Browse the categories that interest you below and click on the video thumbnail to open the link. Most open in YouTube, some on other channels, for copyright reasons.
Videos are listed by date of the material that they cover, or publication date. Oldest first. General-interest videos (not Express) are shown like this.
Explore and perhaps follow our own Express Dairy Tales YouTube channel where there are around 50 unique videos about Express Dairy over the years.
The early history of Pool Bank Dairy, started by Tarvin dairy farmer and cattle breeder Mr G.B. Radcliffe in the 1920s, and purchased by Express Dairy in 1947 who ran it until it closed in 1995. From a 1938 film promoting the use of electricity to Cheshire people.
Express sponsored film from 1950s depicts the complete production and distribution process of Express Dairy milk and other products, documenting the daily supply of fresh dairy products, with fast transport from rural farm to London, a slick operation in the 50s, with bottling, testing and distribution handled at the South Morden plant, and delivery by express “milk train” from its own private sidings on the Wimbledon – Sutton line. Includes footage of early supermarket shop interiors and the experimental Express Dairies College Farm in Finchley, London. The film closes with scenes from a cookery demonstration. Produced by Turners Film Unit, Newcastle and made available by the Yorkshire Film Archive.
Beginning in a Chinese street market, an Express 'milkman' hands out TetraPak cartons of UHT milk to surprised locals. The technical development of UHT milk is then explained and compared with traditional pasteurised and sterilised milk. Filling into TetraPak cartons is shown, and the loading of packed milk for export all over the world, as well as doorstep delivery in the UK, where it was promoted to housewives who don't want to run out of milk. Other uses such as camping, hiking, outdoor shows, catering and hotels, lighthouses, yachts, ships and ocean liners. Express artic 2934 is shown delivering to the docks for export. Army operations in the tropics, and expeditions in remote locations are illustrated. Children are shown drinking milk, some in areas of the world where food is scarce. The film ends with a friendly Express milkman delivering to a happy family in the suburbs of London.
Express Dairy started trials and early production of 'Longlife' milk at South Morden Processing Centre in South London in 1964. Dr Tom Ashton, Express Research Director was one of the team of scientists who developed the heat treatment method, along with the Ministry of Agriculture and NIRD, Reading. The UK Government was interested in the development as a way of improving Britain's balance of payments through milk exports throughout the world. The Tetra-Pak carton, developed in Sweden, was chosen to package the milk, which publicity at the time described as "A major breakthrough in dairy science". In 1977, production was transferred to Express Dairy's plant in Maidstone, Kent managed by Clive Bishop and Peter Prickett. In later years, UHT cream, fruit juices and 'Turtles' flavoured milk were produced, latterly at Express Crediton.
Video created by combining some of the images of the plant on this site with an edited version of a 1962 video posted by Paul Finney and shot by his grandfather, Albert Finney.
This 1964 video includes extracts from the full cine film (https://youtu.be/9Gen2T_59lA) that include operations at South Morden Processing Dairy. See a milk tanker arriving from Staplemead Creamery in Somerset, and rail tanks being shunted in the siding. Samples are taken to the laboratory for testing, before unloading. All stages of the bottling process are shown, from unloading with fork-lift trucks, destillaging and de-crating, bottle washing, scrutinising, filling and capping, recrating and stacking, with a look at TetraPak cartoning too. Finally the bottled milk is loaded from the cold store and transported to a retail depot, in Swanley, Kent.
Memories of the processing dairy in Exhibition Way from the 1980s and 1990s, with staff numbered to assist identification.
Interesting video showing the bottling and cartoning operation, shot around 1991. Created by David Faux when he worked for the Milk Marketing Board.
Video made by Mike Browning, shortly before the Exhibition Way plant closed in 1993/4. It shows the complete milk processing, bottling and cartoning operation from start to finish. (Apologies for the poor quality of this video; the original tapes have been lost and this is a heavily edited version created from a TV screen copy.)
Video clips and stills from the episode that was filmed on location at South Morden dairy. First broadcast on 25th March, 1994.
Shows the operation of the dairy just before closure in 1995 and many of the staff who worked there. Created in 2024 from footage taken the day before closure, and with help from the 'Old Tarvin' Facebook group members who worked at the site.