Milk Float No. 5

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

The fifth Milk Float I have photographed this year is one of the few remaining relics of the 1980s monopoly of the milk home delivery service – Unigate! It is yet another Smiths Elizabethan but is one of the few to still be in the Unigate livery (I believe only this one is still in this livery at my local dairy). It also has an old fashioned registration plate, possibly it’s original, which was not swapped for a ‘Q’ plate. Exciting times at the moment as they upgrade and expand the fleet.

How Ape

Piaggio Ape Auto Rickshaw

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

I spotted this Piaggio Ape Auto Rickshaw (or Tuk Tuk if you prefer) whilst visiting the local ASDA today. It is very unusual to see one of these in England so gained a lot of funny looks when parked there to advertise some property firm. It looks a bit worn out so must be quite old. I believe three wheelers should make a comeback on English roads as they are very economical and enviomentally friendly and all that rubbish especially in this ‘climate’. Think about it, 25% off tyre costs instantly!

Milk Float No. 4

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

It is not even the end of February and I have already taken my fourth Milk Float photograph! This may not sound a lot considering the time scale but as Milk Floats are rarely to be seen these days it is a lot.
Today is pay day but as I didn’t get up in time (I knew I should have set that alarm!) I didn’t pay him. Therefore I had to drive to the local dairy and pay directly. I then took this opportunity to take a photography of a Milk Float that was parked near by. Of course I asked for permission and he rudely told me to hurry up and take it because a Forklift was approaching to load up for deliveries. This was 10:30 in the morning and they are still preparing to make deliveries for the day, no wonder they are losing more customers than Northern Rock! Anyway here is that photograph.

1 Year Of Digital Bus Photography!

Today (16th February 2009) I celebrate 1 year of digital bus photography! On the 16th of February 2008 I ventured out to Portsmouth to take the Gosport Ferry to Gosport when one of my friends convinced me to take my camera along (view my very first digital bus photograph!).

I have used the camera before on the 19th January 2008 when I visited my local Dairy Crest Milk Float depot. Since then my interest in bus photograph has gone from strength to strength and I have now got one of the largest collection of photographs of Southern England buses. I have tried train photography but I am not very good at it (view my photographs of the new steam locomotive Tornado!) therefore I only have a few train photographs.

My highlight of last year was officially taking the first ever photograph of a new Stagecoach South Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 for route 23 while it was on a test run in Purbrook. This was by chance as I was a passenger in a car at the time and had to take it through the windscreen! I think it came out quite good. So it seemed right to take a photograph of one of these buses for a special anniversary photograph, you can view this at the top of this post. I would like to thank all my supporters out there and I hope you still enjoy looking at my photographs. Lets hope for another good year to come!

YaCult

I love Yakult. Not the drink itself, that is horrible! I love their branding, it is very 1980s and retro. Take this leaflet I received along with three free samples I got with my daily pinta. From the basic design and the colours of the traditional dairy kind – Red and Cream – this is the kind of retro branding that could convince me to buy the nasty drink! The ‘modern’ uniformed milkman silhouette complete with a caricature of an old fashioned wire milk crate with Yakult shaped milk bottles really sends a nostalgic shiver up my spine. The figure reminds me of ‘Fat Charlie’ of Little Chef fame. Although the leaflet is basic it gets it’s message across yet I don’t know why they used the very informal word ‘Gut’, this could refer to any part of the stomach whereas Yakult only helps the intestines. Apart from this, this is a really good leaflet and I wish every company remembers how great it was in the eighties and returned to this style.

As a result of boredom I recently made this computer diagram drawing of a traditional Wales & Edwards three wheeler Milk Float. I wish all Milk Floats were like this as they proclaim style and functionality in one.

ASDA Are On The Wagen

ASDA Delivery Van

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

Yet another unusual van at the ASDA Bedhampton depot – a Volkswagen Crafter. Premably ASDA are trialling different vans alongside the usual Mercedes-Benz Sprinters to see if they could replace them. The Crafter has the same bodywork as the Sprinters but the bonnet and grill were designed by Volkswagen. Out of the Crafter, Daily and Sprinter I prefer the Crafter as it has the Mercedes-Benz build quality but with some extra style thrown in.

BlueStars New Blue Buses

BlueStar

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

As you may well know, the Scania OmniCity has now become the souths favourite new double decker bus! Metrobus, Southern Vectis, Unilink, Wilts & Dorset, Brighton & Hove and now BlueStar now operate them. BlueStar had a small launch cavocade before they enter service next monday. BlueStars OmniCities have the same specification as Wilts & Dorsets with leather trim on the seats. The only difference being them branded BlueStar. I am very impressed with these.

Note this is the very first post I made via Flickr, click on the photograph to view a larger version!

Iveco Saw An ASDA Van

I photographed this Iveco Daily because 1) I am (strangely) interested in supermarket delivery vehicles and 2) it is the only Iveco I have seen in this depot’s fleet. The rest of the fleet comprises of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans. Could this be a trial to see what will replace the current fleet, most of which are not very old being from 07 – 08 registrations? Or could it be temporary vehicle to cover for a broken down Sprinter? The latter looks more likely as the branding is different to the Sprinters but this could just be an update. But for me and many other people this is very exiting news!

Snow White Milk

Hooray I got another Milk Float today, in the snow! This particular one I didn’t know existed in my local Dairy Crest depot (at least in the Dairy Crest livery) so was quite a surprise. It is a Wales & Edwards (W&E) Rangemaster. These were very popular with Unigate and to some extent Express Dairies although the latter were more associated with Smiths and Morrison Milk Floats from the 1980s. Cought in a snow storm I still ventured out into the freezing wastes to photograph it!

Click on the photograph to see a larger version!