The Ice-Cream Man

Here in Saltaire, we still have frequent visits from the ice-cream man, selling ice-cream from his van. It's another of those traditions - along with the cinema organ and getting milk delivered in glass bottles - that is rapidly dying out. His van in itself must be a classic...H reg...how old is that? I know some people hate the van's chimes, finding them intrusive, but I always think it's a cheering sound. I remember the thrill, as a child staying at my great aunt's house, of running out to the street with a hot little coin in my palm and exchanging it for a whippy ice-cream cone. And looking at the local kids, especially the littlest ones, there is evidently still the same thrill. (Yes, you can buy ice-cream from the supermarket, but not the whippy ones with a chocolate flake!) I sometimes think I should do my bit to support the old custom, but then I look at my waistline....