From St. Neots Store to Advertising Hoarding

St. Neots High Street is facing up well to the challenges of trading post-covid and pre energy crunch. Changes will still occur as the town adapts to another ‘new normal’ with a rebalancing between commercial and residential property in our e-shopping age. The now closed Beale’s department store awaits the next phase of its life. A generation of locals will remember spending their ‘divi’ at the Co-op’s Westgate store (2009 photograph). They would not have imagined the town without its top of high street store and being reduced to clothes shopping on-line. The main building was created in the mid 1700’s by local bell founder Joseph Eayre as the George Inn. It had an assembly room on the second floor with a musician’s gallery and ornamental plaster work with a chandelier. The inn did not thrive and much of the property became residential but with the assembly room surviving into mid Victorian times. The St. Neots Co-operative Society took the building in 1913. (Tebbutt St. Neots 1978 . Still available at the museum together with many other local publications).

The property is now doing duty (hopefully on a temporary basis) as an advertising hoarding reminding folk of the attraction of shopping and leisure facilities in the town. The museum has much more about the heritage of the town and has a Christmas Craft Fair and activities as well as a shop with a family range of unique items that will make good presents. The museum is free to locals and contributing local parishes. 4 Please mention The Villager and Town Life when responding to adverts