A series of photos, mostly taken in the early 1950s, showing farming equipment in the Castor yard of the Gibbons family. The top image shows Bob and Jack Gibbons in their yard in 1950.
Harry Gibbons & Sons Agricultural Machinery Hire was operated from ‘Gibbons Yard’ next to what is now the village hall since at least 1847, when Thomas Gibbons is listed in Kelly’s Directory as a machinist. However, the business is thought to have been established as early as 1840. At its height Gibbons had 40 traction engines, as well as various threshing machines and bailers. In the yard there were engineering workshops, a smithy, machine shop and carpentry workshops, all necessary to keep the machinery operational. The business was still operating in the 1950s but eventually the yard fell into disuse and the buildings into disrepair. The property was sold in 1994.
