Summer's here and what encapsulates this balmy time of year more than the sound of an ice cream van's jingle floating along on a warm breeze from several streets away.
So grab your pocket money and join us on the street corner as we meet some of the people behind those mobile joy machines that always meant so much to us as kids growing up.
Mr Whippy
Keith Davies, 60, Caernarfon
"Ice cream has been in my family for 75 years.
"My father Ted and my mum Nancy were from Mid Wales and would often go on little trips on the weekends, and I suppose they saw how many people flocked to Abersoch beach when the sun was out and realised there was a business opportunity there.
"So Dad bought an ex-local authority ambulance Land Rover and converted it into an ice cream truck - its was a big success from the off.
"These days the lure to holiday abroad is much greater, but you have to remember that back in those days most people stayed put during the summer months, so there was always plenty of trade.
"For example, there was one time when a nearby campsite tried to get Dad's van banned from the beach - I think they felt he was treading on their toes, business-wise - and within two days people had submitted a 3,000 name petition saying they wanted the van to stay on the sands.
"Dad would also drive all around the area, probably about a 21 mile radius and sometimes he'd come into contact with other ice cream van drivers and things would get heated - if you excuse the pun.
"One bloke, who felt his territory was being trespassed upon, came up to Dad's window and threatened him with a 12 bore shotgun, so the police had to be called.
"I think the bloke ended up being deported back to Italy. Those were hard times back then I can tell you.
"Have I ever had that happen to me? No, no one's pointed a shotgun at me, but I've had a few run their mouths off and I've had to put them in their place.
"I've been involved in the business since I was 17 and was able to drive from the age of 12 - my first car was a £35 Triumph Herald, but I woke up one morning to discover my father had mistaken it for scrap and buried it.
"I could just see half a tyre poking out of the ground - I'd only had it a week!
"Dad had a fleet of six vans but now I only have three, one of which is a Mitsubishi 4X4 - only thing that'll shift on the Abersoch sand.
"I remember one time, about 20 years ago, misjudging the tide down there - I was cleaning the inside and got distracted, when, all of a sudden, there was a knock on the window.
"I looked up and there was a chap in a canoe bobbing around outside wanting a 99 - the water was right up to counter level.
"I had to open the bonnet and let the sun dry the engine out before I could get it home.
"Another time I was dealing with a huge queue of customers and felt a pain in my chest - next thing I knew a heart surgeon who'd been waiting in line several bodies back had come to the front to give me the once over.
"The next day he booked me in for surgery and, within a week, I'd had a stent put in my heart.
"I also had to drive a heavily pregnant woman off the beach because her waters had broken and the ambulance couldn't get down to her - the joys of having a four wheel drive.
"I recently put the business up for sale because I've got a bad back and want to do other things - it'll make a great little enterprise for the right person.
"This year will be the first summer I've had any free time since I was a teenager.
"Hopefully me and wife will be able to do something nice - I think I owe it to her to make up for all that lost time."
CJ Copner Ice Cream Vans
Christopher Copner, 29, Abergavenny
"I've had an interest in ice cream vans from a very young age due to their varying bright colours and designs, and I started collecting small models of them when I was around five.
"I amassed quite a few - vans of ages from all over the world. When I was 15 it even got me on TV, a show on ITV called Bric-A-Brac with Arfon Haines Davies .
"Then, when I was 19 I decided to go looking for my first real one, so I went to what was then known as Rossi's Ice Cream Cash and Carry in Cardiff, taking with me a magazine article I'd written on vintage vans.
"The owner took one look at the story and told me he'd seen a van just like it for sale nearby.
"It turned out to be more than just a look-a-like, it was the exact same van from which I'd bought ices as a child - a 1976 Mk1 Transit. How's that for fate?
"I had it recovered from Cardiff to Abergavenny and then stored on a farm until the following summer when we could start work on it.
"It took over a year to fix up, proper wheeler dealer style, and had to source new parts for it from all over the world.
"I've also got a 1979 Bedford CF with twin flavour soft ice cream machine which I found in St Helens, along with a new build Ford Transit from Whitby Morrison coachworks in Crewe, which has a hand painted mural of Abergavenny on the back.
"We drive all around the town and its surrounding areas and are really well known.
"We also do lots of TV, film and radio stuff, and our fleet has appeared on shows such as Stella and Being Human and that always ups our profile - one radio spot we did with Heart FM's Jagger and Woody got us 20k Facebook views in one Bank Holiday weekend.
"Whenever it's hot people always say, 'I bet you're happy', like that's the only time we fetch the vans out.
"It's true that summer might mean the odd busy month or two, but we still need to keep going all year round."
Mr Creemy
Marco Ferdenzi, 52, Tonypandy
"You wouldn't believe how many people suggest different flavour ice creams to me on my rounds, lots of weird combinations too.
"I mean, egg and bacon flavour? Curry flavour? Don't get me wrong, I like Heston Blumenthal , but I'm not sure any of that would work in a heatwave.
"And I'll tell you a secret - not only do I dislike it when it gets too warm, I'm not even much of ice cream fan when it comes to cooling myself down.
"I'd much rather eat it sat in front of the telly on a cold winter's night , but I suppose that's just me.
"I've been doing this since 1990 - the company having been started by my uncle Mike about 50 years ago.
"The shop we have in Penygraig has always formed the core of the business and people really buy into the whole traditionality of it - old school values, great customer service, locally sourced milk and cream etc.
"I've been going out in the van since I first started though and I've seen first hand the way trade has changed over the years.
"The ice cream van's jingle just doesn't have the pull it once did because there's so much more distraction in people's lives these days - what with mobiles, telly, computers and the like.
"The rise of the supermarkets with their cheap tubs you can buy in bulk, that's also played a part.
"I understand it but it makes me a bit sad because my own memories of those long childhood summers are some of the most cherished I have.
"I think kids are missing out on a lot of what we had, and running out into the street to catch the ice cream van with a fistful of loose change was, for many, their first real experience of money.
"It was very much a rite of passage - buying that first 99, Screwball or oyster - but that's no longer there to such a degree.
"What's nice though is that the van is still very much a point of contact for neighbours, and people will buy their lollies and stand around chatting and gossiping.
"It's hard not to feel a part of others' lives as a result and I've genuinely come to feel a connection with the community.
"The kids who used to buy from me are now grown up with kids of their own, which is both lovely to see and a bit depressing.
"It makes me feel old."
Bongo's Ice Creams & Retro Sweets
John Wilkins, 53, Mountain Ash
"I'd been a bus driver for about 15 years when I saw an ice cream van for sale on the cheap just down the road from me.
"The bloke selling it couldn't get it to go but I had a bit of a tinker with it and and got it started.
"It had all the kit inside and was all in working order, so - even though I’d never really seen myself as an ice cream man before - I figured,'why not'?
"I go out in the van pretty much seven nights a week, especially at this time of year and I'm out from late afternoon until 7pm-ish.
"I'll travel as far afield as Aberdare - maybe even Chepstow if I've got an event booked - and I've seen some sights over the years.
"There was one occasion, down in Penrhiwceiber, when I had to wait while a woman, who'd locked herself in her house, climbed headfirst out of a window to come and buy from me.
"The sundaes I sell which have all sorts of flavour sauces on them are always very popular - there are Dr Pepper and Nutella toppings, as well as Turkish Delight and liquorice - although that last one is a real audience divider, along with salted caramel.
"This isn't the type of job that would suit everyone, mind.
"On the plus side you can start and finish when you like, but you can also be flat out one week and bust the next, and it doesn't even depend on the weather.
"In addition, the hours during the winter can be really unsociable, and I've gone back on the buses part time before now, just to help make ends meet.
"You've also got to be really good with engines because if the van breaks down you can't wait around for a mechanic to have a free slot - that's your livelihood you're talking about.
"I've got four children and three grandchildren - Granddad being an ice cream man is like a dream for them, but I reckon I've put my kids off following me into the business altogether.
"So I suppose I'll carry on doing this until I'm no longer physically able to lift a scoop - I can't see me doing anything else now.
"Honestly, I never thought I'd still be doing this all these years later."
