Royal visits of past times

THE ANNOUNCEMENT that Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, is to visit the Abbey CE Primary School evokes memories of past royal visits and although Bourne has never been top of the list in the monarchy’s itinerary we have had several noteworthy occasions to prove that the town has not been entirely forgotten.

A royal visit is a special and exciting occasion for any community and is often made to mark an event with which a whole town, school or voluntary organisation is involved or it might be of special interest to a particular member of the royal family. Letters of invitation are usually sent to Buckingham Palace outlining the event and the organisation and the official diary is finalised twice a year for the spring and autumn seasons but they should be sent well in advance, usually about a year beforehand, although as far more invitations are received than can be accepted, many are refused.

Such visits need a great deal of formal procedure before an engagement is deemed to be suitable, mainly involving the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire who, as Her Majesty's representative in the county, is responsible for the visit from the very start, including arranging the timetable, security, publicity, speeches, gifts, who will be presented and the etiquette involved.

Perhaps the most distinguished of the royal visitors to Bourne was the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who arrived on Tuesday 20th May 1997 to open the Margaret Hurst Day Care Centre at Digby Court in Christopher’s Lane, the residential care home for the elderly which is administered by the Orders of St John Trust, one of the 70 charities of which she was patron. The centre was the latest addition to the 35-bed home and named after Margaret Hurst who had retired in 1996 after 24 years in charge and both she and her husband, Derek, were among the guests who were introduced to the royal visitor (pictured above).

The princess signed the visitors book, unveiled a commemorative plaque and toured the home chatting to residents and staff. The manager, Agnes Grummitt, said afterwards: “The residents absolutely loved it, having their hair done as well as manicures and make-up all ready for the visit. The princess had a genuine interest in everyone and it was quite clear that she had done her homework.”

It was a sunny day and the princess wore a yellow dress. The mayoress, Councillor Judy Smith, recalled later: “I was surprised how petite and attractive she was. I thought she was wonderful. Her visit was quite an event.”

In earlier years, the Duke of Kent came to see the Lincolnshire Agricultural Show which was held at Bourne in the summer of 1939. The site chosen for the three day show in June was 60 acres of farmland adjoining the A15 near Morton which soon contained a massive array of stands, animal pens, marquees and car parking and 150 bays of machinery.

The show at that time moved to a different town around the county each year and Bourne was the smallest ever visited but to celebrate the occasion the streets were gaily decorated with floral baskets hanging from the lamp posts, tubs of flowers, flags, banners and bunting festooned from buildings and across the roadways and special floodlighting effects along the riverside.

The Duke came on the first day of the show, arriving by plane at RAF Wittering and then motored through Stamford to Bourne with hundreds of people lining the route to see him pass and as he arrived at the showground the band of the Metropolitan Police played the National Anthem amid cheers from a record crowd, many of them children who had been given the day off school to attend.

In November 1989, the Duke of Gloucester visited Warners (Midlands) plc printing plant in West Street to open their new £4 million extensions at the Old Maltings. He was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, Captain Henry Nevile, and after being presented with a union membership card for the National Graphical Association, he set the new presses rolling to mark the occasion.

Ten years later, in 1999, the Duchess of Gloucester paid a visit to open a new out of town location for Nursery Supplies (Bourne) Ltd on a 5½-acre site at the corner of the A151 Spalding Road and Meadow Drove where a new building covering 15,000 sq feet had been erected and providing 260 full and part time jobs, both here in Bourne and nationwide. Their previous site in Exeter Street had been sold and is now occupied by Sainsburys supermarket.

Her Royal Highness was the guest of honour at the ceremony on Tuesday 27th April and was given a conducted tour of the premises by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Don Fisher. "It was a brilliant afternoon, an historic occasion for Nursery Supplies and for the town", he said afterwards. His enthusiasm was echoed by company director Adam Moody who said: "This marks the culmination of our relocation process which means that we are now able to expand into the next century in our new premises."

Prince Edward's visit is scheduled for Monday (September 27th) when he will open extensions to the Abbey CE Primary School where a new block of three classrooms and a canteen has been built, thus enabling the removal of previously used mobile accommodation. He will spend an hour at the school meeting pupils, staff and governors and cutting the ceremonial ribbon before leaving for another engagement at Grantham.

The chairman, John Kirkman, said that the visit was a great honour and privilege for both the school and for Bourne because, as he pointed out: “We do not get many royal visits.” Which is quite true but those we do get always turn out to be quite memorable.