The Old Riverport area in St Ives. - Credit: HUNTS POST St Ives lies five miles east of Huntingdon and 12 miles north-west of Cambridge and has a population of 16,384, according to the 2011 Census. The town name is featured in the anonymous nursery rhyme - As I was going to St Ives - which talks about a man with seven wives and seven sacks, although some claim this refers to St Ives, in Cornwall. St Ives has always been an bustling market town and over the years there have been a large number of pubs in and around the town to support the trade from those buying and selling their wares. In fact, in 1838, records show there were 64, but by 1962, just 16 remained, including The Seven Wives, in Ramsey Road, which opened in that year. The oldest is thought to be The Dolphin, currently a hotel, and the White Hart which is pre-1720.