Teignmouth milkman Norman Beasley has retired after more than 40 years in a job that has given him many happy memories.
He worked as a milkman in London before joining Dairy Crest – then called Unigate – in Teignmouth in 1969, and he has seen his customers' children grow up to have children of their own. There were some compensations for the early-morning starts, particularly in the spring and summer when he would see squirrels in Barn Park and hear the dawn chorus.
However, one main requirement of the job was being able to look away quickly.
'There were many strange sights in the early mornings, when people were not expected to be around, and curtains were left open,' he says.