UK's oldest milkman, 88, from Coventry vows to continue popular service for another decade - The Coventry Observer

UK's oldest milkman, 88, from Coventry vows to continue popular service for another decade

Coventry Editorial 23rd Jul, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

DEREK Arch has certainly gotta lotta bottle – he has been delivering the morning milk in Coventry for 73 years.

Officially Britain’s oldest milkman, 88-year-old Derek only began the milk round as a favour to his milkman dad during the Second World War.

It was 1943 and a then 14-and-a-half-year-old Derek was getting up in the small hours to clamber through the rubble of a city flattened by German bombers to make sure customers got their delivery.

Fast-forward 73 years and Derek is still getting up at 2.30am every day to get the milk to his customers in time for breakfast on behalf of the family business D Arch & Son.




He even still drives the same 1950s milk float he has owned for the last 30 years.

And there are no signs of him calling it a day anytime soon – the sprightly delivery man, who lives with his 86-year-old wife Betty in the city – has vowed to carry on delivering for another ten years.


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