The Bushel and Strike Beerhouse, Little Staughton

This page was partly written by Brenda Foster and Jeanette Atkinson 

Site of the Bushel and Strike in 2018

The Bushel and Strike Beerhouse, Colmworth Road, Little Staughton

Two public houses, The Bushel and Strike and the Shoulder of Mutton, both on the same side of Colmworth Road, were demolished in the mid-1940s when the wartime airfield was developed. The Bushel and Strike was at the south west end of the crossfield runway and lay opposite the old Baptist Chapel. 

By 1919 this beerhouse was in the possession of the Day and Sons Brewery in Saint Neots [Hunts]. After Frank Day's death in that year it was auctioned alongside the rest of the Brewery's holdings. It is described on the auction catalogue as a freehold beerhouse with one bedroom in the occupation of Joseph William Gillett. Gillett had been renting the property for six years at an annuial rent of £8 [GK175/2]. 

In 1927 all properties in Little Staughton were valued under the national Rating and Valuation Act of 1925. As part of the assessment the Bushel and Strike, then owned by brewers Wells and Winch, was valued at £9 for the attached land and £3 16s for the buildings [DV1/C176/25]. At the rear there was a three stall cowshed, a calf pen, piggery, cart shed, henhouse and barn. It had a seven day license and sold 18 gallons of beer, 18 bottles of beer and £1 of tobacco each week.  It was a 'poor looking little place' according to the surveyor but those who can remember the Bushel and Strike describe it as homely and containing a large cabinet of exotic stuffed birds. 

Licensees: note that this is not a complete list and that dates in italics are not necessarily beginning or end dates, merely the first/last date which can be confirmed from sources such as directories and deeds.

1876: Jabez Robins; 

1895-1911: James Hawkins; 

1913-1927: Joseph William Gillett.