The rattle of milk bottles

Back in the day, certainly in the 1970s, milk floats plied the streets of London with crates of milk bottles. The routes were covered very early in the mornings, often before any other traffic was on the road.

The clink of the bottles as the empties were plucked by the delivery driver out of their wire frame and replaced by full ones, would have been as good a wake-up call as any, as long as the window of one’s bedsit was open a crack so that the sound could reach the sleeper.

The window of the bedsit I occupied during this time frame actually faced the rear of the building, not the front, as I recall, so the perspective was even less salubrious than if there was at least a street view. No wonder it was so cheap!