UNREST AMONG THE BARK PEELERS

A little known industry in past times was bark peeling which was carried out in Bourne Wood and employed a large number of men. Bark is the protective covering of dried up tissues that can be found on the outside of tree trunks. 
The uses of bark are many and various and in past times it was a raw material for making canoes, shields, baskets and clothing. But the most valuable discovery was that it is also rich in tannins, particularly that of the oak tree, and is still in use for tanning hides to make leather, another industry which thrived in Bourne during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Working hours in those days were long and conditions arduous but men needing a regular wage to feed a wife and family had to put up with whatever conditions their employer imposed although there were isolated outbreaks of militancy among the labouring classes, particularly those engaged in agriculture and associated work such as forestry.
In the 19th century, the woods were owned by the Earl of Exeter, then Lord of the Manor of Bourne, who felled timber for income and also supplied bark to various firms in the locality. He was employing 40 men on this industry in 1872 but there was a great deal of unrest among them because of the hours they were required to work and the situation came to a head on the morning of Friday 26th May when they all walked out on strike. There was no union and pay bargaining was done by elected representatives. A deputation was therefore sent to the woodman, the earl's agent on site, with an ultimatum demanding revised working hours.
There was a lengthy consultation and it was agreed that they would return to work the following day provided the hours proposed by them were implemented. Until then, the men worked from 6 am until 6 pm with an hour and a half for stoppages, a total of 10½ hours. Their wages ranged from 2s. 3d. to 3s., according to capability. The men asked that they should have an hour allowed to them for going to work and an hour for returning and this would mean a starting time of 7 am and finishing at 5 pm with the usual 1½ hours for stoppages. They also asked to leave at 4.30 pm on Saturdays, a total of 8½ hours work. The woodman's counter proposals were that they should start work at 6.30 am and leave at 5.30 pm and that they could leave at 4.30 pm on a Saturday but the men refused to accept this and so the stoppage continued.
A week later, additional labour had been recruited to keep the bark peeling going and one by one the strikers were drifting back to work although an estimated half of them refused to return and sought work elsewhere. In the event, the hours remained the same.