St Neots, Brook Street c.1955

Photo ref: S37008

More about this scene

Next to the Bushel & Strike public house (left), in what was the Bell Yard, stands Ibbett`s blacksmith and engineering workshop`s outside store. The business goes back to the 17th century, and was started by the landlord of the Bell, who was also a blacksmith. John Duke held the Bell and the business, but after his death in 1851, it was sold to Thomas Ibbett. The business continued through the 1800s and into the 1900s in the same family. The yard had been a building which was demolished around 1915. The house next door became Ibbett`s office after the closure of the White Swan in the 1920s. Opposite the Bushel & Strike, the gap in the wall originally opened onto a set of steps leading down to the landing stage on the Hen Brook.