I can still picture the scene during our school summer holidays. Weekends were the best days. My friend and I waited on Girton Road with excitement for the milk float. It was our secret adventure. Helping wasn’t allowed, but many milkmen looked the other way. They let us jump on and off to help them. It made their routes faster. The Co-op Milk Dairy was on Price Street in Cannock. Many kids waited there, hoping for a chance. We wanted a ride and a bit of work to earn a shilling or some sweets. Sometimes, we even get extra milk. The orange drink was a real treat, the best part was riding on the milk float. The cabs were spacious inside, and one or two helpers could fit in easily. Back then, the milk floats ran on batteries. They weren’t fancy, but they worked, I would say they were ahead of their time, as now we’re going back to batteries with modern cars.

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It’s interesting how certain memories from the past linger in one’s mind. Brian Aldred’s pigeon shed was far from a pretty sight. It was constructed from spare pieces of off-cuts of wood that he had collected over the weeks and months from Lindfords, the wood merchants in Cannock. The shed leaned more like a tired old man against a pub wall. It resembled a patchwork quilt made from scavenged timber—bits of old doors, some warped planks, and even a slice of corrugated iron from who knows where. You could easily guess what was inside, as the whole structure exuded the rich, earthy, and slightly dusty smell of pigeon. It wasn’t just a shed, it was Brian’s sanctuary.

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