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Saturday 2nd October 2004
The painstaking task of checking the stability of tombstones in the town
cemetery is now underway to ensure that they are safe and unlikely to fall on
unsuspecting visitors.
The survey is being undertaken by Bourne Town Council under the Local
Authorities Cemetery Order of 1977 after concerns were raised by the Health and
Safety Executive that many memorials were in danger of causing accidents,
especially to children, and indeed some have already occurred elsewhere. There
have been a number of deaths and injuries over the past five years caused by
falling headstones, including one at Harrogate in Yorkshire where a six-year-old
boy was killed in July 2000.
Each headstone is being carefully assessed, usually by a simple hand test to
check for the movement of the memorial although some local authorities, such as
Sheffield City Council, are using an instrument called a Topple Tester, a
hand-held device which measures the pressure required to cause movement in the
headstone up to a maximum of 35 kilogrammes. If movement is detected, then
burial registers are checked for the present grave owner and a current address,
a difficult task because not all cemetery records include this information, but
attempts are then made to contact them to provide an opportunity for remedial
work to be carried out at their expense. Otherwise, the headstones are laid
flat.
Surveys have already caused anger and resentment in some parts of Britain,
especially where local authorities have begun laying unstable memorials flat
without consulting bereaved families. In October 2003, relatives of 130 people
buried at Caldicot Cemetery in Monmouthshire were upset to find that their
memorials had been removed as unsafe without notification and many arrived at
the cemetery to find that the headstones had been placed flat on the ground
without their knowledge or agreement and at Torquay in Devon, contractors
appointed by Torbay Council to assess the safety risks were accused of being
over zealous after relatives were given only 14 days to make dangerous
headstones safe. Elsewhere, yellow warning markers and even brightly coloured
plastic covers have been put on dangerous headstones pending the completion of
safety work.
Some stones in the town cemetery at Bourne have already been laid flat by
maintenance staff when they appeared to become dangerous in years past but the
present survey will be far more thorough. The amount of work involved can be
assessed by the number of gravestones and although no accurate figure is
available, over 5,000 people are buried there and around half have a stone
memorial, although those erected recently, especially in the new part of the
cemetery, will cause no problems because of changing materials and
specifications.
It is those stone memorials erected in earlier times, from the opening of the
cemetery in 1855 and over the next 100 years, that are most likely to present
problems. Graves tend to subside with the years and therefore the heavier
memorials, especially those made of stone, soon lean and are in danger of
falling. It is these that will be identified by the survey.
The town council appointed a working party to assess the situation last year and
it recommended that £10,000 be set aside during the 2004-05 financial year to
pay for carrying out remedial work on unstable headstones but after a lengthy
debate, councillors rejected this advice and decided that relatives who are
still alive should foot the bill, otherwise they will be laid flat with the
inscriptions uppermost to ensure that visitors can still identity occupants of
the burial spaces.
It is debatable whether these surveys are really necessary and, more
importantly, whether tombstones should be laid flat because they have caused
problems elsewhere. The incidents that have occurred all involve children who
most likely had no right to be there in the first place because cemeteries are
not playgrounds. I have heard of accidents in which youngsters have been injured
swinging from lampposts but no one ever suggested that they should be removed
from the streets. A far more acceptable solution would be to keep children out,
unless accompanied by an adult who would be responsible for them.
The Health and Safety Executive, which is behind this particular bit of
nonsense, has been ridiculed in the past for some of its sillier excesses but
once an organisation has been appointed by government to fulfil a role, it will
continue to do that even after its sell by date has expired because jobs are at
stake and they eventually become more important than the work in hand. There is
a further consideration in that the laying flat of ancient tombstones will
change the appearance of our burial places forever and not for the better.
Our graveyards and cemeteries are not only memorials to the dead but an archive
of those who went before. We would not think for a moment of destroying similar
records if they were on paper or film and every effort would be made by our
local authorities to preserve them for future reference. For the same reason,
the town council’s decision not to spend £10,000 on the work of stabilising
unsafe tombstones is therefore unwise because it is doubtful if relatives
willing to pay for the work can be found for the older ones and it is therefore
inevitable that a large number will be laid flat.
Councillors gaily sanctioned the borrowing of £40,000 to spend on Christmas
gewgaws to illuminate the town during the festive season yet refuse to invest in
the enhancement of this quiet and peaceful place that tells us so much about our
history and which after all is their responsibility. The legacy of their
decision will be an unsightly cemetery in the years to come as more headstones
are laid flat and very soon it will become a stone yard rather than a graveyard.
Those who come after may well regard it as a form of officially sanctioned
vandalism and wonder whatever we were about.
What the local newspapers are saying: Lincolnshire County Council already
has a workforce of more than 12,000 people, making it the biggest employer in
the county, but it seems that this is not enough because the recruiting
bandwagon moves forever onwards. The October issue of County News, the
authority’s own newspaper, carries two full pages of jobs available and all have
esoteric descriptions and high salaries for such posts as Corporate Health and
Safety Advisor, Practice Manager Customer Relations, Financial Advisor Special
Projects, a project worker who can speak fluent Portuguese (yes, Portuguese) and
more.
For instance, what does the council need with a Social Services Directorate
Training and Development Officer, salary range £26,625 to £29,100? The
advertisement, if you can understand it, gives us the reason why: “The post will
contribute to the overall management and strategic direction of training and
development for Adult Services (incorporating Older People’s Physical
Disabilities and Learning Disabilities Services). Responsibilities include the
identification of training needs within the context of the services’ business
and workforce planning cycles; the production of an annual Staff Development
Plan and its programme of training events; line management of a team of Training
Officers and NVQ Assessors; budget management.”
This is empire building on a grand scale and we the taxpayers are footing the
bill. Stand by for yet another 10% or more increase in our council tax next
April and the spawning of even more staff for obscure jobs is one of the reasons
why.
A serious case of fly tipping in which a complete garage and some of its
contents were dumped in a lay-by off the A15 north of Morton, near Bourne, is
given front page photo treatment by The Local with an appeal for help in
finding the culprit from South Kesteven District Council (October 1st). The
debris included broken wooden supports, zinc and asbestos-lined sheets, tins of
paint, shelving and electrical fittings which will have to be removed by the
authority at a cost to public funds. It is difficult to understand the mentality
of anyone who would do this when we have so many official refuse sites where
waste materials may be dumped without risk because fly tipping is a criminal
offence and cases that come before the magistrates are dealt with severely,
commanding fines up to £25,000. Someone out there knows that a neighbour’s
garage has been taken down in recent weeks, especially as it would have needed a
large van or lorry to shift the debris, and perhaps they will provide the
necessary information to the council’s fly tipping telephone hotline at 01476
406279.
The use of firemen for handling medical emergencies in South Lincolnshire is
proving a success, according to the Stamford Mercury which reports that
they have attended 150 calls since the scheme was set up in May (October 1st),
46 of them in the Bourne area. The teams known as co-responders have been
specially equipped and trained to deal with heart attacks and cases of breathing
difficulties and 26 of the calls involved the use of oxygen and three the use of
a defibrillator. They are not intended to replace the ambulance but to
supplement the existing emergency services and, according to Station Officer
Dave Lord, who is in charge of the South Lincolnshire team covering seven fire
stations, the public reaction has been extremely positive. “We have had letters
of thanks and have received donations”, he said. “This is a community based
scheme and we intend to carry on saving people’s lives.”
Recent criticism of changes in the working practices of our local doctors
should not allow us lose sight of the advances that have been made in modern
medicine and the protection their professional training gives us today from the
more extremes of ill health. With their help, we are able to maintain a healthy
body free from some of the most pernicious ailments known to mankind and
although consumption, scarlet fever, meningitis and diphtheria and many others
were killers in my childhood, they are largely unknown today.
In past centuries, consumption, now known as tuberculosis, was a constant
threat, particularly to the working classes where poor living conditions and
under-nourishment were breeding grounds for this virulent illness that claimed
many lives, particularly among the young. Joseph Davies, headmaster of the
elementary school for boys in Abbey Road, now the Abbey Primary School, kept a
daily log of activities and he wrote a particularly poignant entry on 21st July
1904:
It is with deep sorrow that I have to record
today the sudden death during school hours of Arthur Young, aged 13, a seventh
standard scholar. He was an inmate at the Union [workhouse] and of a delicate
constitution. A fortnight ago he left the Union with his mother who took him on
a tramp about the country for ten days. They returned to the Union famished and
exhausted. The strain had clearly been too much for the poor lad. But though
very delicate, he was able to attend school and appeared about as usual.
This morning, as the boys were filing in from play, I noticed he looked pale and
asked him how he felt. "I feel very poorly, sir", he said. I asked him if he
would like anything from the house but he said "No, thank you." He thought he
would like to walk quietly home and I agreed, considering it the best thing, as
he did not seem inclined to rest. About five minutes afterwards, I heard a
peculiar coughing sound and going instantly out to the playground, found the
poor boy vomiting blood. Blood was also pouring from his nose.
I at once went to his help, asking for assistance from my staff who came
immediately. We carried him carefully into the porch. But he was unconscious and
had probably expired almost immediately after the attack. I had sent urgently
for the three town doctors, and for the nurse, the messenger fortunately met Dr
John Galletly [senior], who kindly came at once, but pronounced life extinct.
Death was due to the bursting of a blood vessel in the lungs. The poor lad's
father died from a similar case.
The body was taken home and Mr Alfred Yates, the Union Master, informed me that
a doctor had been attending the boy this week but he had not seemed unwell
today, having been hearty at breakfast. I am deeply touched with the sympathetic
spirit shown by teachers and boys alike.
In a later entry, the headmaster said that pupils and staff had subscribed for a
beautiful wreath which was placed on the boy's grave after his funeral the
following Saturday.
The regime of a strict and unbending discipline in the schools of Victorian and
Edwardian England is generally regarded as harsh and uncaring but these entries
by Mr Davies tell another story, one of devotion towards his pupils, and
although powerless to help them all individually, the compassion is clearly
felt. He also had faith in the medical profession, sending for all of the town’s
three doctors in an emergency with the knowledge that one or all of them would
come. Today, his urgent plea for help would most likely be answered by the fire
brigade.
Thought for the week: Plenty of us are not feeling much reason for
patriotic pride at present, living under a government which criminalizes
traditional country sports while waging illegal and immoral wars.
– Geoffrey
Wheatcroft, writing in the Spectator, Saturday 25th September 2004.
Saturday 9th October 2004
Bourne is on the threshold of major changes. This is a
natural progression for a small English market town combined with a planned
expansion by those who govern us but as with all such decisions, the people will
be the last to know exactly how it will affect them. Instead, we must rely on
close analysis of all official statements and an unreliable press to keep us
informed.
The past five years have been eventful in that we have house building proceeding
at an unprecedented pace, a new town centre on the drawing board, a relief road
under construction, and the prospect of familiar buildings disappearing from the
landscape. In the face of such drastic reforms, it is quite likely that ten
years hence, this town will look very different than it does today.
The southern aspect has already been altered dramatically with the establishment
of Elsea Park and the residential estate opposite on the site of the old
hospital while other housing developments have added to this metamorphosis in
Exeter Street, Spalding Road, North Street and elsewhere. The impetus for
building new homes appears unstoppable and as a myriad of executive style and
other properties spring up, that which has become familiar disappears from our
landscape.
Amid all this diversity, it is essential that we do not lose sight of the old
values that are at the heart of a traditional market town, the heritage that has
been handed down through the years, and that includes not only our old buildings
but the way they are used. Now, more than at any other time in our history,
vigilance by those who run our affairs is essential. To disperse traditions is
to lose them although the responsibility for their preservation lies not only
with our councillors but also with the people who must play their part through
opinion and advice. If the reforms we are now witnessing are wrong, there will
be no opportunity to reverse them and future generations will judge us
accordingly.
Town councillors are drawing up a list of alternative venues for their
meetings after hearing that the town hall does not comply with access rights
contained in the Disability Discrimination Act that came into force this month.
Anyone in a wheelchair or who is severely handicapped would find difficulty in
reaching the council chamber because of the flight of steps outside and the
early 19th century building is unsuitable for the installation of a lift.
Other locations have already been suggested including the chapel of rest at the
town cemetery but it is difficult to believe that this will be taken seriously.
The image of town councillors using this as a permanent meeting place has
already commanded headlines in the local newspapers and one can imagine the fun
our national press and television would have were the idea to become reality. If
it proceeded along this course, the council would have to contend with ridicule
and ribaldry on a grand scale, suggesting that it had chosen the last resting
place for its determinations, the dead centre of the town, RIP local government,
the town council in memoriam, and so on. Scornful headlines such as this might
soon be forgotten but they would indicate that the decision was not only
unpopular and absurd, but also wrong.
Wake House has also been put forward as a suitable venue and this building does
have a history of local government use, having been the area offices of South
Kesteven District Council from 1974 until 1993, but we are told that its future
is uncertain because parts of the property may be included in the pending
redevelopment of the town centre although councillors should remember that this
is scheduled Grade II which is part of our history and cannot be altered without
listed building consent.
The most sensible course of action would be for town councillors to defend their
tenure at the town hall but the majority appear to be intent on moving. The act clearly states that they must do all they can to allow the
disabled access to their meetings but this does not mean a total upheaval of the
council’s functions. Wheelchairs at meetings are not an everyday occurrence and
on those occasions that disabled access is required, this can easily be managed
with the help of carers or other volunteers rather than subject the authority to
a complete and costly evacuation.
Consideration for all minority groups has become an essential part of our
national life but we must not become slaves to the legislation that requires
this because the majority will then suffer. The case of the headstones in the
town cemetery that are currently in danger of being laid flat because they are
unsafe is such an example as they may be in breach of the guidelines laid down
by the Health and Safety Executive. Similarly, the Disability Discrimination Act
is there for guidance and if the town council does all in its power to enable
the physically handicapped attend its meetings, then that should be sufficient
rather than force the authority to pack its bags and move to a location more
convenient to a minority group.
Such a move will be expensive, far outweighing any advantages that might be
achieved, and it is we who pay the council tax who will have to foot the bill.
The town council is now in the process of drawing up estimates of the outlay
required, the exact cost of such a re-location, and perhaps when they see these
figures, councillors may well consider that staying at the town hall is the
cheaper and more sensible option. The town hall is the focal point of our local
administration and it would be ridiculous to send the town council elsewhere
merely to comply with an obscure regulation, however well intentioned.
What the local newspapers are saying: Access for the disabled at many
places around Bourne is still tricky, according to a survey by the Stamford
Mercury which was carried out by reporter Samantha Dilks who spent an
afternoon in a wheelchair to find out how easy it was to get around (October
8th). Apart from the town hall, she discovered that some vital services such as
chemist’s shops, Boots in West Street particularly, were inaccessible while
crossing the main road in the town centre could also be hazardous. Barclays Bank
however is singled out for praise because its office building in North Street
has a ramp, automatic doors, hearing aids, high visibility signs and a ground
floor interview room. The town council admitted the deficiencies at the town
hall but stressed that arrangements are made for the disabled who do want access
although Samantha points out: “Most of them don’t want special treatment,
just the same access as everyone else.”
Lollipop ladies (and in some cases, men) have become a familiar sight on the
roads outside our infants, junior and primary schools in Bourne in recent years
and their presence is invaluable in ensuring that children cross in safety. But
according to The Citizen it could soon become a job of the past because
there is difficulty in recruiting enough people to fill the vacancies available
(October 5th). In Lincolnshire, almost one quarter of the posts for crossing
wardens, as they are officially known, are unfilled and a recruiting drive has
been thwarted by a lack of incentive, even though the duties take up no more
than 8-10 hours a week during term time. Greville Burgess, principal road safety
co-ordinator with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, told the newspaper:
“Lollipop ladies have often been retired people who have given their
free time to the job but now they want to do other things. We provide this
service because it involves the safety of children and we have the resources to
train and equip them but there is no magic formula that will attract people to
apply.”
The Lincolnshire South West Primary Care Trust which runs the two medical
centres in Bourne held what it called "a health event" for the public at the
Corn Exchange when doctors and staff were on hand to describe how the service is
being improved and according to The Local, visitors were impressed with
the new technology that is on the way (October 8th). Dr Ian Pace, a general
practitioner who works at the Galletly Practice in North Road, was particularly
enthusiastic with the innovations and he told the newspaper: "The system is
being designed to improve the patient's experience of interfacing with their
general practitioner, to be able to book or cancel appointments online and, in
the near future, to be able to organise repeat prescriptions which will save
time and effort for the patient. The whole project is patient driven."
Unfortunately, the presentation did not address the most worrying aspect for
sick people in Bourne today and that is how they can see their doctor without
waiting two weeks for an appointment.
Opposition to housing development on meadowland adjoining The Croft in North
Road appears to be crumbling because a report in The Local says that
after a private meeting on Tuesday to discuss the forthcoming appeal by the
developers against the refusal of planning permission, members of South Kesteven
District Council decided to withdraw their objections on the grounds of highway
safety (October 8th), the main A15 trunk road running close by the site.
Instead, their defence will concentrate on the adverse impact the proposed
estate will have on the locality and that it would be out of character with the
area. This will be a major blow to those people of Bourne who are opposed to the
development and is sure to weaken the official case but the decision was most
probably taken because of the high legal costs that might be imposed on the
public purse, a dubious excuse for such an important issue. The informal hearing
before a government inspector is due to be held at the Corn Exchange on November
2nd but I understand that Bourne Town Council still intends to pursue its
original objections which include the traffic implications that will ensue if
house building goes ahead and it is also a matter that will not escape the
attention of individual speakers.
The acronym nimby has been with us now for a quarter of a century,
meaning someone who objects to the establishment of projects that are deemed to
be dangerous, unsightly or otherwise undesirable in one’s own neighbourhood and
prefer them to be sited elsewhere. It means “not in my backyard” and was first
used in the United States on 6th November 1980 by Emilie Travel Livezey in an
article in The Christian Science Monitor warning of the dangers of hazardous
chemical waste being dumped in landfill sites which most Americans found
anathema if they were situated close to their homes.
The word is now working overtime in Bourne as the main plank for the case
against the building of new houses at The Croft in North Road, the controversial
issue that has generated a great deal of heat in recent months. The nimby
brigade live nearby, in Maple Gardens, Galletly Close, and other quiet
neighbourhoods where the residents are not enamoured with the prospect of more
houses in the vicinity and, in some cases, ruining the view of green countryside
they have enjoyed since moving in. Their objections will no doubt form the core
protest from the public and will therefore carry less weight than traffic and
environmental arguments from official bodies such as the local authorities and
civic organisations.
The rights and the wrongs of the planning application have been argued ad
infinitum but no one has yet pointed out that the land owners are doing exactly
what each of us would do in similar circumstances and that is to make the best
use of our assets. If any of the residents clamouring for the housing project to
be shelved also had an acre or two of spare land, they would most certainly be
pursuing every possible avenue to ensure that it sold for a maximum price, no
matter how many grand vistas were lost in the process. That is the very essence
of the word nimby. It applies to others but not to ourselves.
Thought for the week: Karl I, the last Austro-Hungarian emperor who sat
on the throne of the now defunct empire between 1916 and 1918, has been
beatified by the Pope, the penultimate step on the path to full sainthood,
because, according to the Vatican, he cured a Brazilian nun of varicose veins.
"I hope Emperor Karl will serve as an example, especially for those with
political responsibilities in Europe today," said the Pope.
- BBC Online
news, Sunday 3rd October 2004.
Saturday 16th October 2004
Wake House has been part of the street scene in Bourne
for two centuries. It was built by local solicitor William Worth on the site of
the old Waggon and Horses public house that was pulled down in the early 19th
century and has had many uses since, as a town house, solicitor’s offices,
council headquarters and in more recent years as an arts and community centre.
But its days may now be numbered.
No one has yet uttered the fateful words but a close analysis of the statements
from those who conduct our affairs indicate that it may well soon be reduced to
rubble to make way for the town expansion scheme that will envelop the land in
that segment behind North Street and Burghley Street. This property is scheduled
Grade II and listed building consent will be required to remove it but that
protection imposed in 1977 will be a puny obstacle in the face of a determined
multi-million pound expansion.
Dramatic alterations to the townscape are often heralded by whispers and
speculation because those who run our affairs prefer to keep their deliberations
secret. Sometimes this is necessary because contracts are involved but
generally, the public ought to be kept fully informed of major changes to avoid
ill informed gossip. There have been whispers for several weeks about the future
of this old and much-loved building which is the birthplace of the original
owner’s son, the international fashion designer Charles Worth, who was deemed
sufficiently worthy by English Heritage in December 2002 to merit a prestigious
blue plaque that is now affixed to the front façade as a reminder that the man
who founded haute couture was born here on 13th October 1825. Now it is being
treated as little more than a lump of real estate.
The Local reports this week that its future “hangs in the balance”
(October 15th) because it lies within the core area of the town that is due to be
redeveloped. The nine companies that originally expressed interest in the scheme
have been narrowed down to four who have been asked to submit more detailed
proposals by the end of November and although Wake House does not appear in the
calculations so far, an examination of what is being said indicates that it does
not auger well for the future security of the building.
Ivan Fuller, who heads the Town Centre Management Partnership, told the
newspaper that there were no plans “at present” to pull the property down and
the public would be consulted fully in December before any decision is taken.
But the most telling statements come from South Kesteven District Council that
actually owns the property and leases it to the present tenants for community
use. A statement from the council earlier this week said: “Following agreement
with the Wake House Arts and Community Trust it was agreed in June that the
council would be minded to include the building within any future development
proposals, subject to a similar sized alternative facility being provided by the
developer.”
This is what is known as a planning gain and the council leader, Councillor
Linda Neal (Bourne West), expanded on the official statement. She told the
newspaper: “It was never intended to undermine the good work carried out by the
trust but there is a genuine desire to provide it with a new purpose built
facility within which to enhance its activity, thus relieving the trust of all
refurbishment and maintenance work required.”
So there we have it. Wake House may not be in immediate danger of demolition but
there is certainly no heart to save it among the bureaucrats and politicians who consider it
expendable. It will therefore most likely be pulled down and the present
occupiers provided with alternative accommodation, possibly a new community hall
for the town built on the site of the present bus station on which local operators are becoming less reliant than in the past.
Progress is essential in any town, especially with such a major project as that
now in the offing, but vigilance is essential to ensure that our old and
treasured structures do not become indiscriminate victims of the bulldozer. Wake
House is a building of character that still has a useful life and could easily
be incorporated into any new town centre scheme. Its historical associations
ought to make demolition an unthinkable eventuality and a statement of
reassurance from the TCMP and SKDC that it will be protected would put our minds
at rest but I fear that this will not happen. As with so many times in the past,
the decision in principal appears to have been taken on the grounds of
expediency. Those values we once had are changing and our heritage now comes a
poor second to progress.
What the local newspapers are also saying: Those who drive past The Croft
in North Road will have noticed that the wrought iron gates at the entrance are
now locked and the house boarded up and The Local carries a photograph in
which it has the doomed and forlorn air of an abandoned property awaiting
redevelopment (October 15th). Plans to build new houses at this location have
become one of the most controversial issues for Bourne in recent years and
everyone awaits the public hearing on November 2nd when a government inspector
will decide whether residential development on the surrounding parkland will go
ahead.
Questions now abound in the public mind whether the house will ever again be
occupied or whether that too will be demolished in the name of progress, a much
easier task for the developers because unlike Wake House, it is not a listed
building and may therefore be pulled down with far less fuss if it becomes a liability but I fear
that we will have to wait for this information until after the government
inspector has completed his deliberations.
The Heritage Centre is one of the small delights of this town for those
who are interested in our past but its potential has never been fully realised.
The early 19th century water mill that stands on the banks of the Bourne Eau in
South Street was taken over by the Civic Society in 1981 and has since been
turned into a modest museum with displays and artefacts reflecting the life and
times of those who lived here.
Unfortunately, the society is not a large organisation and its survival depends
entirely on the hard work of the few. The centre therefore, can only open to the
public when volunteers are available for duty and at the moment this is confined
to two hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons throughout the year and on a few
special occasions such as National Heritage Week. The ideal would be for the
building to be open all day every day but this is an unattainable objective at
the moment and even the present opening hours may be under threat. Robert
Fuller, vice-chairman of the Civic Society, sounds a note of warning in a letter
to members this week in which he says that it is becoming increasingly difficult
to maintain a full duty roster for the weekends and he is appealing for more
people who would be prepared to help with staffing.
The problem facing conservation organisations such as the Civic Society is a
widespread apathy towards the past, an attitude that is prevalent in all
sections of our society, especially the young. For instance, they find it
difficult to understand why our old buildings should be preserved even though
they stand as markers of our history and therefore the mustering of interest in
times of emergency is all the more difficult. The attraction of younger members
to the Civic Society would be an admirable solution but a participation in
matters such as history and heritage is not considered to be cool, or whatever
the current phrase is to describe teenage trends in style, fashion and beliefs.
The task is therefore left to the older generation and although there is a rich
vein of interest in this section of society, it is not sufficiently prolific to
sustain the current need. There is a popular phrase that graphically describes
the present situation with regard to the Heritage Centre and that is: use it or
lose it. Active interest is essential if it is to survive but I fear that the
prognosis is not good.
There has been criticism of Bourne United Charities in the past for their
neglect of the river and surrounding land of which they are the riparian owners.
On Tuesday 13th July 1954, Councillor Dr George Holloway told a meeting of
Bourne Urban District Council that the waterway in the South Street area had
become “an evil looking, muck encrusted, weed plastered bog” but the authority
had no powers to intervene. He went on: “I have been approached on two occasions
since last Friday about the question of the watercourse in South Street and been
told that it is surely a matter of public health. This place should be one of
the town’s four beauty spots but instead is one of our eyesores and it is not in
any way the responsibility of the council.”
Councillor Holloway said it was entirely the responsibility of those who shared
the riparian rights [then the Marquess of Exeter and Bourne United Charities]
and added: “How long are we going to stand this mess? There is no way we can
compel the owners to cut the weeds and clear it up.” His protest received
unanimous support and Councillor Jack Burchnell told the meeting: “It has always
been a mystery to me why the charity trustees make such a wonderful place of the
Abbey Lawn and neglect the watercourse. If only they would understand the amount
of feeling about this.”
Since those days, BUC have become the sole riparian owners of the waterway from
its source as far as South Street and although the river alongside the main road
is in a reasonable state, there is room for improvement while the stretch
upstream that runs behind Baldock’s Mill and through the Wellhead Gardens
remains a blot on the town’s landscape. The footpath beside the river has an
air of neglect, overgrown with weeds, slippery, even dangerous underfoot in wet
weather, with the upturned roots of fallen trees and discarded litter adding to
the defacement of what could be such a pleasant spot.
Of all the places in this town that need attention, this is one of the most
important because the path is a popular route for visitors walking between the
church and the Wellhead Gardens yet it presents a bleak aspect, one of neglect
and disregard for what could be achieved if the trustees had the vision and were
prepared to sanction the required spending of the money in their keeping.
It gives us some satisfaction to note that the North
Street terrace development in Bourne is now being re-named Marquess Court.
The developers originally chose the name Marquis Court, but this was in error
and without knowledge of the facts. The terraces, for there were originally two,
the other being demolished in 1974 to make way for the bus station development
and access to St Gilbert's Road, were built circa 1880 by the Marquess of
Exeter, and you will note the spelling of his title which was common usage at
that time. The use of Marquis in this context is incorrect and is also
confusing, being referred to in the town as the home of the underground, a
reference to the French maquis of the Second World War of 1939-45, a word which
it closely resembles, and I also heard it mispronounced "mucky" and who wants to
live in Mucky Court?
Earlier this year, I pointed out the anomaly to the managing director of Lindum
Homes, Rob Stewart, expressing the hope that it was not too late for the
spelling to be changed to avoid confusion, and perhaps even derision, in the
future and he was courteous enough to reply and assure me that the matter was
well in hand. "In view of the advanced stage of the development and the fact
that all brochures and signs had been produced using Marquis, we have elected to
continue with this spelling for marketing purposes. Please excuse our ignorance
in this matter and rest assured that the street nameplates will be spelled
correctly when placed in position in the near future.”
That has now been done and may be seen in North Street as Marquess Court, a
small development that has retained the original buildings in the Victorian
style, so becoming an asset to the street scene in what is essentially a red
brick market town.
Thought for the week: One volunteer is worth two pressed men.
– old
army proverb.
Saturday 23rd October 2004
The redevelopment of the town centre in Bourne that is
now in the offing presents a golden opportunity for our planners to deliver a
scheme that is both attractive and workable and one that will meet the wishes of
the public and our local traders who will not want their businesses to disappear
among the rubble of change.
The easy option will be to build a complex of cloned shops that have spread
throughout urban Britain and the attraction of including national chain stores
is not only tempting and even good economic practice but is not necessarily wise
because there is little point in creating a new town centre if it resembles
hundreds more elsewhere, with the same shops offering the same goods at the same
prices.
Our new town centre should reflect the essence of this particular South
Lincolnshire market town and not merely be a copy of what we have in Spalding or
some other place that has undergone a similar transformation, however worthy it
might be. The supermarket syndrome particularly must be avoided although we have
heard much talk from the Town Centre Management Partnership that a flagship
store will be at the heart of the development. If this were to be a Wilco, a
Lidl of even a Pound Stretcher (now ridiculously renamed Instore), because
unfortunately Bourne cannot aspire to the top end of the market, then the battle
will have been lost before it has even begun.
Small shops are our strength because they offer a personal and intimate service.
Look around and you will see some of the best possible retail outlets for a
small town such as Bourne and it is usually a delight to call there and be given
such personal service, whether it be ironmongery or jewellery, electrical
appliances, photography, butchery, bakery, clothing, sportswear, books and
furniture, flowers and fancy goods. We have lost some outlets in recent months
but other modest undertakings will take their place because our population does
not attract the attention of W H Smith, Dixons and Currys. They may be tempted
here in the future, when Elsea Park and other major housing developments are
more advanced, but in the meantime, the new town development should concentrate
on providing a welcome for those small businesses we have and even attracting
others of like mind.
A resistance to chain store development in town centres is already building up,
not only in Britain but throughout the world. The Sunday Times reported this
week (October 17th) that in London, for instance, the Mercers Company, one of
the capital’s biggest landlords which has owned much of Covent Garden and eight
acres of the city since the 16th century, has issued an edict preventing chain
stores from colonising its streets and is instead persuading independent shops
to open by offering them generous rent reductions. Formula restaurants have been
banned at Carmel, California, USA, and in France, the country that invented the
hypermarket, local authorities can now veto the construction of any supermarket
of 1,000 square metres or more to protect “the fabric of society”. Poland has
adopted similar legislation while the Malaysian government has banned any
further developments by giant supermarket chains.
The eradication of proper neighbourhood shops is an erosion of the town’s
economy and local authorities have a duty to buck the trend. The forthcoming
development of the town centre is the perfect opportunity to resist introducing
yet another block of nondescript High Street clones by actively discriminating
against chain stores and supermarket branches and concentrating instead on the
individuality and originality that small privately-run businesses can bring. But
they will need help to compete against the big boys and it is up to our town
planners to provide it.
What the local newspapers are saying: The Stamford Mercury gives
extensive coverage to the recent government ruling that patients will be allowed
to see a family doctor out of hours if they need one (October 22nd). The issue
was raised after complaints about the system of providing cover at evenings and
weekends introduced by the Lincolnshire South West Primary Care Trust that runs
our two medical centres in Bourne, the Hereward and Galletly practices. The new
arrangements means that anyone needing medical help at these times must talk to
a new breed of practitioner, specially trained paramedic nurses who diagnose
over the telephone, but there are fears that however well-intentioned, this is
inadequate and that a qualified doctor should be available at all times.
The situation was graphically described on this web site on September 11th by
our MP, Quentin Davies, the member for Grantham and Spalding, who insisted that
family doctors should continue to visit the sick in their own homes out of hours
if necessary and it subsequently emerged that 200,000 people in this part of
Lincolnshire would have no direct access to a GP overnight and if you live in
Bourne, that means you. He asked the Speaker for an emergency debate in the
Commons which was due to be held last Friday but shortly before, the Health
Minister John Hutton issued the new guidelines stressing that a doctor would
always be available. Mr Davies, himself the son of a family doctor, told the
Mercury: “This is a U-turn and a very dramatic one and I trust that the
government will never again be tempted to allow any primary care trust to run
such an experiment with its obvious risk to patients and violation of some of
the most fundamental principles of good medicine.”
The newspaper adds that the trust has now promised that a rota of available GPs
will be up and running from November, giving patients access to a doctor out of
hours.
This was the most important story of the week for Bourne,
affecting everyone who lives here,
yet for some strange reason The Local tucked it away inside on Page
2 when it should have been given front
page treatment. The newspaper chose instead to lead on a condemnation of the
new traffic lights that have been operating in in the town centre for only a few weeks and
have been described as “confusing and dangerous” (October 22nd). The accusation
comes from Roy Harris, aged 69, a familiar figure in the streets because he is
totally blind and can often be seen out and about in his yellow striped jacket
with his guide dog Thomas. He told the town council’s highways and planning
committee on Tuesday that the new £140,000 system was not a good one for blind
people because the kerb edge was ill defined and the control posts badly
positioned. This is not good news for Lincolnshire County Council whose
engineers paid particular attention to the needs of the disabled before work
commenced but they will no doubt have to look at them again because town
councillors voted unanimously to lodge their displeasure with the system and ask
for any shortcomings to be rectified.
In case you are wondering why the streets and shops are thronging with children
who should be at their lessons, The Citizen tells us that the half term
holiday is underway and this time it will last for two weeks (October 19th). The
extra time off is due to a new six-term system for schools being given a trial
by Lincolnshire County Council “which means that the length of each term is more
equal”. The report adds: “It is hoped that the new system will help pupils and
staff cope more easily with school but it means finding more things to keep the
kids out of the parents’ hair for longer.” Common sense therefore tells us that
the new arrangement is wrong. At a time when many youngsters are still leaving
school without adequate literacy skills, it seems an inappropriate arrangement
to give them a two week break from their lessons in the middle of October when
they could be more usefully employed at their desks rather than mooching around
looking for something to do.
One of the most outrageous stories of the week comes in a letter to The Local
from an unnamed senior citizen (October 22nd) who wrote:
I was gobsmacked on Thursday when I went to
the Post Office to collect my pension. A youth of about 15 or 16 rode past me on
his bike straight to the counter, did what he went in for and rode out again,
never once getting off. There was an old gentleman coming in and he could have
knocked him down. This should be stopped before it gets out of hand.
And indeed it should. But who is there to stop it?
Shop watch: Yet another jewellery shop is to open in Bourne at the
expense of a useful outlet dealing in leather goods. Burchnells Saddlery, who
have been trading from No 16 West Street for the past 70 years, closed earlier
this month when the present owners, Brian Scotney and his wife Mary, announced
their intention to retire to Paphos in Cyprus. The premises have being taken
over by Moore and Scraggs, a firm of retailers from Sleaford, who plan to open
in time for the Christmas trade, bringing the total number of jewellers
currently operating in the town to four, the others being G Gaynor at No 29 West
Street, James Harvey on the market place behind No 2 North Street, and the best
known of them, the old established family firm, Hoppers Ltd of 35 North Street.
Jewellery is part of the luxury market and does not come cheap and so it is a
cause of wonder as to how four shops will all make a living in a small town like
this with a population of around 15,000. Perhaps it is a sign of the growing
affluence among the public and their preference to spend rather than save
although gold, silver and precious stones are not a particularly good investment
at the present time, all carrying a high profit margin and hefty VAT rate of 17½
per cent. It would be interesting to know how many of them will still be in
business at this time next year.
Tesco Express is fast becoming a victim of its own success. The management
appears to be unable to employ sufficient staff to keep pace with the growing
number of customers and queues down the store past the door while only one
checkout is operating have become a regular occurrence. The forecourt is also
proving to be inadequate for the large number of vehicles needing petrol and a
clash of articulated vehicles arriving to unload even more goods at the same
time creates a dangerous situation. Combine the two and you have gridlock on the
forecourt with cars jamming the pumps as motorists wait to pay for their
purchase while others queue impatiently for service. At lunchtime on Saturday,
without a lorry in sight, as cars jockeyed for a position at the pumps, the
queue of waiting vehicles extended into Exeter Street and if you changed your
mind and decided to go elsewhere, there was no way out.
Customers at Sainsburys in Bourne who have noticed the declining standards in
recent weeks will be delighted to learn that improvements are on the way. Empty
shelves have become commonplace at the Exeter Street supermarket and shoppers
have gone home disappointed when their favourite commodities were not available.
We now learn that £30 million was recently spent on automated warehouses and
information technology to supply the company’s stores but the systems have not
been working properly and the availability of merchandise on the shelves has
been severely affected. The firm, which is Britain’s third biggest supermarket
chain, now has a new chief executive, Justin King, who plans to cut 500 jobs at
head office and the savings will be used to put more staff on the shop floor to
ensure that the shelves are fully stocked in the future.
Halifax plc prides itself on being one of Britain’s biggest banks and the slogan
“Open all hours” is prominently displayed at their various branches. Their
presence in Abbey Road is merely an agency but still offers many of the same
services as a fully-fledged branch. Last week, a customer went in to withdraw
some money but the counter assistant said they had none available and directed
him to a hole in the wall cash dispenser at Lloyds plc just round the corner. On
Saturday morning, the office was closed, despite a notice in the window saying
that it was open from 9 am until midday, and a queue of angry people formed
outside waiting to withdraw funds or transact business. The Bourne office comes
under the jurisdiction of the Stamford branch and someone in the queue
telephoned them on their mobile to ask what was going on only to be told: “Oh,
it should be open. We know nothing about this. We’ll look into it and see what
is going on.” No one called back and come midday, the office was still shut.
Thought for the week: Parents should be taking responsibility for the
conduct of their children, ensuring that they are aware of what is and what is
not acceptable behaviour. – Ms Leigh Mockridge, the new anti-social behaviour
officer for Bourne, quoted by the Stamford Mercury, Friday 22nd October 2004.
Saturday 30th October 2004
The October Fair is here again, so disabling almost 100
car parking spaces in Burghley Street when pressure on them has never been more
acute. The time has surely come to move this out-dated tradition to another more
suitable venue, preferably out of town or at least to the recreation ground
where it has been held in recent times, so demonstrating that the community need
not be so inconvenienced.
The traffic chaos caused by the loss of these car parking spaces is particularly
traumatic for drivers who are warned in badly written notices scrawled on pieces
of cardboard that “All vehicles must be moved by 6 pm on Thursday 28th November”
and the car park will not be available until late on Tuesday after the fair has
left. Other notices, painted on boards erected at the entrance, tell us that the
fair will be operating over the weekend, on Friday and Saturday, closed on
Sunday, and again on Monday. The fair usually dismantles early on Tuesday and is
gone by the evening.
The parking problem is at its most acute on the Saturday, a difficult day at any
time of the year, and exacerbated by spaces in the car park behind Budgens being
reduced by the market. Motorists drive round desperately seeking somewhere to
leave their vehicles and as a result, the car parks outside the Sainsburys and
Budgens supermarkets, and even the Hereward Medical Centre, are full for most of
the day and tempers fray as new arrivals compete for each space as it is
vacated. The kerbside in the town centre will be under similar pressure and
visitors with no knowledge of the locality arriving for lunch or a spot of
shopping will no doubt just keep going after unsuccessful attempts to find
somewhere to park. In short, a fair in the town centre has become bad news for
Bourne. The showmen will no doubt say that this is a traditional event and ask
us to be patient and more understanding but it is not quite as old as we are
lead to believe.
The pleasure fair that we know today had humble beginnings as a sideshow to the
statute or hiring fairs, usually held on the first Saturday in May, when
servants and labourers gathered in the market place to find work. They were
normally engaged by the year and when that period drew to an end and the
employer had made no move to renew the engagement, or the man or maid wished to
go elsewhere, then they would go to the hiring fair to seek a new master. It was
at the fair that the employers came together to give their rates of pay and
conditions and usually entered into hiring agreements there and then. Once the
terms had been sealed, the newly hired worker invariably received a "fastenpenny"
to seal the agreement.
Where people customarily gathered in large numbers, sellers of food and drink
quickly followed after them, stallholders, hawkers of fairings, blue ribbon or
gingerbread, as well as the providers of amusements, and once workers had
settled their business, the rest of the day was spent on enjoying the delights
of the fair. During the 19th century, this was the traditional labour exchange
of a market town such as Bourne but this method of hiring soon fell out of
fashion as employment opportunities became more numerous and the emancipation of
the working classes brought about by the Great War of 1914-18 signalled an end
to hiring at the annual statutes. The pleasures and amusements continued and
have now become an attraction in their own right although any claim to the
privileges of past centuries is misplaced. There is still a welcome for the
travelling fairs because everyone loves the dodgems and the candy floss but many
believe that they should be given an out of town site, a field or meadow, where
our daily life will not be so disrupted.
Ironically, the fair is likely to be moved on far sooner than we think but for
financial rather than practical considerations. The threat of pay parking may
have been averted by the energetic opposition fielded by the people of Bourne
earlier this year but there are fresh rumblings in the committee rooms of South
Kesteven District Council that if motorists in Grantham and Stamford have to pay
then so should we and it can only be a matter of time before the parking meters
are installed, the cables having already been laid when the car park was
resurfaced last year. Once pay parking is introduced, there is no prospect
whatsoever of the fair being held in Burghley Street every autumn because the
loss of income to the public purse could not possibly be justified for such a
transient diversion.
Three years ago, I wrote that street signs in Bourne had become the
latest target for weekend vandals rampaging home full of alcoholic bravado after
a night in the pubs. The route they took was marked with their progress because
they demolished eight street signs as they went, most of them set into concrete
posts that were snapped in two and so several people must have been involved in
this act of wanton destruction in St Gilbert's Road, Maple Gardens, Queens Road
and Beaufort Drive. That was in March 2001 and since then, South Kesteven
District Council has replaced many of the street signs with sturdy all metal
nameplates designed to resist attack.
All however, appears to be in vain because these too are being vandalised and
although the culprits are having a harder time destroying them, the result is no
less demoralising for the town. Signs in Cherryholt Road, Tunnel Bank and
Spalding Road have been mangled together with others in Recreation Road,
Westbourne Park and Meadow Drove, the latter having been squeezed out of shape
like a concertina, but the sleuths at council headquarters have no idea how it
was done and the possibility that they have been hit by vehicles is unlikely. My
own theory is that vandals are again to blame and whereas the previous wood and
concrete street signs were easy pickings, galvanised metal presents a more
formidable challenge but one that will be overcome after a few pints of strong
lager and a heavy duty hammer. The similarity of the damage to each sign bears
all the hallmarks of a planned and concerted effort and I anticipate that there
will be further destruction before the miscreants are brought to book.
Premeditated vandalism such as this is totally inexcusable and the perpetrators
are, not to mince words, enemies of society because the cost of repairing the
damage they cause comes from the public purse. The culprits are also totally
irresponsible, often not liable for the payment of council tax that provides the
money to replace the street signs. Their conduct is particularly deplorable in
that the intervening period until the workmen arrive to replace them leaves the
street scene in a sorry state and presenting a poor picture of this town for
visitors passing through and might even deter them from staying awhile.
What the local newspapers are saying: The future of the Citizens’ Advice
Bureau occupies the front pages of both our main newspapers this week after
South Kesteven District Council’s ruling cabinet said it was not prepared to pay
the full £135,000 needed to keep it running, the previous annual grant being
£58,000. The bureau is based at Stamford and visits Bourne weekly but
councillors claim that funding voluntary bodies is not among their priorities
while some feel that the services it offers are duplicated elsewhere. The
Local, always ready to rally to a cause, has launched a campaign to save it
(October 29th), saying that as the bureau gives free advice to thousands of
people each year, there is no doubt that it does provide a vital service.
Last week, our M P Quentin Davies was asked to intervene and he chaired a crisis
meeting between those involved when it was agreed that the CAB should draw up
new proposals that are likely to reduce their request for grant aid to £90,000.
“This is a colossal sacrificial lamb”, says The Local, “and represents
one third of their budget which means that some services, including home visits,
will be axed from next April.”
The strength of feeling over this issue has been amply illustrated over the
weeks through the surprising number of contributions on the subject to the
correspondence columns in the newspapers, particularly the Stamford Mercury,
but whether this is a true reflection of public opinion or a concerted publicity
campaign by supporters of the CAB is difficult to determine. The newspaper
carries another page of letters on the subject this week (October 29th), the
majority praising the work of the bureau, but the most telling contribution
comes from Councillor Terl Bryant, cabinet member of SKDC and a trustee of the
CAB. “I have received several pro forma letters which I would like to have
responded to but unfortunately folk have not produced their addresses”, he
writes. Those who wish to see the CAB survive should by all means demonstrate
their support but transparency is all-important. If the CAB has a good case, it
will triumph through its own endeavours and anonymous or circular testimonials
will do little for its reputation.
There is another point that is of paramount importance. The strong public
support for the retention of the bureau has a firm basis that is evidenced by
the mass of opinion that appears in both newspapers. The course of action for
our councillors is therefore clear and that is to ensure that its work
continues. Voting along party lines or because of personal opinion should have
no part in this issue but the voice of the people does and Friday’s press is a
clear indication of their thinking. That is what our local newspapers are for.
Sandwich boards, metal signs and even boxes of items for sale are being moved
off the pavements in an enforcement drive by Lincolnshire County Council. The
announcement comes in County News Monthly for November that was delivered
to all households in Bourne this week. Advertising boards are a particular
obstruction on the footways in urban areas, creating a hazard for the disabled,
especially those who are visually impaired. The law frowns on shops with goods
protruding on to the pavement by 11 inches or more although restaurants and
cafes are permitted tables in appropriate locations. Some traders argue that
portable display signs add colour and ambience to the street scene and this is a
point of view but one that will not appeal to the elderly gentleman with a white
stick who has been sent sprawling after walking into one.
Despite the declining
numbers of wild birds in the
countryside, there is still a determined effort to reduce them even further in
the name of sport. Autumn is the traditional time for shooters to comb the
fields for game birds and occasionally I see them about their task in the fields
beyond my first floor study window that gives me a daily panoramic view of
several hundred acres between the north of Bourne and Dyke village. Because I
look out on this land every day of the week, every week of the year, I know the
birds that live here and am familiar with their numbers, their roosting places
and their habits.
It was then with some amusement that on Saturday morning, one of those infernal
four-wheeled drive vehicles pulled up at the entrance to the main field,
together with a car, and out piled half a dozen people in tweed caps and wax
jackets, five men and a woman, accompanied by three assorted dogs and all
carrying shotguns. Sixty acres of sugar beet waiting to be lifted lay before
them and I realised from the air of anticipation exuded by the company as they
chatted and laughed among themselves that they were expecting a morning of good
sport.
I could have saved them the trouble because this field contains hardly any game
birds and is home only to a pair of pheasants, one of whom has been known to use
my bird table and who we have nicknamed George. Fortunately, George and his mate
appear to have good sense because they made themselves scarce in a nearby
hedgerow while the shooters fanned out across the beet field, their dogs
scouring the perimeter hoping to raise a bird or two for the guns. Two hours
later, after covering the land two or three times, they left without a single
shot being fired. Of all the useless pleasures in life, if indeed killing birds
is a pleasure, then this must be it. But did they realise they were being
watched by someone who knew what the outcome would be?
As the vehicles drove off I wondered if they had profited from their experience
or whether they would be out again next weekend on some other place hoping to be
more successful in destroying our wildlife. Shooting pheasant and partridge for
no good reason is not a crime but it should be. We no longer need to kill to eat
and the carrying of guns, especially so near to a residential area, ought to be
discouraged. It also sends a wrong message to our young people when we ought to
be persuading them to care for our wildlife.
Thought for the week: The United States possesses more weapons of mass
destruction than the rest of the world put together. It is at this moment
developing new nuclear systems which it is prepared to use at the drop of a hat.
It is totally indifferent to the deaths of others and will murder anyone who
gets in its way. It is the most feared, most powerful and most detested nation
the world has ever known. - Harold Pinter, English playwright, writing in The
Spectator, Saturday 30th October 2004.
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