Britain’s keenest milk bottle enthusiast hopes he can top up his remarkable collection with an Angus rarity from a long lost dairy.
Since he began the hobby more than 40 years ago, Steve Wheeler has built up a stack of more than 23,000 bottles from every corner of Britain.
Creaking shelves of the country’s only milk museum in his garden shed at Malvern, Worcestershire carry more than 16 tonnes of glass.
Fellow collectors from around the world often drop in with empties.
And Steve does regular rounds of the country in a never-ending effort to unearth bottles from small-scale businesses which once graced every town and village.
Angus bottle quest
His obsession has proved a headline writer’s dream, with milk-related puns churned out on a dairy basis.
Now he’s hoping Courier country residents will rise to a gold top standard by filling more space in the museum.
He’s especially keen to land a rare bottle from an old Angus glens dairy after the gift of a prized example turned sour.
Steve explained: “Years ago I appeared on Bargain Hunt and spoke about my hobby.
“The programme was recently repeated and I was contacted by a David Probert, whose family dairy was at Airlie, near Kirriemuir.
“David is in his late 80s now, but he still had one of their bottles and kindly said he would send it to me.”
However, the postal service proved a little lactose intolerant of the special package.
“Unfortunately, the Royal Mail broke it so David was very disappointed it didn’t get to me in one piece.”
Rather than cry over the split milk bottle, Steve hopes an appeal for information on the Angus dairy might turn up another.
Love of Scotland
“This all started when I was in my 30s,” he said.
“I was on a walk in the Brecon Beacons and found a half-pint bottle from Shropshire diary.
“I remember the day I got my 100th bottle and thought I’d really made it as a collector, but it’s gone a bit beyond that.
“Scotland is an area I have specialised in over the years,” said Steve.
“My gran was a Scot and I love going up there and have made many friends.
“The thing about milk bottles is because there were so many old diaries they didn’t usually travel far.
“So there are lots still hidden in barns, outhouses, farm buildings, allotment sheds etc.
“Electricians have even uncovered them under floorboards when they’ve been rewiring houses.”
Steve added: “I would love to get an example of the Airlie diary bottle, or any other ones that I don’t have in my collection.”
And he’s also an avid collector of the cardboard discs originally used as milk bottle tops.
Steve added: “I like to think that if anyone visits me they’ll be able to find a bottle in my collection from where they are from.
“But I’m never surprised if someone turns up a bottle from a dairy I didn’t know about.
“My message to anyone is that if they find an old bottle please don’t throw it away.
“I’d love to get a bottle from the Airlie dairy, or any other old ones in Angus that I might not have.”
Anyone with a bottle which might be of interest to Steve can email him at milkbottlepast@hotmail.com or phone 01684 569656.
