42-44 (25) King Street, Stetchworth Dairy, Cambridge

History of 42-44 King Street

1861

John Mellor

1881

Josiah Hall

1896

(Kelly’s Directory)

Charles Wray Martin, dairyman

1901

Rosa Dawson, 53, dairy manageress, b Burwell

1907

By 1907 the King Street depot of Stetchworth Dairy formed an important part of Cambridge’s food distribution network. Every day the business supplied around 400 gallons of milk to eighteen Cambridge colleges as well as approximately 1,800 private households. The scale of these deliveries illustrates both the growing demand for fresh milk in an expanding university town and the efficiency of the distribution systems that connected surrounding villages with consumers in Cambridge. King Street’s position close to the historic commercial centre made it an ideal location for such a depot, serving both institutional and domestic customers.
Source: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge King Street Scrapbook 1897–1990, Item: 07 11 27, 27a.

1913

42 & 44 The Stetchworth Dairy

C R Alder general manager

1927

C R Alder

1950

Regent Street, beyond the University Arms — runaway horse stopped, 12 May 1950
When Stetchworth Dairies roundsman, Mr John Shorter, came out of a house in Downing Street he found his milk van had vanished. The horse had taken fright at noise from building operations and bolted at full gallop. Despite heavy traffic the horse swerved round the corner into St Andrew’s Street, missed five motor cars and a bus by inches, and continued at a gallop towards Regent Street. Mr John Higgins cycled after the runaway, seized the bridles and gradually gained control over the horse and forced it to a standstill beyond the University Arms Hotel. Mr Higgins, not a young man, was handicapped by a heavy box of plants on the front of his cycle and his prompt and plucky action exhausted him
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge REGENT STREET Scrapbook, entry 1950 05 12.

1962

(42) W R Watts, greengrocer

(44) Alfred Gibbs, cafe