Last of the urban cowboys

THE tale of a Lymm family milk round – which had its roots in the streets of Liverpool where cows were kept in the backyard – is told in a new book.
“Urban Cowboys: Lost World of Doorstep Milk” by Lymm writer Dr Duncan Scott tells the history of the business.
Joe Capstick senior, father of Lymm woman Margaret Rowlands, was head of the business which had more than 2,000 customers in Lymm until the mid 1990s.
The business was a family affair and everyone in the Lymm area knew Margaret, who was born in Liverpool, and her family.
Dr Scott, a trained teacher and currently an associate research fellow at the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Birmingham, says the family were well known and respected in Lymm.
He said: “They had three navy blue Ford vans with three people in each. They used to order fish and chips from the chip shop in Sandy Lane and then sit on the car park at St Peter’s Church, to eat them.
“They were well known and the milk round was a popular feature of old Lymm.”
The book tells how before the rise of corporate dairies, neighbourhood based urban milkmen used to keep up to two dozen milk cows in their backyards.
Its cover shows a picture of Joe senior, urban cowboy and cow-house owner, advertising a cowboy film starring Hollywood legend Alan Ladd.
The picture was taken in 1951 on the corner of West Derby Road and Marlborough Road, Tuebrook, Liverpool.
Joe’s former cow house still stands diagonally across from the telephone kiosk pictured right, but is in a vandalised state.
Dr Scott said: “Gradually the cows disappeared until Joe Capstick junior’s departure in 1975 signalled the absolute end of a way of life which had brought the countryside to the heart of the city.”
The book features three maps and more than 30 photographs in a social history of a vanished way of life, and costs £6.99. Details are available from Dr Scott on 01925 753281 or [email protected]
Pictured: Joe Capstick Senior advertising the western film.