pam and her husband Derek, 69, who began working on milk rounds in 1960, have been part and parcel of daily village life for decades.
Up at the crack of dawn to deliver milk to hundreds of village doorsteps, they were also the eyes and ears of the community.
Pam says: "We are out at 6.30am and it's the best part of the day.
"You see all the wildlife but you also have your eyes open for anything else.
"We are extra pairs of eyes if there is anything strange going on.
"If we have seen anything suspicious, we have always made a note just in case.
"The other week we found some jewellery in the street in Tickton that had apparently been stolen in another burglary.
"We have also come across people who have collapsed and died.
"You feel you are part of the community and for some people we are the only person they see.
"Part of our job is passing the time of day and some people look forward to seeing you.
"We will miss meeting people and just helping and being there."
Pam and Derek have delivered milk in all weathers, including through deep snow in recent winters.
Pam says: "There have not been many times over the years that we have missed a day.
"There was one day when the snow was so bad that we had to get a wheelbarrow out to deliver the milk to homes in Weel.
"My dad always said 'we aim to please' and that's what we have always tried to do."
Moores Dairies has delivered milk to generations of families in the area but with the demise of doorstep deliveries, numbers of customers have halved over the decades from more than 600 to 300 customers.
Derek says: "It's sad milk rounds are dying out.
"I have really enjoyed it, I like meeting people and I will miss the banter.
"You also get a lot of exercise walking about all the time, so we will miss meeting people and being out every day."
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