The business expaned and the blacksmiths were kept busy designing and making 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, as 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.
