THE SNOWFALLS of recent days closed roads and schools and generally disrupted life around Bourne but we were still lucky to escape the more serious conditions that have been experienced in past times. History records many instances of exceptional weather, particularly the winter of 1739-40, although local records are sparse and accounts of only a few instances of problems caused by snow since then remain.

One of the worst snowstorms occurred in Bourne during the General Election of 1910, a straight fight between the Conservative candidate, Major Claud Willoughby, son of the first Earl of Ancaster, of Grimsthorpe Castle, and the Liberal candidate, Mr G H Parkin. Polling day was fixed for Friday 28th January and the Corn Exchange chosen for the count the following day and although it was expected to be a straightforward campaign, the candidates had reckoned without the weather.

During the night, there had been a heavy snowfall which had settled to a depth of several inches in many places, Bourne being particularly affected, while the forecast was not good and the day dawned with yet more snow, thus hampering voters from outlying districts in reaching the polling booths. The continued severe weather was also a bad omen as cars were being used for the first time in a local election to take people in to cast their votes added to which Bourne at that time was part of a very large constituency containing over 150 parishes and extending from Beckingham in the north to Crowland in the south, a distance of almost 60 miles by road and 27 miles from east to west.

The snow was therefore a major setback for the candidates, Major Willoughby for instance having more than 100 vehicles at his disposal which had been loaned by friends and relatives, and the effect was soon evident when they started skidding and sliding on the icy roads and then began breaking down and as they were either towed away or abandoned, some electors experienced the novelty of being taken to the polls on a sledge. The only incident of an unpleasant nature occurred at Stamford where Mr Parkin was struck in the face by a snowball and received a slight injury.

The weather was still bad the following day when the candidates assembled for the count at the Corn Exchange where Major Willoughby was elected by a majority of 356 votes. He received a tumultuous reception when he addressed the waiting crowd but there was another heavy snowfall as he began a triumphal tour of the town with a motorcade of 20 vehicles, he and his wife Lady Florence in the first car which eventually broke down because of the freezing temperatures but supporters refused to be beaten and so they hitched ropes to the axles and pulled him for the rest of the way.

Another exceptional occasion for snow in Bourne was a blizzard in 1916 which caused major disruption to public services and left a trail of damage across the district. The wintry conditions prevailed throughout Tuesday 28th March when trees were uprooted in various parts of the town, four on the Abbey Lawn, three in Mill Drove, two near the villas in West Road, three in a field near the railway station at the Red Hall, two at the bottom of Eastgate and one close to Dr John Gilpin's surgery at Brook Lodge in South Street.

The telephone and telegraph services were cut off and on Tuesday evening it was reported that not a single telephone subscriber could be reached while the following morning telegrams were not being accepted by the Post Office because they were unable to send them. One telegram sent before noon on the Tuesday was not delivered until 9 o'clock the following morning, an unheard of delay. Rail services were badly disrupted and trains due into Bourne from Saxby just before 11 am on Tuesday were held up by deep snow drifts at South Witham and had still not arrived by midday the following day. The 12.15 pm express to Leicester reached South Witham but was forced to return with its passengers to Norwich. All trains were running late on the Great Northern system and the journey to Grantham took about four hours. A train which left Bourne for Spalding at 3 pm to bring home passengers from Spalding market arrived in Bourne at 7 pm in the evening after the electric signalling system at Twenty failed.

The motor mail cart bringing in the morning mail from Peterborough which was usually due at Bourne at 4 am did not arrive until after 7 am on both Tuesday and Wednesday and on the Tuesday run it was held up by telegraph poles that had blown down across the road. The Great War of 1914-18 was in progress and among the passengers stranded at Bourne railway station were three soldiers who were given beds for the night at the Vestry Hall which had been converted for use as a Red Cross hospital for convalescent servicemen. The surprising feature of the storm was that it caused only a small amount of structural damage to property, mainly dislodging slates, tiles and guttering that collapsed under the weight of snow but the town was virtually isolated for several days.

Serious snowfalls in recent years have been relatively few although the life of the town was badly disrupted in 1920 and again in 1947 and 1963 while a fall in 1987 blocked the A15, halted the buses and saw tractors clearing the town centre. The documentary evidence seems to indicate, however, that people in the past made a more concerted effort to continue with their daily round rather than succumb and take a day off but then it must be remembered that paid leave of absence for whatever reason was virtually unknown until recent times.