A MALVERN milk bottle collector has been named one of the dullest men in Britain.
Steve Wheeler is one of 12 people to have the dubious honour of being included in the 2015 Dull Men of Great Britain calender which launched in Birmingham on Saturday (October 11).
The 66-year-old from Leigh Sinton Road has collected more than 17,500 milk bottles which he stores in a ‘museum’ in his back garden.
But despite the unusual interest Steve considers himself far from dull.
He said: “I don’t think it applies to me really, I think all people who collect things are interesting.
“Everyone does different things and I am the ‘milk bottle man from Worcestershire’.”
Steve began his hoard about 30 years ago when he found a bottle out in the countryside. After realising it came from a dairy which was closing down he thought it might be wise to collect a few more.
Now he has so many he is having to build an extension to his workshop but insists he will stop there.
“That will be enough I think, I’m getting too old to lift these heavy crates around,” Steve said.
“I would gladly give it all away but I would like to see it on display somewhere and not holed up in a basement, I have put 30 years of my life in to this.”
Despite his vast collection Steve does not even like milk, describing it as ‘baby food’.
He added: “I love glass and I love meeting the people, the dairy men. I have met some cracking people doing this over the years.”
The former cattle exporter has bottles from all over the world yet his favourite is one with Zoe Newton printed on the front who was the face of the ‘Drinka pinta milka day’ campaign in the 1950s.
He admitted when he first undertook the hobby his friends and family used to laugh about it but now people took him seriously because of the number of experts in the field who had come to him for advice through the years.
Steve urged people to donate their unwanted bottles by contacting him at [email protected] or on 01684 569656.
He said bottles he already owned he moved on to raise money for the Samaritans, RNLI and Midlands Air Ambulance.
The Dull Men of Great Britain calendar also features a post box photographer from Worcester and a roundabout enthusiast from Redditch.
It will be available to buy on Amazon.co.uk at the end of the month.
