THE APPEAL OF radio in past times is difficult to understand in these days of television and the Internet and although still in its infancy almost eighty years ago, it had become a major force in public life as a means of information and as a form of entertainment revered throughout the land. The arrival of a BBC outside broadcast unit in Bourne to transmit a live programme was therefore a big event and an occasion that became a talking point in the town for many weeks before. 

The subject of the broadcast was the ancient Flitch Ceremony, one of those quaint English folk customs that has survived since mediaeval times. Exactly when it began is unknown but it is thought to have started at Little Dunmow in Essex and is mentioned by Chaucer in the 14th century although it is believed to have been instituted during the reign of Henry III a hundred years earlier and there are suggestions that it may even have had its origins in Saxon or Norman times. 

Indeed, the work of our own Robert Manning, the poet and chronicler who resided at Bourne Abbey during the early 14th century, re-telling many fables and a great deal of folklore in the language of the people, contains one story entitled The Sacrilegious Husband and Wife that Stuck Together which has echoes of the flitch tradition. 

The object of the ceremony is for claimants to prove on oath that having been married for at least a year and a day, they have never once "sleeping or waking", regretted their marriage or wished themselves single again. The prize for such marital fidelity is a flitch, a whole side of a pig, which must have been a valuable addition to a poor man's larder in past times and so contestants were never hard to find. 

The Flitch Ceremony in its modern form began at Dunmow in 1885, largely due to the enthusiasm of the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth, author of The Flitch of Bacon (1854), who presented two flitches as prizes, and the custom has continued there ever since, becoming known as the Dunmow Flitch and now held once every four years, and although it once had serious intent, it has degenerated into little more than a hilarious entertainment.  

Other towns have followed suit by holding their own flitch ceremonies which is why it came to Bourne in 1934 as a means of raising money for the Butterfield Hospital in North Road, then funded entirely by voluntary donations. The occasion became even more noteworthy when it attracted the attention of the BBC and the proceedings from the stage of the Corn Exchange on Friday 21st September were broadcast from their Midland regional transmitter throughout the British Empire, or at least that part of it equipped to receive their broadcasts.

This was a considerable coup for Bourne because, as one local newspaper reported: "This was the first broadcast from any south Lincolnshire town. Whilst much larger neighbouring towns, such as Stamford and Grantham, have never yet been on the air, diminutive and unimportant fenland Bourne was noticed by that august body the BBC and honoured in such a signal manner." 

The broadcast had created so much excitement in the town that the Corn Exchange was packed to capacity and many people were turned away and went home to listen to the programme on the wireless instead.  

The judge for the trial was Stainless Stephen, a well-known Yorkshire radio comedian of the day who was paid a fee of eight guineas (almost £500 by today's values) for his appearance. There were three couples prepared to plead for their marital fidelity, Mr and Mrs Reginald Fritchley of Scunthorpe, Mr and Mrs George Thomas of North Street, Bourne, and Mr and Mrs Joe Bellamy, also of North Street, Bourne. All were legally represented by local solicitors prepared to take part in the merriment of the occasion and there was also a jury from the town consisting of seven spinsters and six bachelors.

The humour was naïve and unsophisticated by today's standards but it was an evening of good fun and there can be no one, whether in the audience or at home listening on the wireless, who did not enjoy themselves. Stainless Stephen had obviously done his homework and his remarks were laced with references to local places and people and, as the newspaper observed: "He made thousands ache with laughter."

 The report continued: "Stainless Stephen was successful beyond even the wildest dreams of the promoters. It was excruciatingly funny throughout and not once was there a dull moment. Stainless Stephen was right at the top of his form, delivering sparkling shafts of wit to all and sundry. No respecter of persons, this comedian-judge did his utmost to make everyone concerned in the trial look silly and he was remarkably successful, even to the extent of making himself an object of ridicule.

 "The broadcast itself came over the air very clearly and whilst the humour of the situation could not be appreciated quite so well as by those who could both see and hear Stainless Stephen's sallies of wit, the mirth-provoking questions of counsel, and the equally funny answers given by the hapless applicants for the flitch gave cause for plenty of amusement."

 The flitch was finally awarded to Mr and Mrs Fritchley and was presented by Mr Albert Wherry OBE, vice-president of the Butterfield Hospital, who congratulated the winners, handed consolation prizes to the runners-up and thanked everyone for their attendance before the evening concluded with three cheers for the judge, Stainless Stephen.

 A total of £40 (£2,500 today) was raised by the event for the Butterfield and a balance sheet presented to the hospital committee the following week showed that 895 programmes had been sold, an indication of the event's popularity. The expenditure included the comedian's fee, hiring the Corn Exchange, printing and advertising, bill posting, renting loud-speakers and the purchase of consolation prizes. But as the newspaper reported: "Everyone who saw the trial, quite apart from the many thousands who heard it over the air, agreed that it was a great success."