How far can restoration be pushed? Mining Photograph

[BumbleB]

Late on the scene - as usual     I don't believe that the buckets have anything to do with "milking" at all.  I remember milking pails as being wide at the top and narrower at the bottom - so you could fit them easily between your legs when sat on the 3-legged milking stool.  Not only that, they are too big.    AND you wouldn't wear a hat with a brim for milking - more likely the equivalent of wearing a "baseball" cap back to front - to protect your head from the cow's hide.

[Prouty99]

Late on the scene - as usual     I don't believe that the buckets have anything to do with "milking" at all.  I remember milking pails as being wide at the top and narrower at the bottom - so you could fit them easily between your legs when sat on the 3-legged milking stool.  Not only that, they are too big.    AND you wouldn't wear a hat with a brim for milking - more likely the equivalent of wearing a "baseball" cap back to front - to protect your head from the cow's hide.

Hi BumbleB

So could that explain the odd skull cap that the person second from right is wearing?

I think the others dressed in white were in charge of the hay collection procedure. I get the feeling he is closer to the cow side of things milking/husbandry kind of stuff. I'm tinkering with a colorised version of the photo but can't decide on his overalls/cape etc as he seems to be dressed in dark colours rather than white

[mike175]

6am 365 days a year  .  The bulk tanker arrives about 10-30, if the milk has not cooled to the correct temperature he won’t collect it and £300 quid goes down the drain.

Back around the time of the photo many farmers had to have the cows milked and the churns delivered to the station, often by pony and trap, in time for the 7am milk train. You couldn't keep fresh milk standing around for long, especially in hot weather, before refrigeration came into use.

[dobfarm]

Buckets used in cheese making ? would explain the dairy type clothes and various head hat attire

Another possibility -buckets used to collect pigs blood after gutting the pig.

[mazi]

Googling images of milking shed 1920s produces a photo of identical buckets being used to filter raw milk before it goes into the churn, an essential process I had forgotten about as a modern parlour does it automatically

Mike

[Prouty99]

Googling images of milking shed 1920s produces a photo of identical buckets being used to filter raw milk before it goes into the churn, an essential process I had forgotten about as a modern parlour does it automatically

Mike

Not being a bucket specialist I'll go with your expertise on this Mazi

I'm still scratching my head about that tool above our friend's head second from right. It looks like a long Lacrosse stick. It's a pole that splits into two above his hand much the same way a hay rake does, then at the top it also has a horizontal section attached to the two halves of the split pole with just a hint of teeth like a hay rake, but the head only seems to stretch in one direction above his head to the right, but just isn't there to the left. What an odd tool! I can't find anything similar on the net anywhere to compare it to. There is some damage to the photo in this area that confuses the situation even more.

Just to be expected in photo's of this age I guess, It is approaching a hundred years old after all

Also interesting that Carnation milk was made quite close by, I often wondered where that was made and who originally made it