Lamberton of Cocklebie

Kilmarnock Standard January 1971

Their Name Meant Milk to Stewarton.

After 66 years “the old firm” of A.Lamberton& Co., farmers and milk retailers of Cocklebie Farm, Stewarton, have sold their last “pinta.” Much of their land within the parish was in the town’s housing development area, so recently the Lambertons sold 34 acres to a large English building company from Sidcup in Kent. The remaining 65 acres will be sold in the near future as they have to vacate the farmhouse in two years time. It will eventually be demolished.

It was in 1904 that the late John Lamberton Senior left Highburn, a small farm near Fenwick (known as the Burn) to come toCocklebie Farm, right on the edge of the northwest side of the town near the railway station. Mr and Mrs Lamberton immediately set up as dairy farmers and sold milk direct to the people of the town. They had eight children, Janet, Mary, John, James, Alec, Nan, William and Robert; all still living except Nan who died in 1953.

After the death of their father, the Lamberton brothers traded under the name of

A.& J. Lamberton, but for many years now the official title has been A.Lamberton& Co. Although not the oldest, Alex was “the chief” and he and Robert delivered milk throughout Stewarton in the mornings and then joined Willie and Johnny later to work on the farm. Brother Jimmy, after working at Leeds University, wasPrincipal of the Cheshire School of Agriculture for 19 years and is now retired and lives in Ardrossan. Janet (Mrs Andrew Mair) formerly of PoriskenFarm, once lived in Rothesay but is now in Lincolnshire. The other sister, Mary, keepshouse at Cocklebie for her four brothers.

The milk industry has undergone many changes since the Lambertons started. Many years ago the milk was sold from wooden barrels which were carted round the town in horse-drawn vehicles- two barrels of milk, one of cream and one of “soor” milk. Later cans took over the barrels, and on May 3rd 1936 they put their first motor van on the road –a second-hand Ford. Finally in the fifties, they went over to electric milking machines and bottled milk, and a tractor replaced the horse for heavy work.

Alex Lamberton and his sister and brothers will be moving out of Cocklebie within the next two years, which will be quite a wrench after spending all their lives there.

Says Alex:” At first we were reluctant to give up the farm, but as none of us is getting any younger or fitter, it is possibly the best thing that could have happened in the long run. What we want now is a small place with a few acres and a few beasts, just to give us an interest. While we hope to stay near Stewarton, we have no definite plans and we may finish upfurther afield. Of course we might even settle for a house in the town. Wherever we land, it will be a big change for all of us.”

It will also be a big change for the people of Stewarton, for the name Lamberton is synonymous with milk in the burgh. The Lamberton brothers, especially Alex and Robert, will be missed too, for they usually had a pleasant word for everyone, and as with most farmers, it was invariably about the weather.

The Stewarton  pinta will never be the same again!

My thanks to Andrew Lamberton, nephew of Alex Lamberton, for his help in building this page.