Recreation and lesiure

THE TOWN has several green spaces for relaxation and leisure but the main venue for sporting activities has for many years been the Abbey Lawn, endowed by an ancient charity and providing facilities for a wide variety of games for both the beginner and the veteran. The land originally formed part of the grounds of Bourne Abbey but the public were allowed to use it at the discretion of the vicar so it became the town's unofficial recreation ground and has been in use for such purposes for at least 200 years.

Sheep once grazed there but the land was eventually acquired by a syndicate of local businessmen who rented out the rights for cricket and football and in 1931, when under threat from housing development, Bourne United Charities bought it to be preserved as an open space and sports ground for the benefit of the town in perpetuity and since then there has been a continuous programme of improvement and upkeep.

Several sporting organisations now use it, notably Bourne Town Cricket Club whose activities date from the early 19th century and Bourne Town Football Club which was founded in 1883 and is nicknamed The Wakes. Bourne Tennis Club plays here together with Bourne Town Bowls Club and a relatively new sport, petanque, a type of boules that originated in France has been gaining popularity since the town became twinned with Doudeville in Normandy in October 1989.

There was once a putting green (circa 1965), a great attraction during the summer months when visitors could spend an enjoyable hour or so for 3d. a round. Three pence in those days, when there were 240 of them to the pound, would be about 20p at today's values and so it became a very popular pastime, especially for courting couples on hot and sunny Sunday afternoons when the ice cream man was waiting nearby with his Stop-me-and-buy-one pedal cart.

The Abbey Lawn has also been the scene of many celebrations over the years, its grassy open space filled with children who joined in sports and teas in large marquees to mark such as events as Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 when she had reigned for sixty years, the coronation of King George V in 1911, the peace celebrations for many wars and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. There have been many more similar events and it was a tradition in those days that each boy and girl who attended was given a mug marked with the date as a souvenir.

The handsome hand-forged, wrought iron gates in Abbey Road were made during the 18th century and formerly graced an estate entrance at a stately home in Derbyshire, installed in 1933 and refurbished in 2009 when the entire grounds were also enclosed by nine feet high iron railings designed to deter intruders who had been causing criminal damage to the sports buildings and equipment.

On the far edge of the Abbey Lawn is the outdoor swimming pool, a favourite leisure facility for the past eighty years. This is one of the few traditional outdoor pools or lidos remaining in England, dating back to 1138 when it was a carp pond providing fish for the monks at Bourne Abbey, but was converted into public baths at the instigation of keen local swimmers in the early 20th century.

Maypole dancing at the Abbey Lawn in 1910

In 1922, a committee was formed to clean it out and make it suitable for bathing including the erection of dressing rooms at either end and an approach to the baths from Coggles Causeway. Since 1990, the facility has been administered by the Outdoor Pool Preservation Trust, an organisation run by volunteers to ensure that the pool has not only survived but its facilities enhanced year after year and as a result it has become one of the town’s favourite summer amenities, attracting thousands during the hot weather.

The Wellhead Field has been in use since 1890 when a group of boys petitioned the town's M P, Henry Cust, to find them somewhere to play football and cricket and he persuaded a local landowner to lease Hereward's Field, as it was then known. When Mr Cust arrived from London for the first cricket match, he was met at the railway station by a large crowd of boys all cheering and shouting and then paraded through the streets with the town's brass band to their new recreation ground.

St Peter's Pool and Hereward's Field in 1906

The land continued in use until 1911 when the present ground in Recreation Road was opened to celebrate the coronation of King George V. Hereward's Field was subsequently purchased by Bourne United Charities in 1945 for preservation as an open space and is now part of the Wellhead Gardens and still the scene of many of the town's major events.

Bourne also had a golf club which was formed in 1899, a modest venture with a nine-hole course that was laid out on what was then known as the Castle Meadows and adjoining fields, close to the Red Hall. It was little more than a grassy surface with a few undulations but sufficient for players to pursue the ancient game although it did not survive after the Great War of 1914-18 when it closed down through lack of money and support.

The Abbey Lawn today