Saturday 5th April 2003

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born at Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, but in 1848 emigrated to the United States with his parents where he became the richest man in the world, earning a fortune in steel and gaining a reputation as a philanthropist by giving his money away to many countries, particularly Britain. 

He developed the Pittsburgh iron and steel industries, making the USA the world's leading producer. He endowed public libraries, education and various research projects, and after his death, the Carnegie trusts he had founded continued their activities. Carnegie Hall in New York opened in 1891 as the Music Hall but was renamed in 1898 because of his large contribution to its construction. 

Chief among his good works was the provision and equipment of libraries in England and the English speaking countries and he distributed £10 million for this purpose alone. The nearest public library to Bourne which he endowed is at Peterborough, a large Victorian red-brick building in Broadway, now used for other purposes, and although Bourne was never blessed with such a magnificent gift, Carnegie's money did in a more modest way, help found the public library facility in this town. The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, from which Bourne derived its library benefit, was constituted in 1914 with the object of devoting its income to the improvement of the well-being of the masses of the people of Great Britain and Ireland, concentrating on the development of public libraries by grants for the purchase of books, particularly for use by students.

The first free public lending library in the town to be run by the local authority was based at the old National School in North Street [now the headquarters of the Grantham and Stamford Conservative Association] and was opened on 14th November 1924. This was part of the Rural Library Scheme launched by the education committee of Kesteven County Council which then administered this part of Lincolnshire, and was equipped by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust that had presented them with 4,000 volumes of which Bourne had 240. The working expenses were met out of public funds and the library was intended mainly to help students requiring a higher standard of work to study in any particular subject and who could obtain the books required by paying the cost of postage to and from London where the Central Library for Students was based.

This modest library continued to operate until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 when the school was taken over for use as part of the Red Cross hospital based next door in the Vestry Hall. The books were therefore moved to the Bourne Institute in West Street, now the Pyramid Club, and the library continued to operate from there for the next thirty years, and although the number of volumes on offer increased during that time, the premises were soon too small to continue serving the expanding population. A new library was therefore opened in the old Civil Defence headquarters in South Street and in 1969, the service was transferred from the institute in West Street. 

The population of Bourne however was expanding fast and it soon became apparent that the original layout of the premises was totally inadequate and in 1981, a £40,000 improvement scheme was approved by Lincolnshire County Council which had taken over library services in Bourne under the local government re-organisation. The work took 16 months to complete and during this period, a temporary library operated from the showrooms of the Jubilee Garage in Abbey Road.

The re-designed building, opened in February 1983, is as we see it today, providing a modern open-plan layout and including better facilities for customer lending, a children's section and an administration area. Floor and shelving space was increased to accommodate 14,000 books instead of the 10,000 previously in stock. A novel feature of the re-designed library called The Pit Stop was included in the children's section and consisted of two model racing cars fitted with extra seats and containing books for very young children. The cars were built by pupils of Bourne Secondary School [now the Robert Manning Technology College] to designs prepared by the county architect's department and reflected local interest in Raymond Mays (1899-1980), the international driver and designer of racing cars, who lived and worked in Bourne.

Since then, the library has become an increasingly popular community amenity complete with a well-stocked reference section containing a large quantity of local archive and an area for quiet study. A bank of computers has also been recently installed and for a small fee, visitors can either brush up on their PC skills or surf the Internet. A notice board in the entrance hall is crammed with announcements from local groups holding meetings or recruiting members while inside the main door there is often a bargain shelf containing old books that have been replaced and offered for sale, usually for a few pence.

The library is also used for a variety of other associated activities including displays, poetry reading and story time sessions for children and even on occasions, book signings and it was here that the late Lorenzo Warner, founder of the local printing firm Warners Midlands plc, spent a day in August 1989, autographing copies of his biography Born with the Century by Anne Frazer Simpson that had recently been published.

On Thursday 19th March 1992, the entire lending system was computerised and borrowers were issued with bar-coded computer tickets valid anywhere in the county. The new system is linked to the central library department in Lincoln and therefore enables staff to check on screen for the availability of books being sought by readers that are not on the library shelves. The system had already been installed at other main branches in the county and Bourne was among the last to become computerised. Although only small by comparison with some towns in Lincolnshire, the library stock had increased to 23,571 books by March 2001 but borrowers are able to choose from the entire selection owned by the county service through a computer link that ensures delivery of any volume as soon as it is available. 

Today, we take our public library for granted yet it was from these small beginnings that the amenity we have today emerged and we should remember that the people often benefit more from the work and the generosity of private individuals than they do from those appointed to look after our interests.

What the local papers are saying: Nominations for the forthcoming local elections at parish and district council level closed on Tuesday and as The Local subsequently reported in a front page story, many seats will be uncontested (April 4th). This is a particular blow for Bourne Town Council that has only 14 nominations for 15 places. Former mayor John Kirkman who has been a town councillor since 1979, sums up this sad situation with a particularly apt observation: "Over the years, people criticise councillors but when the opportunity to make a difference at an election presents itself, then no-one comes forward. It rather ruins the democratic process." 

A new town centre is to be developed for Bourne, according to the Stamford Mercury which claims that work is already underway (April 4th). This turns out to be a start on improving pedestrian links between North Street and Sainsburys in Exeter Street at a cost of £30,000, funded mainly by the company itself and so shoppers will have easier access to their store. However, the newspaper tells us that there is a grand plan in the pipeline which will eventually shift the centre of the town northwards from the crossroads and introducing major improvements around a public square, a scheme that was first mooted in 2001, and we are told that this is the first of many projects designed to make Bourne a better place to live in. It is to be hoped that these much needed improvements will not also have to wait for money from commercial sources while public finances handled by the local authorities are wasted elsewhere, not least on unnecessary manpower.

The Bourne Forum continues to stimulate discussion on a variety of topics although contributions seem to have fallen away on the current situation in Iraq. I wonder if this is because most people are afraid to express an opinion in case they are accused of being unpatriotic and not championing our armed forces engaged in the fighting. As an old soldier, I consider that support for the troops should be unquestioning but this should not prevent us from expressing honest opinions either for or against this conflict for which our politicians and not they are responsible. It is a difficult subject and I know that there are many contributors out there who hold very strong views on this subject and we would like to hear from them.

The perception most people have of children in care is one of deprivation and a lack of love and affection that has a dramatic effect on their formative years. We hear too often of boys and girls emotionally scarred by the experience from which they never recover and it is therefore heartening to hear that not every case falls into this category.

During the middle years of the 20th century, Bourne House at No 46 West Street was used as a children's hostel run by the old Kesteven County Council where youngsters from disruptive or broken homes were sent and this role continued until 1980 when it was closed and the property sold and subsequently converted into its present role as flats with bungalows in the grounds. Among those who came to live here in 1969 was Susan Leedham, then only nine years old, and she remained in care for two years and although the separation from her family was traumatic, she treasures her memories of the time she spent here and counts the experience as a major factor in her future life. Her remarkable story is told in our feature Memories of Times Past.

During Susan's time at Bourne House, the hostel was run by a married couple, Lou and Pat Schmidt, and Susan is anxious to trace them. I have discovered that when they left the town after the hostel closed, they went to live in Switzerland but I am now told that they may have since moved to Spain and if by chance they read this, perhaps they will send me an email and I will pass it on.

Schooldays are the happiest days, we are told, and although that is not always true for everyone, those times in the classroom and playground from years past have a potent nostalgia and there are few who do not wonder about what happened to friends we knew in those far off days. Trevor Pool, now 75 and living at Halifax in Yorkshire, has sent me an evocative photograph from his childhood.

It was taken in the playground of the Abbey Road Primary School in 1936 showing pupils from the school's percussion band who were in their final year which means that they were aged between 10 and 11 and preparing to move on to other schools. I have added this photograph to the school's page together with the names of those that Trevor remembers and if anyone out there can add to the list, then please send me an email. There must be many visitors to the web site with parents and grandparents who attended the school at that time and I am hoping that we can eventually identify every face that is pictured there.

Thought for the Week: It is sad to note that even your part of England is plagued by criminals and louts and it has reached Brentwood in Essex where I have lived for nearly 40 years. I am convinced that powers have to be restored to the police, the police must also revert to real police work rather than to simply patrol in cars or push pens, and ordinary people must accept the duty to act as the eyes and ears of the police. They cannot do it on their own. When the wrongdoers know that the probability of detection is strong, the tide will turn to sanity, at least in communities like ours. - email from Christopher Scrutton, Brentwood, Essex, Friday 4th April 2003. 

Saturday 12th April 2003

Many visitors to this web site will be offended by this photograph but I make no apologies for its appearance. It was not a pleasant experience to take it, especially on a Sunday evening while out walking in the countryside of which our farmers repeatedly tell us they are the custodians. I am showing it as evidence of a barbaric practice, one that was popular in years past but should have disappeared long ago as we became more aware of our environment.

There was once a custom among gamekeepers in times past of selecting a fence or erecting a post and using it as a gibbet upon which they hung the many and varied carcasses which fell to their guns as trophies of their skill and watchfulness. The bodies were also intended as a warning to others that they too might suffer the same fate.

On these gibbets you were likely to find the corpses of foxes, stoat, weasel, mink, and occasionally owls, all in various stages of decay, and even in this enlightened age, some gamekeepers still shoot them. Ranged alongside them you would most certainly find every member of the crow family, a species that is more conspicuous at this time of the year as they seek out food wherever they can find it, particularly on farmland among sprouting crops of wheat and sugar beet.

Last Sunday, several posts were erected at various points around a field that had been newly sown with spring wheat between the northern edge of Bourne and Dyke village and each one carried the carcass of a crow, all recently shot. We found them that evening when we went walking that way, three dead birds, each strung out as though crucified, and a fourth pinioned to the ground nearby. They were obviously meant as warnings to others to keep away because of the bad reputation that birds of the corvidae or crow family have among farmers. The display was particularly offensive because it was close to a public footpath and, more importantly, in full view of a row of houses bordering the field and therefore witnessed by the families who live there, most of them with young children who are taught at school and by our many conservation organisations that we should treat our wildlife with care and respect.

This practice seems to be both primitive and cruel and so I asked the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for their opinion and Wildlife Adviser, Michael Pinhorn, told me:

Under the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, it is legal to control certain species of birds, which includes most of the crow family, woodpigeons and doves, herring gulls, starlings and sparrows. However, the criteria for killing the birds or destroying their nests are they must be (1) a serious threat to agriculture or (2) to preserve public health or air safety and to conserve wild birds. Therefore, the farmer is quite within his rights to shoot these birds all through the week but he must be able to show he is working within the framework of the law. The staking out of dead birds to deter others of the same species is an ancient practice, leftover from bygone days and as far as I can tell, totally ineffective. Cases have been reported to the RSPCA and the police, but they seem powerless to prevent this disgusting practice.

This reply from the RSPB appears to sum up the current situation for although this method of controlling pests may have been prevalent in times past, I fear that it owes more to superstition than practicality because the crows were back in large numbers before nightfall and they have been flocking there ever since.

The shortage of nominations for the forthcoming local government elections does not auger well for the democratic process. Few parishes in the Bourne area have enough candidates to warrant a vote while the town council itself has only 14 nominations for the 15 vacant seats which means that all will be returned unopposed.

The office of councillor dates back to the late 19th century and it was a hard fought battle to give representation to the people in this way. Until then, the squire, the parson and sometimes the schoolmaster, were still the leaders in the village but popular education paved the way for a wider candidature and this was achieved through the 1894 Local Government Act, championed in Parliament by the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. 

The legislation met a great deal of opposition, with over 800 amendments moved during its passage through the house, but the act became law and parish councils were formed. It created institutions having civil origins, status and affiliations, and transferred the functions of the older authorities to the new bodies. By this Act, the church and state at parish level were completely separated and this gave the people a voice in their own affairs and, more importantly, the chance to become part of the decision making process. It is this opportunity that is now falling into disuse and there are several reasons for it but the main ones appear to be that either the people no longer see it as a chance to make a difference to their lives or, and this seems to be the at the root of the problem, they are totally wrapped up in their own affairs and have little time for what has become known as community service.

The result of such apathy and disinterest is that the same people will return to the council chamber again and again and as the years progress, it will become easier for them to do so. They should have to fight for their seats as men and women who think themselves better able, queue up to take their place and to make their contribution to the life of this town. Instead, the new Bourne Town Council will be much the same as the last, with a few worthy members who have earned our respect by their public record and some who should really have stood down long ago. A council needs a regular input of enthusiasm, fresh ideas and firm resolution that comes with the arrival of new faces around the table and to ensure that those who have been there for a long period do not get too set in their ways and are aware that they are not always right. Yet despite many high profile criticisms in the press and elsewhere, no one, however well qualified, has felt it worth their while to tackle the problem head on and stand for election.

It has been suggested that new government regulations requiring parish councillors to declare even the smallest of interests, may be a factor and it is true that many throughout England have resigned as a result because they were not prepared to have their personal and financial details in the public domain but I do not think this a valid reason to stand down. Our elected officials, like Caesar's wife, must be above suspicion and if they are not prepared to abide by the rules, then perhaps we are better off without them. 

I therefore suspect that the reason for the reluctance to be nominated for office is that, in the words of the former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan way back in 1957, the people have never had it so good. The country is awash with money, there is little or no poverty and most people can pay their bills and if they cannot, there are sufficient safety nets to ensure their survival. Practically every home has a car, often two and sometimes three, a colour television, computer and a whole range of labour saving appliances, while we are spoiled for choice on how to fill our leisure time with holidays abroad as an annual event for most. In short, people are enjoying their lives so much that there is little point in upsetting the apple cart by wasting time and becoming a councillor. Let someone else do it.

In other words, we have become preoccupied with our own affairs, putting ourselves first and not caring for others sufficiently to devote our spare time to their welfare or to help in the community. The country would need a spell of deprivation to bring out the crusading instinct in us which is why the 1920s and 1930s were such periods of revolutionary change for the working classes.

There are many who willingly put in time on voluntary work and some organisations could not exist without them. Their dedication should be an example to us all but the majority prefer to plough their own furrow and the inconvenience of standing for election and then attending regular committee and council meetings would encroach too much on their leisure hours. The excuse therefore, from many a good man or women whose presence would enhance the council chamber, is that they have no time and are too busy with other things.

The situation gives carte blanche to many councillors who are there simply because there has been no election, returned to office without opposition at the hustings. Some of the more senior councillors who should now be sitting by the fireside with their feet up have told me that they would willingly make way for younger candidates if only they would come forward but they appear to be whistling in the wind. 

So many times we have heard the admonition from local government when a facility is under threat to "use it or lose it" and this may well soon be the fate of the town or parish council. The government has been making noises in that direction for some months, and yet it is this authority that is the only official voice that Bourne has in influencing decisions taken elsewhere and the ability to make such comments is the fundamental cornerstone of local democracy. If we lose our town council, with it goes our only immediate link to the local authorities directly responsible for our affairs and as a result, those administrations will become even more remote than they are today at their offices in Grantham and Lincoln.

Unfortunately, we are in for another round of apathy when the local elections are held on May 1st because those who do face a contest in other parishes, or at district council level, can expect only a lukewarm reception from the electorate. Turnout will almost certainly be dire and any election which reaches 30% of the vote will have done well in the present climate of indifference. Those who fought to win the democratic process deserve better from us and so do those prospective councillors who are still willing to stand despite all the odds.

What the local papers are saying: The ripple effect of the war in Iraq is already being felt at Bourne Grammar School where pupils have been told that French students will not be visiting this year because Britain could be a possible target for reprisals by terrorists. The Local reports (April 11th) that 28 boys and girls aged 12 and 13 from the school made the journey to Bourg-Achard in Normandy on Monday as the first leg of an exchange visit but staff have received notification that the French school had decided not to authorise the stay of their own pupils in Bourne. Acting head teacher Paul Luxmoore, is quoted as saying: "We know that England is very safe but perhaps the French media have given a different view and this has worried some of their schools."

The changing face of Bourne is slowly being recorded in this diary that began almost five years ago. One of the first items that appeared in it was the move of Nursery Supplies Ltd from their depot in Exeter Street to purpose built warehouse premises in Meadow Drove. There was a royal opening by the Duchess of Gloucester in April 1999 but the firm foundered and closed down in 2001 and last year the six-acre site was put up for sale with a price tag of £1.45 million. A buyer has now been found and this will mean a new industry for Bourne because the Stamford Mercury tells us (April 11th) that the property is being taken over by Floral Silk, a firm specialising in the manufacture of silk flowers, who plan to move here from Spalding in September and will be employing up to 50 people by next spring.

The decision over the closure of Bourne Post Office is imminent and The Local devotes its front page to a round up of the current situation and its vigorous campaign to keep the purpose-built building in West Street open (April 11th). Two thousand people signed a petition against it being moved further down the street to the back of a liquor store and all the signs from this town are that such a move will be a most unpopular one. Town councillor Mrs Shirley Cliffe voiced the opinions of the majority when she said: "The proposals are ridiculous and we have all seen how many people are against such a move." Certainly, the so-called public consultation which the Post Office claims to have carried out appears to have been a sham, otherwise the decision would be a foregone conclusion, but I fear that the noises being made from the management will mean that by next week, we will have to face up to the closure of a much needed amenity that has been with us at its present location since 1981, having moved there from North Street where it was opened in 1875 and before that in Abbey Road for the previous twenty years. If the Post Office does close, it will indeed be the loss of yet another familiar landmark in the changing face of Bourne.

The death knell has finally sounded for another public facility, Bourne Hospital, which has been sold to Stamford Homes for residential development, and although the estate agents have refused to divulge the exact selling price, I understand that it is in excess of £1.5 million. I spent a depressing morning this week looking round the hospital, our last primary medical care facility that served this town from 1915 to 1998. It has been shut for almost five years, the buildings and grounds slowly becoming derelict, and the four-acre site was put up for sale earlier this year. Bulldozers will be moving in any day now to demolish the buildings but in view of the importance it has had in past times, I have photographed it for posterity although it will be difficult to explain to our descendants why a perfectly workable hospital should be closed down after nearly a century of service and patients sent for treatment in towns miles away. The way in which the premises have been allowed to deteriorate is a sad reflection on the current state of the National Health Service.

The old photograph of pupils taken in the playground at the Abbey Road Primary School which I used last week has already stimulated a great deal of interest among former pupils and several of the boys and girls on it have been identified as a result. It was supplied by former Bourne resident Trevor Pool of Halifax, Yorkshire, who is one of them, but it appears that he was mistaken in thinking that the picture was taken in 1938 because there is evidence that it was most likely two years earlier and I have altered the date accordingly. If anyone out there can add to the list, then please send me an email. There must be many visitors to the web site with parents and grandparents who attended the school at that time and I am hoping that we can eventually identify every face that is pictured there.

Thought for the Week (1): Every country has the government it deserves. - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821), French monarchist who opposed the Revolution.

Thought for the week (2): This hospital has been built to the most up-to-date methods and I feel sure that anyone who is sent here will have the very best attention and will be able to return to their homes as quickly as possible." - speech by the Countess of Ancaster during the official opening of Bourne Hospital on 2nd June 1915.

Saturday 19th April 2003

There has been a mixed reaction to my item last week about the public reluctance to stand as a local councillor and although opinions were varied and many reasons were put forward, all agreed that the status of the office is not what it was in years past and that this is a major factor in the shortage of nominations.

One contributor even suggested that the public perception of councillors was one of graft and corruption, of incompetence and stupidity, and therefore few would wish to join such a club. That is rather a harsh criticism but certainly they are no longer held in the high esteem they once enjoyed. Several men of real stature have emerged in this town where they gave their time unselfishly for the good of the community and to be a councillor in the late 19th and early 20th century was to hold a prestigious office to which everyone deferred. Others still strive to serve but too often their efforts are lost in the maelstrom of inefficiency and incompetence that so frequently rules the deliberations from our council chambers. 

The 14 nominees for Bourne Town Council will all be returned unopposed because there are 15 vacant seats but there will be elections for six seats on South Kesteven District Council, three in each of two wards, with five candidates contesting Bourne East and four candidates Bourne West, and as they pound the hustings trail, knocking on doors canvassing for votes, perhaps they would like to know how two successful candidates for office were received by the town more than 100 years ago.

William Wherry and James Derry, both Liberal candidates, won seats on Kesteven County Council in 1889 and both were highly regarded as men of stature who deserved respect, Wherry for his business acumen that brought jobs to Bourne and Derry who was a champion of the working classes. Socially, they were as different as chalk and cheese but Wherry and Derry as they became affectionately known, were extremely popular and when news of their victory reached the town, the citizens quickly organised plans to give their newly elected representatives a warm welcome as they arrived home by rail from the count in Lincoln. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 25th January:

As the 7.40 pm train from Lincoln approached the station, the Bourne Brass Band struck up See the conquering hero comes. In the station yard, a large crowd had already assembled and hearty cheers were given when Messrs Wherry and Derry appeared. Each of them gave a brief address, cordially thanking the electors for the honour they had accorded them. They were frequently interrupted by enthusiastic applause. A torch light procession was then formed and the successful candidates were drawn through the town in a waggonette by way of the Austerby and Eastgate, and through the Market Place. At the Quay [in Eastgate], and in the Market Place, further addresses were delivered in which the candidates, after thanking their supporters, said it would be their endeavour faithfully to represent them on the county council, to seek to combine economy with the greatest efficiency, to cut down officialism and so do all that lay in their power to touch and better the home life of the people. The waggonette was drawn up West Street to Mr Wherry's residence and afterwards up North Street to Dr Jackson's, with whom Mr Derry was visiting. Upwards of two thousand people joined in the demonstration. A public meeting was afterwards held at the Café [in South Street] when speeches were made by Messrs Bell, William Shipley, J T Swift, Arthur Wall and William Stubley.

Such scenes of jubilation after a local council election are unknown today and successful councillors would no doubt dearly love to be given a similar ovation. In recent years, the count has become a subdued affair and most people in Bourne only learn of the results when they read them in the local newspapers the following Friday. Only one thing does not appear to have changed and that is the promises councillors make to the electorate, but then victory does allow for a certain euphoria with undertakings made that can never be fulfilled, spoken on the spur of the moment, and perhaps they can be excused for that provided their hearts are in the right place.

Election watch: I have been wondering where all of the election posters and stickers have gone, especially as a total of nine candidates are contesting the six seats for SKDC in the Bourne East and Bourne West wards. This puzzled me and so I drove around the town looking for them and could fine none, apart from one relating to John Kirkman. Not a single name of any other candidate appears to be on display and yet they are perfectly entitled to print posters announcing their intention to contest the coming election on May 1st.

Gaily coloured posters with large photos of the candidate exhorting us to "Vote for . . . " him or her have been a feature of elections in times past but they seem very thin on the ground this year. Perhaps I have missed them and, not wishing to be unfair, I would like to hear from anyone who has spotted one in cars, windows or other public places. These are the names you should be looking for:

All sightings will be reported and while looking, you may like to know that each candidate is allowed to distribute such posters but whether they do is another matter. There is a feeling prevalent among some councillors who have been in office for several years that they will, in their own phrase, "stand on their record", whatever that may mean, and although some do spend time knocking on doors canvassing for votes, there seems to be far less effort put into the hustings than there was in years gone by when posters could be seen about the place like so much confetti. 

What the local papers are saying: If you want to see what the nine candidates do look like, then both of our local newspapers, The Local and the Stamford Mercury, carry picture features of them (April 18th) together with brief biographical notes and a few words about their aims and intentions. 

The sale of the Bourne Hospital site in South Road to private developers is given front page treatment by the Stamford Mercury who report that the announcement has renewed fears in the town and district that residents are getting a second rate health service (April 18th). The new owners, Stamford Homes, say that the first houses will be ready for sale in the late summer and the estate of 71 properties will boast pretty street scenes and open spaces. The company has refused to reveal how much was paid for the four acres of land but I understand it to be well in excess of £1.5 million although not a penny will be used for the benefit of Bourne people, not even the inclusion of low cost affordable homes that might have been bought by local people. Instead, the development will consist of a range of designs including double fronted Georgian style terraced houses and others with glazed garden rooms, all designed to attracted new buyers to the locality which is becoming one of the fastest growing towns in South Lincolnshire, albeit one without a hospital.

There are signs that The Local is becoming extremely impatient with the apparent dilatory attitude of the management over their delay in deciding whether or not the purpose-built Post Office in West Street will move further down the road to the back of a liquor store. The newspaper was promised a decision last week but now claims that the issue has become shrouded in "a wall of silence" (April 18th). Their report adds: "Repeated attempts by this newspaper to discover the result of the company's meeting held last Thursday has been met with a firm rebuttal and that there has been no decision yet." There is little doubt that the newspaper, and the people of Bourne, are being treated in a cavalier manner by the Post Office especially as the report also reveals that the man responsible for keeping the public in touch with developments had gone on annual leave without making a comment. Councillor Trevor Holmes, the deputy mayor and never a man to mince words, has been privy to the negotiations and he summed up the public anger with the situation in a hard-hitting statement which said: "Withholding the decision, or delaying making it, seems to make no logical sense and to my mind they have already decided to move. Their correspondence has been a catalogue of failures: a failure to realise the needs of this town, a failure to see where the future lies and a failure to keep their word. They promise one thing and then do something completely different. How can we believe that anything we have done or said during their so-called consultation period has mad a blind bit of difference? It has been a complete sham."

But it is not all bad news in this bright April week because The Local reveals in a front page report that Bourne is to have a summer festival this year, unlike anything ever staged in the town before. The event will be held in the Wellhead Gardens during the weekend of June 13th-15th when the celebrations will be spearheaded by the Bourne and district Round Table organisation. All of this has come about as a result of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations last year and the organisers see it as a chance to improve on that success with an even bigger range of attractions and events while at the same time raising money for charitable causes and hopefully, it will become an annual event.

A computer has been installed at the Heritage Centre in Bourne as an added attraction to visitors. The equipment has been provided by Jonathan Smith, a member of the Civic Society which administers this small museum devoted to the town's history and housed in the early 19th century Baldock's Mill in South Street.

To suggest that this PC is state of the art would be an exaggeration because Jonathan tells me that it has come from a local school where it had been replaced after doing many years of Trojan service educating young pupils. While visiting in pursuance of his duties as group photographer for The Local newspaper, he was told that it was on offer to a good home and so he snapped it up with the Heritage Centre in mind. The hard disc is working sufficiently well to accommodate my CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne that he has copied on to it and I have added a newly designed opening page welcoming visitors to the mill and inviting them to take a tour of Bourne in words and pictures.

This means that anyone visiting the Heritage Centre can now take a look at what the town has to offer before deciding where to go. The computer is quite capable, despite having a 15-inch screen and only 16MB of memory and this does tend to be slow when compared with the more modern machines currently available, but then this is a gift and we are thankful for it. If anyone out there with computer knowledge and a few spares to hand who would wish to add to this facility, perhaps with a larger screen or more memory, then you will be doing this town a small service and any offers you may send by email will be gratefully received and followed up.

The picture feature added to the web site last week on the closure of Bourne Hospital has prompted several people to write about their memories of either being admitted as a patient or of visiting sick relatives. All remember that the unit was originally built as an isolation hospital in 1915 for people suffering from infectious diseases and I am informed that it was known locally as "the fever hospital". The ailments which fell into this category that were prevalent in the district during the early years of the 20th century were scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, measles, mumps and smallpox and all required the patient to be excluded from society until the infection had passed. The tuberculosis pavilion was added in 1925 and so the hospital has played a major role in the treatment of contagious diseases for almost a century, although its scope was later extended to chest infections and then general medical cases.

Thought for the Week: All gods from time immemorial are fantasies created by humans for the welfare of humans and to attempt to explain the seemingly inexplicable. - Sir Ludovic Kennedy, broadcaster and writer, quoted by BBC Ceefax, Friday 18th April 2003.

Saturday 26^th April 2003

There are fears that we may lose the Old Grammar School, one of the oldest secular buildings in Bourne and a permanent reminder of the establishment of popular education in this town. For many years it has stood neglected in the churchyard, slowly deteriorating because of little or no maintenance, and now it has been declared unsafe with a leaking roof that will need £20,000 to repair and there is no money to foot the bill.

Some have suggested that it should be left to fall down but this course of action is totally unthinkable and those that support such a move should think again if they have the history and heritage of this town at heart because apart from forfeiting a valuable part of our cultural legacy, we would not be keeping faith with those who went before.

The grammar school was a gift to this town, given to Bourne in the 17th century when William Trollope, a local landowner, left a bequest in his will that provided for an endowment of £30 a year to maintain "an honest, learned and godly schoolmaster" in a free grammar school incorporated by royal charter and built by himself. His will, dated 16th November 1636, stipulated that it should be called "The Free Grammar School of King Charles in the town of Bourne and County of Lincoln, of the foundation of William Trollope, gentleman." 

The school was sited next to the Abbey Church where it still stands although the premises have been rebuilt since his day. The single storey building was completed in 1678 with a red brick superstructure over a solid stone foundation but it is not certain whether this stonework is from Trollope's original school or whether it dates back even further to the days when the monastery existed in which case, the scholar monk Robert Manning (1264-1340) could well have taught here. Repairs and alterations were carried out from time to time, particularly in 1858 and again in 1876 when new outbuildings and two new end windows were added. Five years later, a new stove chimney was erected and repairs carried out to the floor, dado boarding was fitted and when the ceiling was removed, the oak roof became visible.

The school closed in 1904 because of a declining number of pupils and there were several unsuccessful attempts to reopen it but it was eventually replaced by the existing grammar school in 1921 and two years later, in January 1923, the old building was sold to the board of governors for the nominal sum of £100. It has largely been unused since except during the Second World War of 1939-45 when the premises became an ambulance station and a headquarters for the girl guides who still use it to store their equipment and for meetings during the summer months.

But the school continues to attract visitors and is mentioned in most guidebooks that refer to this county, including the acknowledged authority on the subject The Buildings of England - Lincolnshire by Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris. It is also a Grade II listed building within the conservation area scheduled in July 1977and the official description reads as follows: 

1678. Single storey building in red and vitrified brick. Moulded stone plinth. Moulded stone cornice. Two buttresses on the west side. Tall brick chimney. Stone pinnacles to gable ends. Roof of old slates. South elevation has a repaired six-light mullioned window with two transoms and a stone cornice, extending across the whole building and damaged at one end. Side elevations have two 19th century windows, segmental arches in red and black brick. Door in centre of west side, with moulded stone, rectangular surround and moulded four-centred arch, at present hidden by a modern porch. 

If the building was so important then, why is it not now? The answer is that despite its historical significance, the school has been allowed to become rundown and almost derelict. The building is currently administered by a trust whose members are concerned about the high cost of repairs at a time when the church is also badly in need of money to maintain the fabric. But it is unthinkable that the town should lose this building. Money is available from many sources, not least the local authorities, central government and even the National Lottery fund which regularly hands out cash for projects of this nature. It will however, need the will to pursue such a project and a persistence to deal with the bureaucracy involved although the rewards would be great. The Old Grammar School is the perfect example of an ancient structure crying out for preservation and it is up to those who run our affairs to ensure that it is, or face the opprobrium of future generations because it will weigh heavily on the social conscience of this town if the building is allowed to moulder and crumble through neglect by those people who should be protecting it.

What the local papers are saying: The sale of the Bourne Hospital has raised the question of what will happen to the town's ambulance station which is tucked away at one corner of the site. The future of this vitally important service which gives round the clock cover for the town and district are highlighted by the Stamford Mercury in a front page story (April 25th) voicing real fears that it may be forced out once new houses start springing up around it. "We must safeguard its future", stresses Councillor John Kirkman. "Nothing should question the future viability of the ambulance service". These assurances have been given by the developers, Stamford Homes, according to Noel Wade, director of modernisation for the Lincolnshire Ambulance Service, who told the newspaper: "We have had a number of meetings with them and have made it quite clear that we will be maintaining a 24-cover during the development. We certainly have no intention of moving from what is a very good position for us." The determination of the community to keep this facility is not therefore in doubt but it would have been reassuring to have an unequivocal statement from Stamford Homes that they will do everything they can to support the ambulance service at this location for the benefit of the town and those who will eventually be buying their new houses.

There is still no decision on the future of the Post Office which the management propose to move from the purpose-built premises in West Street to space behind a liquor store further down the road but The Local reports that a final decision now depends on finalising the sale of the franchise from the present holder to the owners of the other shop premises (April 25th). This indicates for the first time that the deal was a purely commercial transaction that depended entirely on agreement between two business concerns and that the so-called public consultation process much trumpeted by the management never existed in the first place. Whatever the outcome of this sorry affair, the Post Office management will come out of it with very little credit. 

The oldies continue to make the news and two in particular find their way into the pages of The Local by demonstrating that there is still plenty of life and interest in retirement (April 25th). Jack Ebling, of Lilac Close, Bourne, makes front page news with a report on his achievement in successfully completing an Open University BA (Hons) degree in history and philosophy at the age of 77 while inside, a Page 6 feature is devoted to Mrs Shirley Wyer, aged 73, who is still playing the organ at Kirkby Underwood parish church after 55 years and that must be a record, especially as she also plays at several other churches in the area, at Morton, Haconby, Dunsby and Rippingale, whenever needed.

Election watch: There have been no further sightings of posters announcing the nine candidates for the six seats in the Bourne East and Bourne West wards on South Kesteven District Council when the local elections take place next Thursday. I mentioned last week that only one had been spotted in the town and that perhaps our candidates may be taking the electorate for granted. This is a pity because under the current regulations, each is allowed to spend up to a limit of £242 on their election expenses, plus 4.7p per entry in the register of electors. A manifesto is optional, and although it is becoming a common practice to use the columns of the local newspapers to deliver their message, this is therefore always a brief one, as you will see from the last two issues of The Local and the Stamford Mercury. So there you have it. The candidates want our votes but few are willing to invest in their own success by spreading the message about their abilities to the wider public. Local elections are certainly not what they once were when posters abounded in public places and by the time you went into the polling booth to cast your vote, you felt that you knew each candidate personally whereas today, they could be complete strangers and so often are.

The memories of patients admitted to Bourne Hospital during its days as an isolation unit and sanatorium are of a healthy and happy environment and this is what was intended when it was built in 1915. The demand for such a place to serve the town when there were so many contagious diseases about had become acute because the previous premises known as the Bourne Fever Hospital were two cottages in Manor Lane that had been hastily converted in 1885 by the Rural Sanitary Authority at a cost of £60 and providing only ten beds in two wards but without many of the basic facilities required for a medical unit. It was repeatedly criticised by health officers, particularly in the report of visiting government medical inspectors into sanitary and hygiene conditions in Bourne in October 1907, which highlighted a particularly poignant example of the conditions to be found there:

At the time of my first visit to Bourne Isolation Hospital, one of the wards was tenanted by a woman and two children, one of whom was suffering from scarlatina [scarlet fever]. As it had been impossible to isolate effectively the child and mother in their own home, the mother had been induced to bring her children into the hospital where she was entirely alone and had to attend to the infected and the non-infected child herself. It had been arranged that food should be provided for them by the Inspector of Nuisances, and also water for drinking since, as I have elsewhere pointed out, there is no supply of wholesome water on the hospital premises. At my visit, the mother complained that she had not been supplied with water but had been obliged to use for drinking purposes the foul water from a shallow dip well adjoining the hospital. I pointed out to the Inspector of Nuisances that very grave responsibility would be incurred should illness of one of these persons be referred to the use of this water.

The report was scathing about the Fever Hospital throughout and it was this criticism that stung the local authorities into action and lead to the opening of the new hospital in 1915. Some of those who were treated there in later years have contributed their reminiscences that can be found by clicking on the link below. The latest is Mrs Mary Pearson from Nottingham, who was admitted with scarlet fever in 1934 at the age of six. This disease, also known as scarlatina, was highly contagious and very much feared because it caused a high mortality rate, particularly among such susceptible groups as children, mothers and babies. Effective treatments, better food and housing, means that the infection is no longer the terror to society that it was in my childhood but it is worth reading these very personal anecdotes as a reminder of the way things were. If you had similar experiences, then please let us know. 

The monthly mailing newsletter has been discontinued in favour of a weekly posting about a particular feature that appears on the web site. This will be much shorter, just a few lines in fact, and will therefore take up less of your time and will also include a URL of the exact page referred to and so you will be able to access it at a mouse click without going to the web site directly. I am of the opinion that we like to read less of the material that arrives in our inboxes and therefore it is up to the senders to respond accordingly if they wish to be noticed. You will also see the name Bourne in the message heading and may therefore open the email knowing that it has come from a friendly source and is not offering you the dubious sales and services that are the subject of most spam messages.

If you have not subscribed to this mailing list, please add your email address by accessing the feature on our front page. This is a service offered by the Bourne web site and the information you give is private and is not passed on to a third party and so you can rest assured that you will not be suddenly bombarded with unwanted emails as a result of joining the list, but you will keep abreast of our progress.

Thought for the Week: Candidates shun legwork. With regard to the low turnout on voting days, candidates now seem to depend on the media to get their message across. I do not see any door-to-door canvassing like there used to be. Papers coming through the letterbox, but no personal touch. They make promises that they cannot fulfil just to get elected. - letter from J H of Inverness, Morayshire, Scotland, to Teletext ITV, Friday 25th April 2003.

Return to Monthly entries