History
Hitch a Lift From St. Neots Railway Station Motoring gently through the streets of Eynesbury and St. Neots one passes an occasional shopper or dog walker but rarely children playing in the streets as their Victorian ancestors did. As 21st century cars in St. Neots tend to move about as fast as an old time horse & cart life on two legs seems safe enough but one needs the use of a pair of wary eye as cyclists and even e-scooter owners can behave as if they have right of way or are on a mission to break a speed record. Even in days before the motor car, the street could be a dangerous place, and children could be vulnerable to traffic or animals. At Eynesbury in April 1859 a bullock that was being driven along the street ran amok, and injured various people [some severely], and these included a number of children on their way to school. Another accident while children were on their way to school at Eynesbury occurred in February 1862. A youth was driving a horse and cart without looking where he was going, and managed to knock a small girl over, with the wheel of the cart going over her foot and crushing it.
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Other accidents in the street happened because of children at play. After a child had been knocked over in the High Street in March 1877 the local paper commented that “in view of juvenile games it is a wonder there are not more accidents.” One temptation was the Cross Keys horse bus on its journeys to and from the station, and boys would often try to jump on the back and steal a ride. At least one of these fell off in September 1876 “and was lucky to escape serious injury”. The coming of the railway had meant the end of stagecoaches. Passengers for the coaches had always boarded at the Cross Keys, so an enterprising innkeeper of the 19th century began running a horse bus from the Inn to the railway station to meet every train. Successive landlords followed suit. The Cross Keys motor bus c1930 with its driver Stanley Cambers. The bus was still running in the early ‘50’s and probably discontinued by 1960. Thanks to the St. Neots History Society Newsletter from 2001. Do check out the now reopened St. Neots Museum for more local history.
By Peter Ibbett
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