1970's Lavinia Morgan identifies Sid Chesters (Rich Swain's late uncle) and Norman Evans. (Joe Lyons Collection)
1970's Minsterley. Norman Evans (L) and Sid Chesters (R). (Joe Lyons Collection)
1970's Ben Samuels comments "Looks like there's been some kind of calamity outside the Cheese room!" (Joe Lyons Collection)
1970 Royal Dairy Show awards. (Express News Christmas)
1971 Eric Robarts' note about Cottage Cheese production in Express News Summer 1971
1971 Minsterley retiree Alan Warter visits Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen. (Express News Christmas)
1972 One foot on the ladder - Stephen Hoole
1972 Summary of Minsterley operation with General Manager Michael Gurden, Factory Accountant John Armstrong and Chargehand fitter Ralph Jones
1972 New Cottage Cheese plant at Minsterley, Head Cheesemaker was Geoff Potter
1972 New Cottage Cheese plant at Minsterley, Blender Operator Melvin Bailey
1972 New Cottage Cheese plant at Minsterley, Gordon Ruff, Irene Griffin, Gwen Beamond.
1972 Minsterley Creamery photographer Joe Lyons organised a photo competition, with General Manager Michael Gurden winning the black and white award with this picture, and Mrs Celia Johnson, Transport Office Clerk the same award in the colour section. (Express News Spring)
1975 Cottage Cheese Minsterley. Merv Davies comments "This was my dad George Davies", Patrick Taylor comments "Sadly George passed away some years ago, the machine is a German Benhill, producing 8oz cartons of cottage cheese. Alongside was another Benhill producing 4oz cartons, I worked on both machines, and also carried out annual maintenance on them for many years."
1975 Minsterley Creamery with Cottage Cheese extension
1975 Minsterley staff notes below
1975 General Manager Michael Gurden with Factory Manager Dave Stoneman while Brian Johnson keeps an eye on the starter room below.
1975 Minsterley Cottage Cheese operation with Arthur Eccles (Cream Dressing Operator) and Eileen Evans and Checker Ray Jones below.
1975 Minsterley Cottage Cheese production with Ralph Swancott and Wallace Jones.Dave Jones comments "My Dad is Wallace Jones, in the Blending Room."
1975 Minsterley Cottage Cheese production with Ralph Swancott and Wallace Jones.Dave Jones comments "My Dad is Wallace Jones, in the Blending Room."
1972 Minsterley Cottage Cheese Supervisor Ivone Donnelly with Chargehand Fitter Ralph Jones. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley factory accountant John Armstrong talking with General Manager Michael Gurden. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley Cottage Cheese lab with Irene Griffin. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley HGV Driver Gordon Ruff. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley Blender Operator Melvin Bailey. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley Cottage Cheese Filling Room. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley Cottage Cheese packing line with Mrs Gwen Beamond. Sister Dorothy works in the Cream Dept and brother Arthur tends the boilers. (Express News Autumn)
1972 Minsterley frontage after Cottage Cheese expansion. Wendy Haywood comments "My parents live opposite the other gate to Minsterley creamery, I grew up watching this factory change dramatically over the years, my dad used to drive the milk tankers collecting milk from local farms and my mum used to clean the directors and management offices." Elaine Cooke adds "My Dad was a cleaner and on the waste lorry, my mum worked in cottage cheese-Betty and Albert Carpenter." (Express News Autumn)
1974 Tony Good congratulates Minsterley Chief Engineer Lew Pidwell. (Express News Summer)
1977 Dairy Queen Diana Tibbs in Shrewsbury, showing off Minsterley Butter and Bladen West Country Cheddar. (Express News Christmas)
1978 Patrick Taylor comments "The new boiler house containing three Cochrane Chieftain boilers." (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley. Steve Hannah comments "Loaders' office middle-right by the scales". Matthew Taylor comments "Used to clock in on the right, I think." (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley. Ben Samuels says "It's the back of the old cheese room." Kenneth Carswell commented "We used to load the Railway Trucks though the blue door. Bert Hartson was the boss; great bloke' the best." (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1978 Minsterley. Roy Jones, identified by his daughter, Sarah Smith. Dave Jones commented "It was my job when I was a young lad to paint the yellow band round the top of the churns! I started working at Minsterley when I left school in 1977. Churn collection had stopped a year or two earlier but the churn washer was still used when I started-I can hear it now clunk clonk, and was used most days. The churns were used throughout the factory for all sorts of jobs, so our boss told me to paint the ones we used yellow so no one would take them. Harry Evans adds "Looks like Jim Telford at the back." (Joe Lyons Collection)”
1978 Minsterley (Joe Lyons Collection)
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery. Martin Jones comments "General and Engineering Stores"
1980's Minsterley Creamery milk reception area. Dave Jones remembers the "sleeping area, the door just on the extreme left of the picture". The blue door fully visible, Darren Davies recalls is "where the acide and caustic pumps were".
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley, previously milk reception. Steve Rodenhurst comments "I remember milk reception being full of tanker unloading and washing out" Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery. Debbie Llewellyn comments "The deck lab"
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery. Debbie Llewellyn commented "This was the effluent plant, where my Dad, Gordeon Ruff, worked driving the 'honey pot' as he used to call it. He used to call it the 'sh** tank, but had to change it when I proudly told my teacher Miss Clarke, that's what my Dad did, when asked the question "What job does your Dad do?" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's? Minsterley (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? Minsterley (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? Minsterley (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's "Site of former Minsterley Station" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)(Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "Carp? shop". Wendy Haywood comments "My dad (Brian "budley" Davies) used to work there driving the Milk tankers, collecting from the farms. He was also the union representative and apparently bought the drivers out on strike! They still live directly opposite the gates (sadly Dad passed away in June 2023 at the age of 85) and I grew up seeing this amazing factory from my bedroom window change dramatically over the years. Mum (Margaret) used to clean the offices /houses used by the management and payroll etc. lots of happy memories." (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "Former G Jones?" Nick Gurden comments "I used to live in the first house on the left." Debbie Llewellyn explains Joe's annotation "The garage was owned by George Jones and helped by Miss Ashley." (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "New Garage" Malcolm Williams confirms the weighbridge office and workshop. (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "Demolition of old dischage decks" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "Demolition of old dischage decks" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "New boiler house" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's? "Cottage Cheese" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1980's Minsterley Creamery. Tony Swain and Matthew Taylor identify Stephen Crowther by the engineer's workshop.
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
1980's Minsterley Creamery
Peter Davies comments "1982 old railway loading and unloading building, with office used as detergent store being knocked down to make way for new milk reception" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1982 Christmas Cream challenges: Minsterley, Honiton p7
1983 Minsterley milk float on the River Severn, raising money for the RNLI.
1983 Minsterley. Gordon Ruff in his Express Dairy tanker (Courtesy Lorraine Fletcher)
1983 Minsterley. Express Dairy tanker (Courtesy Lorraine Fletcher)
1983 Minsterley. Express Dairy tanker (Courtesy Lorraine Fletcher)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1987 Minsterley Redevelopment newspaper (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1988 Pillsbury UK chose Express as its 'Preferred Supplier' and Nigel Salsbury (EFI business manager) accepts an award with Raymond Leighton (Minsterley production manager). (August Express News)
1988 Minsterley, UK's biggest Cottage Cheese factory
1988 Ski Cool production at Minsterley (from Ski silver Jubilee brochure). Paul Bloor comments: "Ski Cool yog drink was produced at Minsterley, 250ml for M&S, and the 200ml produced on the Elopack Shikoko UM70, 7200 cartons per hr through a straw applicator then on to a carton machine(Mariarni). The larger carton, 750ml on the machine which was known as the "800", later replaced by the Excelo 220, packed by hand Department. The room still exists but is now for morning meetings and a repack area, Department Manager Ray Leighton.
1989 Painting of Minsterley Creamery. John Southwell suggests that watercolour artist is Susan Saward. Nev Embrey comments “Little picture cutting cottage cheese in the long vat”from conference room. John Potter comments "Worked in the vat room from 1975 until 1996, then moved into R&D until 2006, great 31 years with the Company and met some great people in that time 😊😊" (Courtesy Paul Bloor)
1989 Ruyton and Minsterley win awards at Nantwich, and Oswestry win award for electricity saving
1989 Cuddington, Minsterley and Weaverham Disstribution staff awards for long service
1989 Minsterley 'Mariners' raise £7k for Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
1989 Investments in new technology for effluent treatment explained, at Honiton, Minsterley, Lockerbie, Milborne and Carbery
1989 Investments in new technology for effluent treatment explained - Minsterley panorama
1989 Minsterley £10m modernisation plans
1990's Minsterley Creamery
1990's Minsterley Creamery
1990's Minsterley Creamery
1990's Minsterley Creamery
1990's Minsterley Creamery. Steve Austin comments "Rear of the canteen. Martin Jones adds "I remember when part of that building had two snooker tables in for the workers.". Dave Jones mentioned "Good old days before the dessert factory spoiled everything in the whole factory..." Patrick Taylor adds "When George Jones's family kept the garage this area also belonged to him as part of his garage, and many years ago on this parcel of land there were two tennis courts."
1990's Minsterley Creamery
1990's Minsterley Creamery Sally Cullis comments "I remember the milk tankers all parked up down there waiting to be unloaded". Malcolm Williams says "Remember John Scutt in the office".
1990's Minsterley Creamery. Tony Swain comments "The canteen entrance on the left".
1990'sMinsterley Creamery
1990'sMinsterley Creamery
1991 Minsterley Fromage Frais Plant commissioning. Derek Pugh and Raymond Leighton identify Jim Taggart. (Corporate Video)
1991 Minsterley photographer Joseph Lyons was famed for his pictures of Minsterley (from Express Foods Pensioners News) Courtesy Beryl Purslove
1991 Minsterley. Iain Dargue comments "T521 (on the right) ended up at Appleby - horrible thing, held far too much milk, and had a useless donkey engine behind the legs for “blowing” product off" Leon Haynes adds "It used to load oil from Pura Oil, Canning Town, back to Milborne when they made salads, around 1993." (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1991 "New discharge deck" (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
1995 (21st March) Aerial view of Minsterley. Photo: Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. Mike Challinor comments "I worked there from 1964 to 1971, when I left to join the Shropshire Fire Brigade. I worked as a Maintenance fitter, mostly on the canning line until it closed on the same day as I got married, March 30th 1968. Although the canning line is no more our marriage has lasted 56 years and still going strong!! Albert Purslow was a guest at our wedding and made a speech when he said on showing me round on my first day I was Ok with the Pasteurisers and Homogenisers but didn't want to know anything about the sterilisers !!" (Courtesy Steve Rodenhurst)
1999 Minsterley. "Bulk farm Volvo FL6 in action. I thought this photo was taken at Malehurst, but after a quick look at Google Earth, I'm now not so sure..." Courtesy Steve Rodenhurst)
2001 Minsterley Creamery. Patrick Taylor comments "In the foreground is the old canteen block, with the engineering office above and behind". Darren Davies adds "Around 2001/2002 when they built the new desserts building".
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2006 'The Minsterley Creamery 1906-2006' (Courtesy Steven Harley)
2012 BBC News announcement of purchase of Minsterley Creamery by Muller (Courtesy BBC News)
2023 Muller Minsterley
2023 Muller Minsterley
2023 Muller Minsterley. Nick Gurden comments "We used to live in the house next to the garage for several years when my Dad was Manager, before being transferred to the Frome plant around 1962"
2023 Muller Minsterley. Wendy Haywood comments "My mum Margaret Davies used to clean those offices"
2023 Muller Minsterley
2023 Muller Minsterley
1986 Minsterley Creamery (Courtesy Joe Lyons)
