Michael Saunby wrote in message
...
Well until the affordable distribution of milk was made possible in
the UK,
first by railways, then by tarmac roads, rickets was a common problem
in
urban UK. So perhaps the historical developments that have brought us
to
where we are might shed some light on the problem. Jim's most likely
the
man with the answers.


the history of milk in the UK is interesting. At one point urban milk
was produced by urban cow keepers. My own great grandfather kept cows in
a street in down and walked them down what is now the main drag to
graze. Americans note that this was no clapper board and timber town but
an industrial town with about 60,000 inhabitants and at the time had the
worlds biggest bessimer converter and was producing some of the largest
warships in the world.
With the railways it was possible for more milk production to move out
of town, prior to that most rural dairy farmers had actually made and
sold cheese and butter. Unfortunately milk is a product with a short
shelf life and there was no security in the collection. My father as a
boy working on one farm was always given the job of going to the top of
the lane to see if the company had bothered to collect the milk.
The Milk Marketing Board did two things. It put some stability into the
system, but more importantly it also vastly improved the quality of the
product. My father can tell tales of how before the war lads on milk
rounds could get nine pints to the gallon with the aid of a convenient
waterbutt.
One old lady used to come to the door with her jug and tell them if she
wanted water, she would add it herself later.


--
Jim Webster

"The pasture of stupidity is unwholesome to mankind"

'Abd-ar-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Khaldun al-Hadrami'


Michael Saunby