The Tally Ho, Barkway, 1901

Beer, Beds and Stabling by Jon Mein

A history of Barkway's inns and pubs, c.1750-1920

The main road from London to Cambridge through Barkway has always been busy – and noisy. In the 1750-1850 period, as now, all sorts of people used it. The wealthy travelled to the University or perhaps to their estates in Norfolk using scheduled coaches; gamblers with money to burn heading to the Newmarket races hired expensive post-chaises. On more restricted budgets, waggoners carted goods up and down the road, especially barley to the pre-eminent maltsters in Ware; and then there were the drovers leading thousands of cattle, sheep, ducks and geese to London’s markets.

Drawing on a wide range of contemporary sources, this book explores the extent to which our predecessors in the village benefi ted from this trade at a time when the country’s population was growing and the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Who profi ted – and who did not? What was the role of many of our surviving buildings in that trade? How did the appearance of the village change during it?

Published 3 October 2026

Price £10

Available at the Reading Room when it's open on the last Sunday of each month between 2 and 4pm, or from Bow Books, 6 Angel Pavement, Royston: https://www.bow-books.co.uk/