Introduction

IN THE AUTUMN of 2010, older pupils at the Westfield Primary School in Bourne were given the task of writing something about Bourne Past and Present and although most of what they required can be found in A Portrait of Bourne, it is only available on CD-ROM which is so extensive that it would be difficult for them to find what they wanted without guidance.

Several mothers emailed me seeking help and one, Mrs Naomi Needham, even came to see me saying that she had the disc but needed to sit with her daughter when using it. After some discussion, we both agreed that the obvious solution would be an easier version in book form and so A Children's History was born.

This is a considerably shorter version of our history but one that contains all of the main events together with descriptions of the people who lived here and the town they built and although primarily intended for children, there is much in its pages that will also be of interest to the more mature reader who is approaching the subject for the first time.

Once this has been read and enjoyed, then perhaps it would be time to move on to the CD-ROM which over the past twelve years has become a massive work now containing over 1½ million words and 4,000 photographs of the town past and present. One would think that this is all that can be written about a small Lincolnshire market town yet the quest continues.

Rex Needle
Bourne
January 2011