The Sandford Gate Milk Company

Four generations of the Munday family have farmed at Town Barton since 1968, close enough to Sandford that the gate itself became shorthand for them. The herd of 250 free range cows grazes the mid-Devon pastures around the village from mid-February to mid-November, roughly 270 days outside a year, well beyond the 180 needed to call them free range. The vending machine sits about three fields away from where they graze.

The milk is pasteurised and non-homogenised, dispensed from machines at Mole Avon in Crediton and Mole Avon in Okehampton. Crediton has two machines, one for milk alone and one that also pours milkshakes; Okehampton has a single machine doing both. Six flavours: chocolate, strawberry, banana and salted caramel as regulars, plus two weekly specials that have run to black cherry, blueberry muffin and mint chocolate. Buy a reusable glass bottle at the machine. Contactless only, so leave the coins at home.