Baldock is a historic market town within the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the ceremonial county of Hertfordshire, England where the River Ivel rises. It is positioned 33 miles (53 km) north of London, and has a population of around 9900. Nearby towns include Royston to the northeast, Letchworth and Hitchin to the southwest and Stevenage towards the south. The modern layout of the town and many buildings in the centre date from the sixteenth century, with the oldest dating back to the fourteenth century. The town thrived where the old Great North Road and the Icknield Way crossed. Regardless of the construction of the A1(M) motorway in 1963, which bypassed the town, and which was referred to as the Baldock Bypass for some years, it was still a significant traffic bottleneck until March 2006, when a new bypass removed the A505 road, part of the old Icknield Way which was east of Baldock. Since the 16th century, Baldock has been a centre for malting, subsequently becoming a regional brewing centre with at least 3 big brewers still trading in the area at the close of the 19th century, despite a decline in demand for the types of beer produced locally. The 1881 Census notes approximately 30 drinking establishments. During the early twentieth century, a big number of pubs continued to operate, several of which were sustained by the nearby and significantly bigger town of Letchworth, which had no alcohol retailers before 1958, and had only 2 pubs and one hotel bar till the mid-1990s. Its larger population had for a lot of years visited both Baldock and Hitchin for refreshment. For all your home improvement projects, make sure that you employ trustworthy professionals in Baldock to make sure that you get the top quality service.