Bourne's American link

TWINNING HAS burgeoned since the ending of the Second World War in 1945 and has been the catalyst for the peoples of many nations to befriend others around the world and to become familiar with their way of life, their customs and their heritage.

The object of this international understanding has been to enable two towns in different countries, usually similar in some way, such as size or industrial make-up, to become formally associated by engaging in reciprocal cultural visits to ensure that their ties become closer as the years progress.

Bourne came late to this arrangement and it was only 17 years ago that links were established with Doudeville in Normandy, France, more of a large village than a town, and situated about thirty miles inland from Dieppe. In October 1989, a civic party travelled there by coach and a twinning agreement was signed by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Mrs Mary Parker, and the Mayor of Doudeville, M Raymond Laroche. Since then, the bond has been strengthened with frequent exchange visits and the town sign proudly announces that Bourne is twinned with Doudeville.

But there was a previous attempt at twinning in 1949 that flourished for a short time and was then forgotten. The initiative was known as a goodwill campaign and was the idea of Councillor Thomas William Revill, chairman of Bourne Urban District Council from 1949-50, who was interested in developing friendships between nations, particularly with the United States that had been a major ally during the Second World War that had ended four years before. He therefore chose Bourne in Massachusetts for his transatlantic town friendship after an opening move had been made by Harry I Avery, chairman of the Board of Selectmen at Bourne, Mass., who invited the people of Bourne, Lincolnshire, to correspond with citizens on the other side of the Atlantic.

BUDC was celebrating its golden jubilee that year, having been formed in 1899, and he had written to Mr Avery promising to do all he could to further mutual contacts between the two towns and their citizens. “Our Bourne is only a small place”, he wrote, “but its roots lie deep in the history of the English speaking peoples.”

The Bourne in the USA is situated in Massachusetts, one of the original 13 states first settled by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620 and becoming part of the union in 1788. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country and is variously nicknamed the Bay or Old Colony State, covering an area of 8,299 square miles with a population of more than six million people. The capital is Boston and it is rich with a diversity of industries including electronics and optical equipment, precision instruments, dairy products, fruit and fish. The state also has a chequered Civil War battlefield history with many national parks and museums while the town of Salem was the site of the infamous witch trials of the 1690s.

There are also a wealth of interesting places on the eastern seaboard, including Plymouth where the Mayflower carrying the pilgrims from the old country landed, several former whaling ports and the small town of Bourne, a medium-sized rural community at the gateway to Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Canal runs through it, crossed by the Bourne and the Sagamore bridges as well as a lift railroad bridge. The canal is well known for its superb game fishing, scenic bike rides and for carrying ships flying the flags of all nations while the scenic park campground can be found beneath the Bourne Bridge and is a perfect location for those seeking to enjoy the canal.

The town has numerous quiet harbours and inlets for boating and swimming and the shell fishing in the area is particularly enticing. It is a quiet community without the summer tourist crush experienced by some of the other Cape communities although the annual Bourne Scallop Festival, which is held in early September each year, brings visitors from across the nation.

The message from Councillor Revill was soon flashed around the district by the local newspaper, the Massachusetts Standard-Times, the editor devoting the entire front page to the story with his photograph together with pictures of the Abbey Church and the Red Hall and a short history of the town. The importance of the proposed goodwill link to the Americans can be gauged by the fact that the newspaper that day ran to 36 pages at a time when newsprint was still in short supply as a result of wartime economies and most British newspapers rarely exceeded eight pages.

Also included was a picture of 11-year-old Margaret Burton, of 2 Victoria Place, Bourne, one of those local people who had written to Mr Avery seeking a pen friend and saying that she wanted to go to America to see how they played baseball.

“Councillor Revill is to be congratulated on his initiative”, enthused the Stamford Mercury on Friday 9th December 1949. “The reception accorded his message in America augers well for closer contact between the two places.”

Unfortunately, the enthusiasm was not to last. By the following year, the initiative had begun to peter out and although many townspeople continued to correspond with their new found American friends, full twinning never materialised and Councillor Revill, a railway clerk, who lived with his wife Edith and their two children Alec and Miriam in George Street, died in 1959, aged 61, without his wish being fulfilled and it was to be another 40 years before Bourne turned to France for this to come to fruition.

This link between the two towns flourishes still with regular exchange visits and this year, members of the Bourne Twinning Association, which currently has 80 members, are visiting Doudeville for a three night stay in the late summer. Stalwart member Betty James who will be among them said: “These visits are always great fun. Many of us fancy ourselves at speaking the language but even if you don’t, it really does not matter because everyone thoroughly enjoys themselves and the camaraderie between the two countries is very strong indeed.”

NOTE: This article was published by The Local newspaper on Friday 16th March 2007.