Bourne Diary - June 2002

Saturday 1^st June 2002

Many contributors would like to see the rail links with neighbouring towns restored although most acknowledge that this would be financially prohibitive. The discussion however has been beneficial in that it has illustrated the advantages we have lost in what was then thought to be prudence and expediency although the closure of our rural and branch lines during the 20th century has since been revealed as one of the biggest blunders of central government in recent times.

In order to assist in the debate, I have written a short history of the railways in the Bourne area from their opening in 1860 until their closure almost 100 years later and my contribution can be found in Bourne Focus - Heritage. A more detailed illustrated history of the railway age in Bourne can be found on the CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne that is now available. This is the largest archive of local history ever produced, detailing the growth of Bourne and its people from the earliest times to the present day and containing more than 1,200 photographs and 350,000 words of text. To obtain a copy, an order form may be accessed on the front page of this web site.

You must be living on a desert island not to know that the World Cup begins this weekend. This competition now ranks among the great events of the past 100 years in upsetting the normally serene pace of life in which I include the relief of Mafeking in 1900, the end of the two world wars in 1918 and 1945, the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 (where were you at the very moment that he was shot in Dallas on November 22nd?), The Forsyte Saga which cleared the pubs when it was screened by BBC Television in 1967 (not to be confused with the recent travesty remade by ITV), and the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

All of these time-defining events act as markers in our recent history and now we have the World Cup 2002. In an attempt to test the mood of the nation, or at least that section of it who log on to this web site, I asked voters in our poll last week whether the World Cup was an important occasion in their lives and the results have been quite remarkable. The poll was not particularly high, less than 150 in fact, and was therefore only just above average, but the number of voters who left comments was an all time record. In the event, the Yes vote carried the day which means that the majority of those who participated are addicted to footie.

This was not in the least bit surprising because soccer has made an indelible impression on our national psyche through its vociferous supporters. But what exactly makes them tick? This was a poll of two halves because apart from the vote, it also included a facility to leave an opinion, the perfect place to demonstrate their enthusiasm for all to share, but although the football fans won the vote, they lost the match and after reading some of the erudite comments that were left in condemnation of the game, they must be feeling as sick as a parrot.

The most studied appraisals of the great game came from those who found their enjoyment elsewhere and they explained why in some detail while those who intend becoming couch potatoes over the next few weeks while following the fortunes of world football were conspicuous by the inability to explain their motivation. Here are some of the comments of the voters, firstly from those who appear to treat soccer as a religion and when it comes to watching a match, nothing will stand in their way:

• Beer, football, a bit of a bundle afterwards. Wonderful. As much of it as we can get, I say!
• Bouring old Bourne faurts. Footy is for young people who can still breauthe. (sic)
• I like football, and I don't care about anyone else.
• What a pathetic comment to make that football is stupid and boring. O K, you might find it boring, fair enough, but if you think football is stupid you must think the majority of the human race is stupid for liking it.
• If the result of this poll turns out to be that most people say no, then it proves that this poll is a totally inaccurate way of measuring public opinion. You don’t even have to be into football all that much to realise what a great event it is. Most people I know are getting excited about it. It’s our national game and we should be getting behind our team and if we don't get very far we can still enjoy the tournament. It might even help some of the Bourne forum contributors take their minds off complaining about everything that happens in Bourne although a disproportionate number of them seem to hate all sport.
• If you don't like football can't you think of anything else to do other than complain because it is so popular.
• Obviously the forthcoming world cup isn't to everyone's taste, but let's look at the facts shall we? Firstly, football is NOT highjacking the TV network - there are plenty of other programmes/radio shows on to cater for non-football fans. Secondly, who exactly is forcing you to watch it? Is someone entering your home and physically restraining you in your armchair? No, I don't think they are. If you can't find anything else to do during the world cup, it simply illustrates your lack of imagination. There ARE other pleasures in life, other than sitting in front of the TV. And besides, TV is there to cater for everyone - not just non-sports fans. And lastly I'd like to say it's no wonder we're such a nation of cynics with so much negativity around. Live a little and don't knock the things that give pleasure to others.

Secondly, here is a selection of opinions from those who consider the World Cup an unimportant event and who find their enjoyment in other ways:

• I get very annoyed by people suggesting that football is a sport. A sport is an event where the outcome depends only on the physical limits of the participants. It involves measurable quantities: time, distance, mass, and the achievement of some physical act against measurable limits. Football, like rounders and table tennis, is merely a game. Although physical fitness gives some advantage over the competitors, the outcome depends on skill, practice, other people’s mistakes and ability. It is not a sport. People who refer to football as sport are revealing a misunderstanding of the English language that is all too common in modern Britain.
• The casual assumption by those who enjoy football that the rest of us share their delirium is very insulting. Why do the rest of us have to put up with their bad temper unending trivia, and the exploitative marketing that is regularly whipped up by this dull and childish game?
• Who decided that football is our national game? By what right is such a claim made? Surely as good a claim could be made for rugby or cricket, both of which require more intellect and are a better spectacle. Perhaps the argument is merely in weight of numbers? But that is a canard. We have been told that more people go fishing than visit football grounds, but it would be absurd to call fishing our national game and mere weight of numbers is no claim for excellence. On that basis, the common cold would be our national ailment, which may be true but is very uninteresting. A bit like football.
• How can soccer possibly be a sport when only 22 people play it and the rest of the world merely sits and watches?
• Why do we waste our time as a nation concentrating on such a violent, childish pursuit when there is so much enjoyment to be had from the arts, literature, opera and poetry? If the disgracefully large sums of sponsorship money soaked up by this ridiculous sport were used to fund talented and exciting young artists, our nation's cultural soul would be enriched in a way football could never achieve.

The most alarming revelation about this poll is that those who support soccer are not content to enjoy it privately but must force their opinions on others and those who did not like it as a spectator sport were vilified for their views. This is the misfortune of “the great game”. It breeds a dangerous partisanship that becomes manifest not so much on the field of play but afterwards when opposing fans meet in the streets, the cafes and the pubs.

After all, more people visit museums and stately homes in a year than attend football matches but it would take a mighty leap of the imagination to envisage visitors at Longleat and Chatsworth slogging it out against those who preferred the V & A or the Courtauld collections, or returning home after an outing to Burghley House and giving your neighbour a mouthful because he preferred to spend the day at Grimsthorpe Castle. Those who frequent such places do so quietly and observe public order, pursuing their pleasures and allowing others to do the same without proselytising with a frenzied eagerness for their own preferences. If only the violence and aggression that soccer engenders could be curbed among those who claim to support it, then the game would command a much wider appeal than it does.

Now I understand that the mere fact that I have carried this item will get many football fanatics extremely angry but before reaching for your keyboards to send me another spate of offensive and usually anonymous emails, please remember that the opinions I have quoted here are not mine but yours, the public. I am merely the conduit by which you are able to read these things, the messenger who bears the bad or the good news, according to your opinions, and if you shoot him then you stifle the truth.

Our family history section continues to expand and we now have eighty old Bourne names that are currently being researched by descendants around the world. Many of them are still familiar in the town and district today while others have died out but the search goes on because genealogy and the urge to complete a family tree is one of the consuming passions of our society today, due no doubt to that yearning to know where we came from and to identify ourselves with the past.

Two of my favourite places are the churchyard and the town cemetery which I visit frequently to read the tombstones in my search for information about those who went before and I am always on the lookout for old books and photographs that will add to our knowledge of Bourne in past times. I have just acquired a copy of the parish registers for Bourne from 1562-1650, including Dyke and Cawthorpe which both lie within the parish. These records contain details of all births, marriages and deaths, together with information about the vicars and their churchwardens, and is an invaluable guide to those who believe that their families were connected with this town during these early times. If you wish to check on your ancestry from this period, then please send details by email.

I also have commercial directories for 1835, 1851, 1842, 1856, 1876, 1885, 1913 and 1937, and can therefore check on names from those years of people who were in trade in Bourne and the surrounding villages. Please provide as much information as possible when making an inquiry and I will be pleased to reply promptly for although I realise that we are delving into matters of many years ago, I understand perfectly that those who are probing are anxious to find out where they came from and are impatient for an answer that will add to their quest.

Thought for the Week: The day delivery of letters in Bourne, which previously took place shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, now commences about 11.30 a m. The train, which heretofore was due at Bourne at 10.58 a m, is now timed so as to reach Bourne at 11.20. By this alteration, a letter posted in London early in the morning may be delivered at Bourne the same day about noon. – news item from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 9th November 1860.

We are taking a short break and so this column will not be appearing next week. The usual features however, such as the Notice Board, Friends, Families and the web site poll, will continue to be updated as usual. Keep logging on and if there is anything annoying you about local or national issues, then please get it off your chest by posting a message on the Forum.

Saturday 15^th June 2002

Road improvements in and around Bourne are a low priority unless they are connected with commercial or housing developments. The realignment of North Street and Exeter Street to coincide with the opening of the Sainsburys supermarket in 1999, and now the new look for the A15 as part of the Elsea Park estate, are two cases in point. But you will look in vain for projects that make our highways better merely for the safety and convenience of the public which is why we have been waiting for a bypass since 1926 while traffic flows increase and become more dangerous by the year and the number of vehicles using them contribute to the national gridlock that is fast approaching.

Not even those really hazardous stretches have commanded much attention from the highways authority which is currently Lincolnshire County Council and I am thinking particularly of the double bend in South Street, overlooked by the Abbey Church, scene of yet another bad accident on Wednesday when a large refuse lorry crashed into this roadside cottage, No 31 South Street, demolishing part of the outside wall and sending rubble crashing down into the street below where children had been walking past on their way to school just moments earlier.

There have been many other accidents here over the years, one of the worst in 1989 when a Royal Mail lorry ploughed into the same cottage, which is a Grade II listed building and stands immediately on the bend, and five years ago a car suffered a similar fate. There have also been fatalities, the most recent in October 1998 when a van driver was killed on the corner as he drove into Bourne and yet those responsible for road safety know that this section of South Street is one of the most dangerous in the county.

An awareness of such accident blackspots began to develop early in the 20th century when the motor car was still a rare sight on the road and yet in 1909, the newly formed Lincolnshire Automobile Club supplied danger warning signs that were erected in Abbey Road. The double bend in South Street was known as Dr Gilpin’s corner because the good doctor then lived and ran his practice from Brook Lodge, the former vicarage next to the church, and it began to cause some disquiet about the same time and yet the local authorities turned down a proposal to purchase land at this point with a view to widening the roadway in 1910.

However, there were several mishaps on the corner and early in 1917, danger signs were erected after a complaint by a local resident who was involved in an accident not with his car, but with his horse and cart. There were more collisions in subsequent years and in 1928, Kesteven County Council, then the highways authority, was asked to improve the road as a matter of urgency but as we all know, nothing was done. The problem was exacerbated by the railway that crossed the road a few yards further south and the traffic delays were compounded when the level crossing gates were shut to allow a train to pass. Although this added inconvenience disappeared when the Bourne to Spalding line closed in 1959, the situation has become far worse in the intervening years because of the massive increase in through traffic.

The local authorities missed a second chance to improve the road when Miss Gray’s little cottage at No 35 South Street was demolished in January 1977. The location of the property was unfortunate because it stood on the west side and looked as though it was leaning forwards into the road at a most unsafe angle, creating a hazard for the increasing traffic flows of the previous decades, and although scheduled as a Grade II building, it was pulled down in January 1977. This was the perfect chance to improve the highway at this point and remove a highly dangerous blackspot and yet again, nothing was done. Instead, permission was given to build two new houses on the land that had been made vacant by the demolition although they were sited well back from the road.

And so, the double bend remains, a nightmare for motorists during the rush hour periods, especially in the evenings, when queues of traffic tail back as far as the grammar school and even further and this week’s accident reminds us of another tragedy lurking just round the corner. This listed building and others that are part of our heritage, are also at risk because nothing is being done to protect them although they have been standing for more than two centuries. What on earth needs to happen before the county realises that this section of road, originally intended for the horse and cart, is one of the worst stretches of urban road in Lincolnshire and is in dire need of improvement, or better still replacement, as a matter of urgency?

Tomorrow is June 16th, a magical date in the calendar for Britain’s four million anglers because this is the opening of the coarse fishing season. It is a day that I remember vividly from my boyhood when most of my spare time was spent on the riverbank and there has been no time since that I recall with such pleasure. Perceptions change however and I no longer go fishing or support it as a leisure activity because, like fox hunting, it is not pursued for the acquisition of food but for the thrill of the chase and I find this anathema to the human spirit. But no experience is a lost experience and I often dream of those halcyon days when sitting by a quiet river or pool was my idea of heaven and I would not begin to deny it to those who still pursue this pastime.

The Bourne Eau in years gone by was a great attraction for anglers and records as early as the 18th century indicate that this 3½-mile stretch of waterway teemed with pike, roach, rudd, dace and bream, and the town once supported an active angling club that took advantage of the sport that was on offer. But in 1960, pollution wiped out the fish population along the entire length of the river between Bourne and Tongue End, caused by a highly toxic effluent from one of the industrial plants with premises along the bank side. The Welland River Board which was then responsible for these matters, tried to prevent the pollution from spreading into the River Glen but it was too late to save the Bourne Eau and 85,000 fish of all species were killed within a matter of hours.

The river never recovered from this devastation but I can now say that the fish are coming back to the Bourne Eau. I have this on the authority of an expert, Peter Sharpe, a magazine assistant editor from Hereward Street, who has spent much of his lifetime on the riverbank. He assures me that he has seen chub, usually after dark, along the South Street stretch where they are attracted by the bread thrown to the ducks by children.

But how did these fish get there after such a devastating effect on their environment? Fishermen’s tales abound in Bourne of clandestine operations by anglers to introduce large carp and chub that have been caught elsewhere into the river but such activities are both illegal and liable to failure unless carried out under controlled conditions by fisheries experts and so we must assume that the fish have returned through the normal progression of things, by either swimming up from the River Glen during the winter floods to breed although there are also tales that eggs are carried from place to place on the legs of water birds and this may also have contributed to the return of the fish population. There are certainly enough fish in the River Glen in large quantities to repopulate the Eau. One angler tells me that a familiar sight from the bridge at Tongue End at the end of May is hundreds of fair-sized bream moving upriver to spawn and for a short while they are joined by thousands of roach plus an attendant predatory pike. There are so many fish congregating at this spot that for a week or so it looks like an aquarium but by mid-June they have all disappeared.

One thing is certain: the fish are back in the Bourne Eau and I have proved this for myself because we went to seek them out one evening at dusk this week and saw shoals of small fry swimming around along that section of the river that runs past Baldock’s Mill in South Street as though their natural habitat had never been disturbed. We welcome them back and hope they will stay. Perhaps those who insist on chucking their tin cans and fast food cartons into the water at this point will in future think again and remember that this river is their home and any form of pollution is unwelcome.

The repainting of the Angel Hotel has caused repercussions not only in Bourne but also from around the world. The outside décor was changed last winter when decorators moved in to treat the outside woodwork but instead of renewing the traditional black and white to which we have become accustomed, the colour scheme was dramatically changed to green and cream.

This old 18th century coaching inn is a Grade II listed building within the Conservation Area designated in 1977 and its appearance should not be altered without specific permission from South Kesteven District Council which the owners failed to obtain. They realised their responsibilities in this matter too late and applied for retrospective planning permission that was subsequently refused and now the council is likely to issue an order for the original colour scheme to be reinstated.

The owners of the hotel feel wronged and are busy raising a petition to support their case but of course, no matter how many signatures you might obtain from the beer drinkers in the public bar, you cannot defend the indefensible. We have laws, rules and regulations, to which we all adhere because the alternative is to allow independent decision-making run riot and without order, there is chaos. This is one of the main issues and the other is whether the black and white is preferable to the green and cream, not a matter, one would have thought, to exercise the minds of our friends in the antipodes but nothing could be further from the truth because there are many people down under who care for this town. The proof of this comes in an email I have received from Mr Tim Crampton who lives at Lake Tyers Beach in Victoria, Australia, who writes:

Following a recent visit to Bourne by George Crampton, an American descendant of our original Bourne ancestors, he sent me several photos of Bourne including the Angel Hotel where our great-great-uncle George Crampton was born in 1823 to William Crampton and Sarah Allen. I agree with those pressing for the retention of the original decor because:

• people must learn they are not above the law;
• the new colour scheme, bilious at the best, is not representative of the period and such eye wrenching colours as the green were not used in the mid 18th century onwards;
• the protection of your heritage is the protection of your future.

It surprises me that a country that depends very much on its financial stability, on the retention of historical buildings, towns and scapes, does not have a national charter protecting every facet of its history, including paint usage. If such is not the case, perhaps it would be the perfect time for the people of Bourne to establish a charter to control their heritage.

In Rutherglen, a small town in NE Victoria, world famous for its fortified wines, the local businesses established an understanding that all buildings in its Main Street, the sole business street, must be painted in federation heritage colours. Surely a town with a history eight times older than Rutherglen has more to gain by protecting its heritage. The challenge is over to Bourne.

Thought for the Week: In Britain alone, more than 350,000 people have been killed by traffic since 1945, more than all of the country’s fatalities in the Second World War. – Kevin Myers, writing in The Sunday Telegraph on the proposal to erect a national memorial in London to the thousands of victims of road deaths, 9th June 2002.

Saturday 22^nd June 2002

My inquiries have revealed that this eccentricity was included at the insistence of the villagers themselves, perhaps as an attempt to impose the old spelling on a waiting world, but it is a venture doomed to failure because Haconby with a single "c" is here to stay and its inclusion in the various county guides, directories and other records is too deeply entrenched to be overthrown. Nevertheless, I have much sympathy with those who prefer the Hacconby of old because the name will be found on many tombstones in the churchyard although visitors to the village must wonder if they have not had a "c" too many.

Haconby is situated just off the A15, three miles north of Bourne, and the spelling of its name with one "c" or two has engaged the attention of local historians and journalists for decades but common usage appears to have won the day. Most of the signs in and around the village say Haconby although there is an occasional one of more ancient origin that sticks to the old spelling of Hacconby and so officialdom has made the decision for us. But old habits die hard and the old spelling still crops up in guide books and circulars and even on some maps from years past.

The village is certainly an ancient one and is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. The varied spellings of that time include Haconesbi, Hacunesbi and Haconebi and later recorded variations include the Danish Hacunebi (1135-54), Hakunebi (1170) and Hakonebi (1199). But to ascertain its origins we have to go back another 100 years when the name meant Hákon's farmstead or village from the Old Danish Hákon and by. The variations have continued until recent times and White's Lincolnshire for 1856 records both Hacconby and Hackenby.

The issue was settled once and for all in 1960 when Haconby, with one "c", was officially adopted. The Ordnance Survey were busy preparing new maps for the area and on discovering the variation in spelling between Haconby and Hacconby in previous publications, decided to seek the opinion of the local authorities. South Kesteven District Council met at Bourne on Thursday November 17th in that year to discuss the issue but it was soon revealed that there was also a third spelling in use in some places: Hackonby. During the discussion, the clerk, Mr J Goulder, produced a letter from the Vicar of Morton with Hacconby, the Rev E G Close, who had carried out extensive research into the problem.

He suggested that there was plenty of precedent for retaining the spelling most commonly used at that time, namely Hacconby, and he went on to quote four instances from literary and other sources in which Hacconby was used: The King's England - Lincolnshire (1949); Lincolnshire (Cox 1916), Diocesan Calendar, and his own letters of institution as vicar under the Seal of Lincoln in 1953. He said that the Church Commissioners also used Hacconby. Fifteen other cases of Hacconby from documents, letters and the like were also mentioned by Mr Close against only five that favoured Haconby. The spelling was also evident in the marriage, burial and baptism registers for the parish as early as 1755 and in the Hacconby Highway Book containing payments by the Overseers of the Poor and which began in 1807, although there was a short period when Hackonby had been used. A similar variation could be noted in the parish church which had Hacconby on the chalice of 1832 and Hackonby on the paten of 1834.

A letter was also received from Mr J Goodman who signed himself as Clerk to Haconby Parish Council and which said: "My council has instructed me to write that the name of this village should be Haconby" but Mr Goodman had typed his address as "The Manor, Hacconby." Councillor H W Wyer said that he knew of only one person in the village who spelled it Hacconby while Councillor C F Bates thought it should be Hacconby by derivation although if the parish council thought differently, he would abandon his original view.

When the issue was put to a ballot, three councillors favoured Haconby but the votes for Hacconby were so numerous that they were not counted. In the event, the final decision was taken by Kesteven County Council who chose Haconby, the spelling that is in use today, although examples of Hacconby still survive on the odd road sign from yesteryear.

The outdoor swimming pool, one of Bourne's most treasured amenities, has opened for the summer season and as usual it is the work of a dedicated band of volunteers that we have to thank for this continuing leisure facility that is enjoyed by so many, particularly the children, and indeed my own son learned to swim there more than 30 years ago. But we should not take it for granted.

It has become something of an institution and is one of the few traditional outdoor swimming pools remaining in the United Kingdom. It dates back to 1138 and was originally a carp pond to provide fish for the monks at Bourne Abbey but was converted into public swimming baths by keen local swimmers soon after the Great War of 1914-18. Bourne United Charities took over the pool in 1923 and there has been a continuing programme of modernisation ever since. Those early days should be remembered because they serve to remind us just how lucky we are to have this pool. Here are two newspaper reports from seventy years ago that I discovered this week from the Stamford Mercury, the first for Friday 11th August 1933:

BOURNE'S LIDO: The greatly improved swimming baths at Bourne are providing to be a veritable Lido, and their great popularity is definitely justifying the money spent on improvements by the Bourne United Charity Trustees. It is now ten years since the baths were taken over by the Trustees, the property then belonging to the Vicar of Bourne, as it had done from time immemorial. The site is what was formerly the monk's pond and garden and ten years ago the pond was converted into a swimming bath. There was nothing very elaborate about it - the sides were lined with corrugated iron and the bottom was partly concreted.

But what a great transformation has taken place! Instead, there is now a bath 154 feet long and 50 feet wide, lined with re-informed concrete. The depth of the water at the shallow end is 2 feet 9 inches and at the deep end 7 feet 3 inches. A substantial diving structure has been erected, the apex of which reaches a height of 14 feet. There are in addition two spring boards. A concrete pavement runs right around the edge. The water is supplied by the Bourne Eau and is filtered through a coke bed. It is unique in that the bath is both filled and emptied by the gravity of the water, thus obviating the necessity of a pump. The water flows out through a dyke, passes under the Bourne Eau, and rejoins it further down the stream. A lawn around the sides of the bath has been laid and there are several flower beds and rockeries.

The only drawback at present is the dressing accommodation, but Bourne readers will be pleased to learn that the present arrangements are only temporary and that next year permanent and more spacious accommodation will be erected.

There are now nearly 300 subscribers, besides casual swimmers. The work of rebuilding the baths was carried out by Messrs Bowman and Sons of Stamford. The baths will close in September for the autumn and winter.

The following week, on Friday 18th August, the newspaper gave more details of the work planned in time for the next year's opening:

BOURNE SWIMMING BATHS IMPROVEMENTS: Patrons of Bourne swimming baths will have the problem of changing accommodation solved for them by the time the baths are opened next season. New dressing boxes are to be erected, numbering over 80 in all. At present, owning to the extreme popularity of the baths, the changing accommodation is being taxed to its limits and during the rush periods patrons have to change behind canvas when the boxes are full. Next season however, this will be altered for the trustees of the Bourne United Charities have approved a plan for the provision of additional accommodation.

The new buildings will be erected in the Abbey Lawn in two blocks facing each other on either side of the convenience. They will be built on concrete and there will be a concrete pathway down the middle. The sides and roofs will be constructed of asbestos. At the monthly meeting of the United Charity Trustees, when the proposed work was approved, the Clerk (Mr H M A Stanton) reported that the total cost of the improvements to the swimming baths was £1,242 10s. 3d. [almost £70,000 by today's values] which was £46 10s. in excess of the estimates. The excess was entirely due to the cost of the new diving erection and lavatories, which were not included in the original estimates. It has been decided to curtail the attendance of children during the evenings when mixed bathing is allowed.

So much more has been done since those days and were the trustees of 1933 able to see the pool today, they would be both extremely surprised and rather pleased at the way in which the project they pioneered has progressed for it has become a modern and much-loved public amenity of which this town can be justly proud.

My CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne grows apace and has now reached 70MB which, as all computer literate visitors will know, is quite a size. The Golden Jubilee celebrations in Bourne earlier this month have been added to the section on Royal Occasions and the number of old photographs of the town from years past increase weekly, the latest being pictures of the water cress beds half a century ago where John Stennett worked as a young man. Memories of his early working life spent growing and harvesting this salad crop are also included together with a short history of an industry that thrived here early in the 20th century.

The disc is now three times the size of the web site and the largest archive ever produced for Bourne and will therefore be a fascinating experience for anyone with a deep interest and affection for this town. You will find an order form on the front page and your support will be appreciated because each purchase enables me defray the costs of producing the web site and of maintaining my service of providing copies of our social history to schools, libraries and other public organisations, as well as answering enquiries from people around the world who are interested in this town, usually because their ancestors once lived here.

Thought for the Week: One in four people in this country think that Britain is not in the European Union. One in 15 think that the United States is. - report from a Foreign Office survey quoted by the Minister for Europe, Peter Hain.

Saturday 29^th June 2002

Few people think very much about vandalism unless it happens to them and, as with other towns and cities throughout Britain, because much of it in Bourne is directed towards the town centre, then the only information they get comes from the local newspapers and not all such incidents are reported. If their own garden fence were torn down, hanging baskets proudly displayed at the front of the house chucked into the road, the paintwork of cars standing in the driveway defaced with sharp metal objects, windows smashed and graffiti spray-painted over the brickwork, then they would demand action, firstly from the police who would not respond because vandalism is a low priority, and then from their Neighbourhood Watch group, if there was one, who would be powerless anyway.

And so they might toy with the idea of forming a vigilante group, as was suggested by a contributor to the Bourne Forum earlier this month, because when the individual becomes frustrated with the lack of support for his own concerns, he becomes ready to take the law into his own hands and this is likely to be a first step towards the breakdown of society as we know it.

Anti-social behaviour causes pain, discomfort and damage to other people and their property and the following contribution was submitted as a comment to this month’s web site poll on whether vandalism is or is not out of control in Bourne. It was written on the day the poll was about to close and the author is anonymous and unknown to me but has given such a heartfelt and graphic description of life in an area of Bourne where vandalism was allowed to reign unchecked, that I have taken the unusual step of reproducing it here in the Diary in the hope that it will be read by those who think that vandalism will just go away if we do nothing and stop talking about it:

I agree with those who suggest that if vandalism is being perpetrated and those responsible are not being caught and prosecuted then it must be out of control. While I also agree that criminal damage is not the problem of elsewhere it's still a problem - the only level to be happy with is where it's not taking place at all. Gangs of youths roaming free of supervision at the Abbey Lawns or wherever are well placed to cause trouble. The vandalism there has been a regular feature for each of the past seven or eight summers and yet as far as I know no one has been brought to account.

Those who suggest that victims of vandalism who become exasperated are being negative are either not property owners or have had little or no trouble from this practice. They also sound remarkably like some in our criminal justice system who have decided on our behalf that criminal damage is a minor offence - a crime that the victims of which should easily be able to cope with. In the 17 years that I lived in one Bourne property we only had one egg thrown at a living room window. Then I moved to another Bourne location in the early 1990s where it was hell. Youths would congregate next to my home for most hours of each and every day April - September and I suffered about 50 acts of vandalism and theft each of the 1993 to 1995 summers. They uprooted plants, kicked in fence panels, stole fish from my pond, hack sawed through chain locks on my side gate, banged on my dining room window and front door, threw stones, mud and water bombs at the front and back of my house. They climbed my trees and broke branches off them and threw them onto my dining room roof. They also threw lighted paper into my back garden and attempted to set fire to my more established shrubs at the front. Trespass was a daily problem.

Initially I tapped on my window to tell them to get off my property. Although I then managed to befriend some of them, the trouble continued. So I ended up talking to some to their parents who I found to be even more disagreeable than their offspring. The police said that there was little that they could do. Other property owners suffered similarly - especially when the kids obtained catapults to continue firing projectiles that included golf balls. I'd go out and not be too sure what state my property would be in when I returned. Or when I was at home and could hear them outside I'd be waiting for something to happen. It would have been interesting to see how others would have reacted in my situation.

You are more or less on your own - they knew that they could do more or less what they wanted and the police would do nothing. And yet despite the summers of misery, I only had to touch one of them - cause them the slightest of bruising and police and parents would have been round in a flash and it would have been me in trouble because I was supposed to be able to accept having my home vandalised. This is what happened to a neighbour across the way. One of the youths picked up a rock and ran it along the side of his car and then started throwing lumps of concrete through his open kitchen door. He got hold of the youth by the collar and brought him to his enraged face. That is all he did and yet the youth's parents reported him, the police became involved and he was bound over to keep the peace for six months.

A change in my neighbourhood's environment caused the troubles to disappear in 1996 and since then I'd not want to live anywhere else. It was the regularity of the troubles rather than their extent that was the problem for me. In fact it was almost surprising that no windows were broken and no attempt was made to break into my house. I'm not sure that if they had whether the police would then have acted. The youths who attracted their friends to the area have moved out and been replaced by families with some absolutely terrific kids. The sort who knock on my door, yes, but only to ask if they can get their ball back. A different world - the whole neighbourhood is better for the people that now live in it.

It's highly interesting to note that three of the five or six culprits have since appeared several times in the magistrate's court. One for breaking into a pub at Stamford and more recently for drink driving, another for assault, and another for possession of drugs. My neighbourhood's problems never reached the local papers so you cannot rely solely on the media to inform you fully of what is going on. It also highlights why I can understand those who did not and don't wish to see skateboard parks built close to their homes. If I was a town planner it would not be just industry that I would section off from residential areas but also facilities for youths. Even in London youths complain about a lack of facilities. It just amazes me that crime, particularly youth crime, is not always at the top of the political agenda. Transport will eventually get you to work, the NHS will eventually provide you treatment, and most children receive a good education. But our criminal justice system provides little deterrent or rehabilitation for those criminally inclined. Nobody, anywhere it seems, has a clue on how to alter somebody's behaviour to make him or her a better citizen.

Vandalism is not new. It has always been with us but the problem has been aggravated in recent years because the culprits are less likely to be caught and punished, mainly because the police take little interest and rarely even turn out to investigate. The threat of prosecution, an appearance before the courts and a suitable punishment, would lead to a subsequent stigmatisation by family and society that would work wonders in focussing the minds of those contemplating smashing up public or private property just for the fun of it.

Reports of riotous behaviour and vandalism were frequent in past times but retribution invariably followed. One of the worst cases in Bourne occurred on Guy Fawkes’ Day, Monday 5th November 1877, but the police had an idea that trouble was brewing and took the precaution of swearing in 56 young men as special constables before the town’s magistrates the previous week when the chairman of the bench, Lord Aveland, expressed the hope that all respectable inhabitants would co-operate with the police in preserving order and warned that offenders would be severely dealt with.

There was trouble but the disturbances were not as bad as expected and soon brought under control. Nevertheless, fireworks were thrown about the streets and market place, lighted tar barrels rolled around the town and a fire lit in South Street from where the sparks blew into a nearby paddock and set light to a straw stack which was burned out. There was some stone throwing from the assembled crowd and a window in the police station in North Street was broken but no injuries were reported.

Justice was dispensed the following week when 40 men and youths appeared before a special sitting of the magistrates, 20 of them on charges related to the disturbances in Bourne and the other 20 in connection with similar mayhem in the surrounding villages, notably Corby Glen, Thurlby, Morton, Baston and Market Deeping. All of the accused pleaded guilty, the main charges relating to the rolling of lighted tar barrels down the street, a popular although illegal method of celebration at that time, and of starting bonfires on the highway. Other offences included assaulting the police, firing guns, discharging fireworks in a public place and causing a general commotion to the annoyance of the public. One of the defendants was also accused of assaulting Mr Edis Smith, landlord of the Crown Inn at Thurlby, who appeared in court to give evidence with his head still in bandages.

All of the accused expressed regret for their conduct and promised not to offend again but all were punished, mainly fines of five and ten shillings with costs, although the penalties for the Bourne defendants were much heavier, with fines of up to £5 plus costs [£1 then would be worth almost £50 by today’s values] and one man, a soldier on leave from his regiment and thought to be one of the ringleaders, was committed to prison for 21 days while another who had assaulted a constable was sentenced to one month’s hard labour. Some of the accused could not pay their fines and were subsequently sent to the House of Correction at Folkingham for either 14 or 21 days.

For those of you who are compiling family trees from the records available in the Bourne locality, here is a list of the defendants at this court hearing, held at Bourne Town Hall on Wednesday 14th November 1877:

Bourne: Edward Handley, Frederick Osgothorpe, F G Palmer, Joseph Kettle, William Lunn, George Parker (aged 17), Arthur Searson, William Selby, George Parker (aged 25), George Empsall, Matthew Mitchelson, Thomas Starkie, Edward Clark, James Bywaters, Robert Robinson, Joseph Hall, George Parker (soldier), George Mason (Eastgate), William Gibson and John Hinson.

Baston: John Cole.

Corby Glen: Herbert Easter, William Tewson, John Parker, Frederick Stevenett, William Greenberry, Anthony Clark, John Osborn, Thomas Gilbert, John Brown, Charles Hannam (publican) and Thomas Porter.

Market Deeping: Henry Bryan.

Morton: John Henry Creasey, Edward Hall, Joseph Casterton and Robert Rodgers.

Thurlby: William Green, William Bullimore and John Andrews (mason).

Peeps into the past:

POSTMAN SOLVES WATER PROBLEM. Much has been heard and read recently about the acute shortage of water in many places owing to the continued drought and Folkingham, with its spacious market place and historical associations, which is situated on the main road midway between Lincoln and Peterborough, has been much in the limelight. There, we learn, the village pump has, for many weeks, been under lock and key and the inhabitants have been rationed to the extent of two buckets to each household per day.

These limited supplies apparently did not appeal to Mr Ernest Deer, the local shoemaker and village postman, and so he attempted to sink a well in his garden in West Street. Failing to find what he wanted there after digging to a depth of 6ft., he enlisted the sympathy of Mr Neville Jones, a farmer, who resides in the adjoining village of Threekingham. This gentleman, who has gained some notoriety as a water diviner, went over with his hazel twig, but was unable to locate the fluid where Mr Deer had made his first hole. Experimenting six yards away, however, the twig began its “magic circle” and eventually broke in twain.

Influenced by this infallible sign, Mr Deer recommenced his excavations and at a depth of 6ft. from the surface, he came across what he was looking for, and by bricking round the well and erecting a pump at a nominal expense, he now rejoices in obtaining enough water, not only for his own requirements, but also for some of his friends. - from the Stamford Mercury newspaper for Friday 22nd September 1933.

Thought for the Week: The Japanese are the loveliest supporters and have a wonderful enthusiasm for the event, its most basic manifestation being the way they sport the shirts and scarves of rival teams. – Dylan Jones, writing from Tokyo about World Cup in The Spectator, 22nd June 2002.

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