LIFE for many of us looks starkly different to how it did pre-pandemic, but perhaps no more so than for one former British Airways cabin crew.

Having worked as a member of BA’s cabin crew for more than 30 years, Rob Coombes was living a happy and comfortable life, full of stories to tell from his jet-setting career.

However, when the pandemic hit Rob’s life was turned upside down - after months of furlough he was made redundant a year ago when BA decided they needed to strip back their workforce and laid off more than 6,000 crew.

Hanging up his wings for good, Rob decided to trade them in for a pair of wellies and jumped at the chance to work with Allen Valley Farm on the Kingston Lacy Estate topping-up their milk vending machines across Dorset.

With the support of his wife Sarah, the couple went about topping up the eco-friendly machines across the county before quickly realising their potential.

Bournemouth Echo:

The Milk Hut at Ashley Cross

By the end of March this year, the couple from Parkstone, opened their own Milk Hut at Ashley Cross.

Rob said: “It’s been a massive change and we thought, why not do something different? When a door opens you might as well see what’s inside.

“We live locally and we thought, well why not open one here?

“It’s been so well-received and people love that it’s farm-fresh milk that only comes from eight-miles up the road and it tastes amazing.”

At the Milk Hut there is a vending machine for reusable glass milk bottles, a selection of free milkshake syrups and the milk machine which costs £1.20 per litre of milk.

Rob said: “It’s not like normal milk, it’s really creamy and the cows are all grass fed and free range - unlike most cows these days who stay indoors.

“All the goodness, vitamins and calcium are in the fat which you lose in normal milk from the supermarket because it’s over pasteurised, whereas this is pasteurised at the farm for a longer period of time which also helps to keep its flavour.”

Bournemouth Echo:

David, Rob and the Alley Valley dairy cows. 

Cutting down the carbon omitted from producing the cattle feed, reducing the mileage from the dairy to the consumers fridge and minimising the use of plastic is also a key driver of the business.

The Milk Hut at Ashley Cross sells on average 600 litres of milk a week, which saves more than 31,000 plastic milk cartons from being brought each year.

Looking ahead to the future, Rob and Sarah have no plans of slowing down with a new milk hut opening soon at the Dolphin Centre in Poole.