When John Gibbs began the business, the horse was an essential form of transport and vital for most agricultural work. As Bedfont was in the middle of a busy farming area, there was plenty of work for the new firm, making and mending both horse drawn vehicles and agricultural implements.
The blacksmiths were kept busy designing and making the many pieces of ironwork used on implements and wagons as well as shoeing horses. Similarly there was plenty of work for the Wheelwrights, building and repairing carts and wagons, well as undertaking any other necessary woodworking jobs.
The area around Bedfont (where Heathrow airport now stands) was known as the “Garden of London” and the city-dwellers provided the farmers with a ready market for their produce.
The farmers and market gardeners transported their fruit and vegetables to the London markets, including Covent Garden, in horse-drawn vans and carts. It was important to lift and transport produce to market as quickly as possible without damaging the crop. The produce needed to arrive at market fresh and in good condition in order to gain a good price. Gibbs designed and built wagons and carts specifically for this purpose.
