I'm talking today about the St Ives in Cambridgeshire, not to be confused with the St Ives in Cornwall, Dorset or New South Wales. It's famous for the fifteenth century bridge over the River Great Ouse, which has a chapel of St Leger on the middle. Apparently there are only two other bridge-chapels in England, both in Yorkshire.St Ives is a market town - the nursery rhyme/riddle "As I Was Going to St Ives" is about a man going to a fair there. There's a big market every Monday (extra large on Bank Holiday Mondays) and a smaller market on Fridays. Farmers Markets are held on the 1st and 3rd Saturday every month.
Oliver Cromwell lived in St Ives from 1631 to 1635 and in Market Hill there's a bronze statue commemorating him.
A stones through away from Cromwell's statue is Simmonds of St Ives. Simmonds is a delicatessen specialising in bacon and ham. I picked up a leaflet in the shop telling me that the pork used to make their Suffolk bacon and ham comes from very happy large white pigs that roam the Suffolk countryside. The meat is cured amd smoked by Emmett's of Peasenhall. They do a traditional mild cure and a sweet pickled or black ham or bacon that has been steeped in Suffolk stout for several weeks.They also sell prize winning home made lemonade, local honey, Old Spot pork and apple pies, a selection of British cheeses, locally made biltong and boerewors.
Simmonds of St Ives
13 Market Hill
St. Ives
Cambridgeshire
PE27 5AL
Tel: 01480 463204
Comments