John Black, 73, has stepped away from the milk run at his family’s farm in Kilmacolm, which he has been pitching in with since he was a schoolboy.
The milk round was started by John’s uncle Jimmy in 1931 and has run for almost a century with little disruption thanks to the efforts of the local man and his family.
Now, John has made the final deliveries of his last ever round for J&J Black farm with his daughter Lois. His last outing included a visit to long-time customer Derek Watt, who he used to share breakfast with during his shifts.
John believes that meeting people like Derek was part of what had made his job special.
He said: “One of the greatest benefits of this job is the community aspect of it. “We’re a Christian family and it’s been great to be involved with so many people.
“Another aspect I’ve really liked is working with the elderly at places like sheltered housing complexes.
“We deliver into these places, and you get to know the people there who are maybe on their own.
“Sometimes you’re the only person they’ll see on that day and it’s really special to be able to give them a bit of company.
“We’ve had lots of milkboys and milkgirls who’ve come through the run, hundreds of them, and it’s been special to see them all growing up and moving on.”
John’s retirement from the run brings an end to one of the area’s longest milk rounds, which has been covered by generations of John’s family including his children and some of his grandchildren.
When John started out as a milk boy, the bottles of milk his family sold only cost six pence, far less than the £1 charge attached today.
He says there have been a number of dramatic changes that have altered the way the run works over the years.
He added: “The milk didn’t need pasteurised up until 1980 and that was a big change for us. “Before that we milked the cow and put it through into a bottling machine which filled five at a time.
“Then at one stage we changed to a cartoning machine which filled three at a time, it was a lot of work to get it all done.
“We retailed our own milk straight from the cow until 1980 but then it changed, and it had to be pasteurised.
“The bottles used to have J&J Black on them but that went after it changed because we had to bring all the milk in.”
John now intends to spend his time working on the farm in Kilmacolm but hopes he can keep in contact with the people he’s met through the run.
He said: “I’ll miss the community and the connections here, but I won’t miss the run itself. “Ever since I’ve done it life has had to revolve around it. “The run is so detailed and that makes it hard for anyone else to do it.
“The milk run’s never been my first love, I wanted to be a farmer first and foremost and I sort of got landed with this, but it’s still made me nostalgic moving on.
“The bonus has always been the connection you get with the people you see. “I hope people will stay in touch with me and keep that connection.”
