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Saturday 8th January 2005
Another cry for financial help comes from the Butterfield
Centre, one of the most active of our community organisations that provides a
lifeline for so many of our elderly citizens. Never a year goes by without an
appeal to the public to save it from closure but somehow the money is found to
keep it going.
This is among the most worthy of our public causes, a day care centre providing
help and companionship for 300 of the most vulnerable members of society, yet
while it continually looks around for cash support, our charitable institutions
sit on idle millions.
The current problem at the Butterfield Centre is a shortfall in this year’s
budget of £8,000-£10,000 but as an appeal last year when similar difficulties
arose raised more than £17,000 there is every likelihood that this benevolence
may well rescue the centre from its current plight. The public has a fine record
of helping when there is a deserving cause, as has been witnessed by the
response throughout Britain for funds to help victims of the tsunami disaster in
Asia, while The Local reported last week that more than £250,000 had been raised
for various causes in the Bourne area during 2004, a magnificent reaction from
such a lightly populated locality.
This public generosity however should not be abused and it does not absolve our
official charities from the task to which they are committed, that of providing
relief in those areas of most need rather than lock the money away to gather
interest. An examination of the figures indicates that Bourne United Charities
has more than £2 million invested in shares and Treasury stock, money that has
come from benefactors in past times who wanted their inheritance to help the
people of Bourne, principally Robert Harrington, whose 17th century bequest
provides the largest slice of the organisation’s income and capital. Under the
terms of his will in 1654, the legacy was to help the people of Bourne and yet a
great deal of that which could have been spent on good causes has been invested,
an amount far in excess of what might be deemed to be good housekeeping.
At the same time, BUC has sufficient income from various assets to hand out
£100,000 a year in weekly payments to 205 men and women who are deemed to be in
need of financial support. These payments, known affectionately as "The Essex",
are made in the spirit of Harrington's will but since then, times have changed
because few people today can be considered to be poor as the word implied 350
years ago and there are many who believe that this money could be wisely spent
elsewhere for the benefit of the town.
When Len Pick, the 94-year-old landowner and businessman, died in January 2004,
we learned that he had made a similar philanthropic gesture by leaving the bulk
of his £4 million fortune for the benefit of the town, to be administered by the
Len Pick Charitable Trust. Immediate grants were made to selected organisations,
including Bourne Town Football Club (£100,000), the Abbey Church (£50,000), the
Outdoor Swimming Pool (£50,000), Macmillan Cancer Research Fund (£5,000), the
Salvation Army Citadel and the Darby and Joan Club (£2,000 each), the
Butterfield Day Care Centre, Digby Court Residential Care Home, the Royal
National Institute for the Blind, Bourne Round Table, Bourne Lions, Bourne
Players and the Bourne branch of the British Red Cross Society (£1,000 each),
the Christian Aid Fund for Children, Barnardo’s and the Bourne branch of the
Alzheimer’s Disease Society (£500 each).
It is understood that a large portion of the money left will go to the trust he
founded to be spent for the benefit of the town in the future although a year
on, no details have yet been released about how this will be distributed and no
announcement has yet been made about who the trustees are or the address from
which they will operate. Until that information is available, organisations will
not know if and how they may apply for a grant.
One thing is certain. Money bequeathed to this town should not be allowed to
languish in bank accounts and investment portfolios when facilities such as the
Butterfield Centre are struggling to survive. Trustees might plead that they are
saving for a rainy day in which case they should understand that inclement
financial weather has already arrived for many of our much-needed voluntary
organisations that ought not be forced to go cap in hand seeking handouts from
the public year after year.
What the local newspapers are saying: The shape of Bourne in the future
occupies the front pages of both our main local newspapers this week (January
7th) as they mull over the implications of the announcement that a company has
been named to rebuild the town centre. The work will be carried out by Henry
Davidson Developments of Nottingham, one of the three firms that put forward
schemes to enhance the triangle of land between North Street, West Street and
Burghley Street, but the Mayor, Councillor Pet Moisey, struck a note of caution
when she told The Local: “I hope they will incorporate as much as what we
already have as possible and take into consideration the many retailers we have
in the area.”
It is inevitable there will be victims, both shopkeepers and properties,
although it does not always require a multi-million pound expansion to sound the
death knell for some of our familiar buildings. The Local also reports
that Worth House is to be pulled down to make way for a new home for the elderly
and, more importantly, the chapel of rest in the town cemetery is likely to be
demolished because it needs urgent repairs costing £80,000 which the town
council cannot afford. The chapel, built of stone and blue Collyweston slate,
dates back to the opening of the cemetery in 1855, and although not listed, it
should be preserved because it is part of our heritage.
Councillors ought not take the easy option by voting to pull it
down when a greater effort might secure the money for refurbishment,
especially when they gaily spend £40,000 of our money, plus another £10,000 in
interest over five years, on providing Christmas lights that flicker only for a
few days each year. Too many of our historic buildings, including the Old
Grammar School and Wake House, are currently facing an uncertain future and we
should covet what little we have rather than call in the bulldozers at the
slightest financial setback. If those who represent us believe that a problem
can only be resolved by removing the cause, then perhaps they should be
subjected to the same presumption and stand down to make way for others with
more sensible solutions because there are occasions when our heritage is far
more important than the balance sheet and this is one of them.
It is the sign of a civilised society that we sustain those members
who are no longer able to contribute to its wealth and to maintain those
buildings that reflect our past even though they may have outlived their
original usefulness. This is a particular duty of those in office and once they
lose sight of these values then their judgment as community leaders becomes
questionable.
The on-off saga over the southern relief road continues with more delays, this
time over the roundabout connecting with the A151 to the west of the town. The
completion date for the new road has been put back several times for varying
reasons and last month we were told that it would be open to traffic by the end
of January but the Stamford Mercury reports that it will not now be ready
until the spring. Of all the civil engineering projects connected with this town
in recent years, this one has been dogged with the most problems and as each is
overcome a new one surfaces. It is fast becoming a monument to bureaucratic
inefficiency for while the main part of the road is practically complete, the
connecting roundabout stands unfinished with not a workman in sight because we
are told that the legal documentation is still causing problems. None of this augers
well for the forthcoming mountain of paperwork that will be needed once the
rebuilding of the town centre gets underway and for which the same people will
be responsible.
The Herald and Post is back in Bourne after an absence of many weeks,
mainly due I gather to difficulties over recruiting sufficient distributors to
pop the newspaper through our letter boxes. This is a perennial problem with
free sheets but one they must tackle otherwise the circulation figures they use
to attract advertisers disappear. The last two editions however might just as
well have been binned rather than delivered, being filled with news from
Peterborough that is of little relevance to us over the county border in South
Lincolnshire and my message to the publishers is that unless they are prepared
to devote editorial inches to this town then they might just as well strike
Bourne off their list of outlets, otherwise it will be nothing more than a load
of waste of paper.
I looked out of my study window overlooking the fen one morning this week
and saw a heron flying past, a large and stately creature that is not uncommon
but a rare sight these days, and pondered on the loss of our native birds.
There is little doubt that most types are in drastic decline and whereas the
countryside would once have been full of sparrows and chaffinches, thrushes and
blackbirds, we now see them less and numbers appear to decrease annually. The
various conservation organisations have issued repeated warnings about the
causes, whether it be cats or chemicals, but all have been largely ignored and
so the reduction in their numbers continues and very soon those we once took for
granted are likely to become endangered species and sightings even more
infrequent.
The situation is seen as acute by those of the older generation who remember
their youth when the woodlands and meadows were alive with birdsong while
gardens full of flowers attracted them close to mankind and so we could observe
them at first hand. The numbers of fifty years ago however have dwindled rapidly
and whereas you could compile a lengthy list of sightings from the kitchen
window on any day of the week, there are times now when few birds even appear,
let alone sing, and sometimes the seed and tasty morsels left out for them lie
untouched for several days.
The British Trust for Ornithology carries out continuous surveys into the
country’s bird population and consistent monitoring over the past 30 years has
revealed a severe population decline in a wide range of species. Songbirds,
particularly, are now fewer in number, a situation that has coincided with
large-scale changes in the environment such as residential development in rural
areas and the intensification of farming practices.
The American naturalist and scientist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) published her
best-selling book Silent Spring as long ago as 1962 in which she directed public
concern to the problems caused by synthetic pesticides and their effect on the
food chains and forecast an earth slowly becoming unfit for life. There were
those who scoffed at her predictions but they are unfortunately coming true. She
was undaunted by the hostility of the chemical companies and caused a major
shift in public awareness about our countryside by alerting the world to the
hazards of pesticides and as a result, the American and global environmental
movements were launched.
It is now quite evident here in Britain that there are fewer birds around, even
those of the more common species, and it is particularly noticeable in our
gardens where we provide a regular food supply to attract their company. House
sparrows and starlings are down by 58% whilst there are 30% fewer blackbirds and
the causes are mainly the relentless progress of intensive agriculture. The
increased use of pesticides and herbicides, particularly powerful selective weed
killers, have turned land that was once meadow and field into highly efficient
monocultures whilst miles of hedges that surrounded them and provided safe
havens for a wide variety of flora and fauna have been uprooted.
No one who walks in the countryside or puts out titbits for visiting birds can
fail to have noticed this unfortunate decline and the situation is of particular
significance in this season of the year because no garden bird can be more
familiar than the robin, with its characteristic red breast and engaging
behaviour. We look for its frequent and welcoming appearance at Christmas but
how many people have seen one during the past holiday? There were hopes that the
numbers of this species might be increasing but there was no such evidence in my
garden and perhaps, like so many other birds, it will soon be no more than a
memory or the stuff of poetry. Man may well have claimed yet another victim but
Rachel Carson also warned that in our arrogant desire to win total control over
nature, human safety is at risk through the exposure to or the ingestion of
chemicals used to treat the soils. We could well be next.
Thought for the week: My opinion is to take the damn thing down. Much of
the stone and especially the Collyweston roof tiles are worth a considerable
amount of money and would be a return against demolition costs.
– Councillor
John Kirkman, speaking at a meeting of town councillors in Bourne on Wednesday,
5th January 2005, when it was proposed to pull down the Victorian chapel of rest
in the town cemetery because of escalating maintenance costs.
Saturday 15th January 2005
The establishment of the trust fund set up by the late
Len Pick is now being finalised and the money he left will soon start paying
dividends for Bourne in the coming years. This assurance comes from Adrian
Smith, acting co-ordinator of the trust, after I pointed out in this column last
week that we had heard nothing from the trust since it was first announced a
year ago.
Len Pick, a 94-year-old landowner and businessman, died in January 2004 leaving
the bulk of his £4 million fortune for the benefit of the town. Some grants have
already been made but a large portion of his legacy will go into the Len Pick
Charitable Trust set up during his lifetime, subject to the proviso that it
would not be registered until after his death. The executors of his will are
still awaiting agreement over the amount of inheritance tax to be paid from his
estate and once this is settled, the balance will be transferred to the trust
fund.
Mr Smith said in a statement to this web site on Thursday that the trust had now
been registered with the Charity Commission but there had been delays because
the mechanics of setting up and running a trust with such a generous endowment
were not simple and straightforward.
The statement added: “The trust will not only be closely regulated and monitored
by the Charity Commission but there are also numerous requirements in terms of
the Inland Revenue to be maintained. It can be said however that the trustees
are very mindful of their duty to carry out the wishes of the late Mr Pick,
which simply stated, were for the benefit of the inhabitants of Bourne. To this
end the trustees are presently in the process of evaluating and compiling a
regime of management procedures for the trust and also examining how best his
wishes can be best translated into practical good for the town.”
The trustees are also anxious to keep the public fully informed and an Internet
web site is being prepared to perpetuate the memory of Mr Pick and also set out
in a clear and concise fashion the names of the trustees and the contact details
for the trust together with the powers they have. The statement continued: “The
intention is also to give charitable organisations within Bourne all the
requisite information and guidelines, including application forms, to enable
requests to be considered for grant aid. Needless to say, the trustees are
committed to the total transparency of the trust fund. They are very much aware
of the interest and indeed the responsibilities that Mr Pick’s benefaction has
incurred and are using their best endeavours to ensure that his wishes are
carried out in the manner which he would have expected.”
A headquarters address together with the appointment of a permanent clerk is
also being arranged and there are hopes that the trust may be up and running by
the autumn.
Absence of information leads to gossip, speculation and rumour but this frank
and open statement will be welcomed by all organisations in the town depending
on outside financial help for their very survival and will do much to allay the
conjecture that has arisen over the future of the money left by Mr Pick. The
idea of a web site is of particular merit in these days of increasing use of the
Internet and the trust has promised to make further announcements to ensure that
full publicity is given to their deliberations. Bourne United Charities, which
makes no statements about its activities or appointments, might find it
advantageous in the cause of public relations to follow this example.
The chapel
in the town cemetery at Bourne has reached its
current parlous state during the stewardship of the town council that has been
in control of the building since 1974. The original authority was the Bourne
Burial Board that was responsible for the establishment of the cemetery in 1855
after the churchyard was closed because there was no space for further graves
and following the Local Government Act of 1894, control subsequently passed to
Bourne Urban District Council when it was formed on 1st April 1899, thus
beginning the system of local government that we know today.
This authority continued to administer local affairs until a final meeting at
the Town Hall on 12th March 1974 when another re-organisation of local
government handed control over to South Kesteven District Council but the town
retained a parish council and, because of its historic links, this became known
as a town council with a mayor and its own coat of arms but few responsibilities
other than naming streets, providing Christmas lights and, most importantly, the
upkeep of the town cemetery. In fact, this final role has been its most
important one.
The cemetery was opened on Saturday 26th May 1855 by the Bishop of Lincoln,
accompanied by the Rev Joseph Dodsworth, Vicar of Bourne, and chairman of the
burial board. The chapel building is split into two for pre-burial services, one
for the episcopal church and the second for dissenters, or other denominations,
both similar to those built at Stamford, with the same interiors, floored with
Minton, Staffordshire, tiles and stained deal roofs although that in the
episcopal chapel was inscribed in illuminated letters with the sentences:
"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" and "O death where is thy sting? Oh
grave where is thy victory? I know that my redeemer liveth."
But fashions have changed. Whereas funerals often took place at the cemetery
when the chapels were frequently in demand, they are now held in church or
crematorium, and so the chapels fell into disuse. Both are now closed to the
public although one is used as an office for the cemetery supervisor and since
the summer of 2001, a suitable place to stack the Christmas lights on which the
town is spending £40,000 of borrowed money and a further £10,000 in interest
rates, while the other is used as a store for his machinery, lawnmowers and
other equipment. There was also an attractive stone built lodge at the entrance
but this was demolished around 1960 and a modern bungalow built on the site for
the cemetery supervisor.
Without continual attention, it was inevitable that the chapel building would
deteriorate and the subsequent damage affecting the structure includes dampness
in the walls and a weakening of the stonework and a structural survey undertaken
last September revealed the cost of repairs to be £80,000. The building is now
in such a dangerous state that public access is barred due to falling masonry
and official visitors who are allowed in may only do so wearing protective
clothing because the building has been declared a hard hat area.
Why has this been allowed to happen and who is to blame? The answer is a simple
one because any of our present 15 serving councillor who have held their seats
for any length of time must have known that the building was slowly
deteriorating and yet nothing was done. Any home owner is aware that a property
needs constant attention and in that way its future is assured but the chapel
appears to have been neglected for the past 30 years whereas regular maintenance
work would have kept it in good repair. Now, faced with a massive bill, the only
solution they can offer is to pull it down. Remove it from the cemetery. Out of
sight out of mind. A small gem of Victorian Gothic that has been sadly uncared
for must be scrapped to solve the problem.
This is not an acceptable way forward for an ecclesiastical building second only
in style and importance to the Abbey Church. The chapel was also one of the
features that helped Peter Ellis, the former cemetery supervisor, win the
Cemetery of the Year Award for Bourne, a nation-wide competition sponsored by
the Confederation of Burial Authorities and judged after several secret visits
by appointed officials during the summer of 2002 who said in their adjudication:
This is everyone’s ideal of a cemetery with
a picture postcard entrance consisting of a lodge, a lavender and rose bed,
chapel and entrance drive, and surrounded by old headstones and yew trees. There
is also a great deal of excellent topiary on yews and other trees which give
added interest to the area.
Bourne cemetery was placed first out of 46 entries in the
category for under 12 acres and members of the town council’s amenities
committee which is responsible for cemetery administration, were quick to join
in the acknowledgments of the honour and even made the trip to Scarborough on
Monday 16th September 2002 to collect the two engraved and gilt-lettered plaques
that can now be seen at the entrance to the cemetery. If the chapel is pulled
down, we can also say goodbye to any further accolades from this quarter.
But all is not yet lost. More effort must be made to find the necessary money to
bring the building up to standard and give it a new lease of life, perhaps as an
art gallery, a small museum or meeting place for the benefit of the town. There
are many organisations that might help, English Heritage, Lincolnshire County
Council, South Kesteven District Council or even the lottery fund, but without
the necessary initiative to raise the required capital to carry out the work,
the chapel could well end up as rubble, the best pieces of stone and slate being
sold for scrap.
What an ignominious end this would be for one of our oldest buildings and it
would not auger well for those that remain, the future of Wake House and the Old
Grammar School particularly being uncertain at this time. The only consolation
would be that like many others, the chapel has been well photographed and
documented and the image will survive in the history of Bourne long after those
who sounded its death knell have gone. Our councillors still have time to right
the wrongs of the past three decades and they must therefore think carefully
before committing themselves to such an unpopular decision.
Those who value our heritage must be continually vigilant
because the vandals are always at the door, ready to knock down what we have
left of the past. It is worth remembering that the Red Hall, the jewel in our
heritage crown, may well have suffered this fate on two occasions. When the new
railway line between Bourne and Saxby was built between 1891 and 1893, the
original scheme proposed the demolition of the Red Hall to make way for new
sidings to take freight traffic.
The suggestion caused some outcry and a petition was duly raised by the
townspeople and presented to the railway company in 1892 in an attempt to save
the historic building from demolition. The petition was handwritten and signed
by 75 of Bourne's leading citizens, headed by the Vicar, the Rev Hugh Mansfield,
his churchwardens and parochial church councillors, and by tradesmen and
shopkeepers as well as several private citizens of wealth and importance.
Feelings were so strong that the railway company relented and the Red Hall was
preserved only to face further uncertainty when the line closed almost a century
later. At that time, the early 17th century building was used as the
stationmaster's house and ticket office but when this closed, there was again
the threat of demolition but it was saved yet again by the will of the people,
notably by the efforts of the late Councillor Jack Burchnell and the Bourne
United Charities who acquired the freehold in 1962 and remain the owners to this
day. The hall was in a dilapidated condition when they took over but with the
aid of local funds and grants, it was carefully and sympathetically restored to
its former elegance and the building re-opened in December 1972. Since then, the
main rooms have been used as offices and as a meeting place for local groups and
conservation organisations.
Those who tried to have the hall pulled down on each occasion have long been
forgotten while those who were responsible for saving it have earned a place in
our history. These are matters we should ponder on when contemplating the future
of those old buildings we have left.
What the local newspapers are saying: Shopkeepers in Bourne now face an
anxious wait for the start of the town centre redevelopment scheme that was
announced last week. The Stamford Mercury reports that some established
businesses in the vicinity might suffer when the bulldozers move in and that
their future is uncertain (January 14th). Richard Simpson of Jessie Bellamy, the
ladies and gentlemen’s outfitters which has been trading in the town for 70
years, was pessimistic and wondered whether the company’s long association with
the town might have to come to an end. “We are in a predicament", he told the
newspaper. “There are things I want to do with my business and am not able to.”
Ivan Fuller, the town centre co-ordinator, has been quick to reassure tenants,
residents and landowners. “I understand their concerns”, he said, “but there
will be full consultation with the sensitivity it demands and there will be an
opportunity for those within the proposed area to discuss the situation with the
developers.”
The astounding response from the people of Bourne to give cash and other aid for
the Asian tsunami appeal continues to occupy column inches in The Local.
Two of the town’s Rotary clubs have united to collect items in an aqua box
scheme which will help provide fresh water in the affected areas, each
containing a filter system and survival equipment while items such as clothing,
toiletries and hand tools have been collected from their stall set up in the
Burghley Arcade. Other stories tell of generous giving from all quarters, sports
and community organisations, shops and public houses, schools, churches and
coffee mornings, reflecting a town united in its sympathy for the victims of a
disaster thousands of miles away yet one that has touched their hearts and their
purses.
Thought for the week: A reasonable investment a few years ago may have
saved it but unfortunately we can’t rewrite history. – Councillor Trevor
Holmes, commenting on the town council’s proposal to pull down the Victorian
chapel in the cemetery at Bourne, Friday 14th January 2005.
Saturday 22nd January 2005
The proposed demolition of the Victorian chapel in the
town cemetery may be the subject of headlines in our local newspapers but it
would be an accurate assessment that it is actually causing little concern in
the community except to a few dedicated conservationists. The subject is largely
one of indifference to most people who are more concerned with their own
affairs.
They view the regular disappearance of our old buildings as part of progress and
the young particularly have little or no regret at seeing them go. Nevertheless,
those who represent us have a duty to safeguard our heritage whenever possible
and this has become the catalyst for the thousands of preserved sites around the
country that stimulate so much awareness in those who live here and in our
visitors.
Milton Keynes is a case in point, a completely new town developed in 1967
following a grid design, and because of its plain unvarnished appearance, the
subject of many jokes since because of its dull and unattractive appearance. At
some time in the future, it will achieve its own status as a place of interest
and significance although this eventuality may be some years away but in the
meantime, its lack of historical content is a warning to all to treasure what
they have of the past and to guard it jealously. Preserving our old buildings
helps us retain our identity for they serve as a permanent reminder of where we
came from.
The chapel was built in 1855 together with a lodge of similar design and
materials but that was pulled down by Bourne Urban District Council around 1960
and a modern bungalow for the cemetery supervisor built on the site. Since 1974,
the cemetery has been under the jurisdiction of the town council and so it is to
our present councillors that we must look for an explanation of the current
predicament because it has been allowed to deteriorate while under their
stewardship and no one seems to have noticed or made any provision for its
preservation. It is now in danger of falling down and the only solution
suggested so far is to assist the process and sell off the remaining stone and
slates for scrap.
The role of councillors extends much further than attending meetings and waving
their hands in the air now and again to support this motion or that. They also
have a duty to the people they represent to bring new ideas into the council
chamber, to inject innovation and enthusiasm into the proceedings, and yet we
have not heard a single solution to the present problem of the chapel other than
to pull it down. I would like therefore to put forward my own suggestion to save
this building, rather than allow future generations think that Bourne was run by
vandals.
The cemetery at Stamford was opened around the same time in the mid-19th century
when the chapel was built in a similar style and materials and most probably by
the same architect. It survives in good condition, as does the lodge which has a
useful life as offices but then Stamford has a fine record for the preservation
of its old buildings, due mainly to the foresight and enthusiasm of one man, the
late Alderman Archibald Ireson MBE, a noted master mason and councillor, whose
tireless work in the cause of preservation was mainly responsible for the town
with its 600 listed buildings being the first in Britain to be scheduled as a
conservation area in 1967. Our councillors should go and take a look before they
discuss this issue further.
They then might consider raising a loan to repair our chapel and restore it to a
useful life, not in its original role, but to be leased out as offices or some
other purpose, the rental being used to repay the money borrowed. This would not
only preserve the building but also create an asset for the town council that
would reap dividends in the years to come. The oval patch of ground outside the
front of the chapel, currently occupied by three trees and shrubbery, could be
covered in tarmac to provide a car parking area and the result would be a highly
desirable location for aspiring businesses, because there would be accommodation
for at least two tenants.
The money for such a project could come from many sources but it would be
satisfying to learn that Bourne United Charities would loan the required amount,
if not contribute it outright, and failing such benevolence, then an application
for aid could always be made to South Kesteven District Council or Lincolnshire
County Council. Money for a sound scheme is always available provided those
behind it have the determination to get it. We must wait and see whether our
town councillors, who gaily spent £40,000 of our cash on Christmas lights that
are used for only a few weeks each year, have the stamina for such a challenging
task.
What the local newspapers are saying: The cost of restoring the cemetery
chapel has suddenly shot up dramatically according to The Local, which
carries a slim column on the fall out from last week’s objections to its
proposed demolition (January 21st). A meeting of the town council on Wednesday
was told that the estimated figure for making the Victorian building safe was
now £200,000 rather than the £80,000 reported last week and Councillor John Kirkman said: “I do not think that the people of Bourne would want us to spend
that amount on refurbishment.”
Councillor Kirkman has already made his intention to see the chapel demolished
quite clear but a 150% increase in the original estimate within one week may be
seen as a convenient eventuality, particularly in view of the vociferous
objections to its demise that have been published during that same week. Of
course, the people will shy away from unnecessary increases in their council tax
but is the £200,000 he mentions the result of yet another survey or merely a
figure plucked out of the air to frighten council tax payers into supporting the
case for its removal? If it is, then our councillors ought to remember that financial expediency
is not always the way forward when trying to preserve our past and we look to
them to come up with fresh ideas for its salvation.
Forthcoming increases in the council tax occupy the front page of The Local
with a report that we can expect to pay another 5% or more from next April
(January 21st). This comes as no surprise to those who follow trends in local
government and the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Mrs Pet Moisey, points out what
we are all thinking that as in past years this is well in excess of the rate of
inflation. “We must ask ourselves if we are really getting improved services for
the amount of money we have to pay and I do not believe we do", she said.
Councillor Moisey is quite correct in that services remain more or less static,
or even reduced, while the income extracted from the public increases annually.
The answer is that council tax is not increased to fund additional services but
to finance pensions and salary increases for those employed by our district and
county councils and the police, a total which is currently in excess of 15,000
people. Local authorities, and to a certain extent the police force, have become
job creators rather than public service providers and were any company in the
public sector found to be spending 75% on its administration rather than on the
job it was intended to do then it would have gone out of business long ago.
Spy cameras are to be deployed to catch litter louts and fly tippers, according
to a
front page story in the Stamford Mercury which reveals that South
Kesteven District Council is to use covert closed circuit television to capture
images of offenders dropping rubbish in the streets and public places (January
21st). The report says that tiny high-tech surveillance cameras are being
secreted in a number of sensitive spots such as lay-bys which are known to be a favourite
dumping ground although they will be moved
periodically to different locations and the evidence they produce will be used to pursue
prosecutions. CCTV is already installed in many town centres in an attempt to
prevent and detect vandalism and anti-social behaviour, beaming the pictures
back to a central point, but the problem is who watches them? The idea sounds
good but in practice it has been proved to have its faults because no local
authority can afford the staff to monitor the unending footage produced by the
system.
Global warming is not a topic I believe in because the premise is based
on false assumptions. There have been fluctuating climates throughout history
with extremes of heat and cold, of wet and dry, of storm and calm, yet we always
return to a normality. The phrase is relatively new because the thought that
weather might be influenced by us here on earth has only recently gained
currency and in the past few years every thunderclap, every gale force wind,
every dry spell and every rainstorm, has been taken as an indication that the
world is heading for a meteorological disaster.
The theory has taken too firm a hold in our imaginations to be eradicated by any
thoughts of mine and so it is best to quietly go along with the doomsayers and
keep your own counsel.
Nevertheless, I am interested in a survey launched this week in an attempt to
find out whether spring is arriving in Britain any earlier than it has in
previous years, although if it does, then this could merely be a climactic
fluctuation rather than the dreaded global warming, but that is by the way. It
is being organised by the BBC with the participation of the Woodland Trust and
the UK Phenology Network and is called Springwatch.
The idea is for all of us, some of us anyway, to watch out for harbingers of
spring and record the first sightings of six selected species and you do not
need to be an expert in these matters to participate because the observations
involve objects that will be familiar from your schooldays. From January
onwards, look out for the first bumblebee, frog spawn and seven-spotted ladybird
and from March onwards, the first peacock butterfly, swift and hawthorn blossom
in flower. All you need do is make a note of the grid reference or postcode
where the sightings took place and record them on the appropriate form that may
be downloaded from the BBC web site.
The information will enable the organisers build the most complete picture of
spring as it unfolds across the United Kingdom and help scientists understand
whether the season is changing and what needs to be done to help our wildlife
thrive. The details you provide will also contribute to over 300 years of
observations and research into the science of climate change. The results are to
be broadcast by BBC 2 in a special Springwatch series presented by Bill Oddie
later in the year. This is a most valuable environmental project and worth a few
moments of anyone’s time.
Longevity is a fascinating subject and we always like to hear of people
who live to a ripe old age, perhaps because most of us would like to do the
same. My photo feature posted last week on the history of the cemetery included
the results of a survey by the Bourne branch of the Lincolnshire Family History
Society which revealed that nine people over the age of 100 are buried there and
that the oldest at that time was Angelina Blood who died on 18th March 1975 aged
104. That was the record when the survey was published in 1997 but I discover
that this has now been superseded by Sarah Jane Smart who died the following
year aged 106 and is therefore the oldest person to be buried at the cemetery.
Mrs Smart was born and brought up in Bourne, living much of her life at 27,
Harrington Street, and was married to Ernest Smart who was in business as a
watchmaker in North Street but he died on 21st March 1968, aged 84. His widow
eventually moved to the Willows retirement home at Rippingale where she spent
her final years. She died there on 27th January 1998 and was buried in the
cemetery after a funeral service at the chapel of rest on February 3rd. I am
indebted for this information to two of her granddaughters, Mrs Josephine Rogers
and Mrs Dorothy Wade.
Shop watch: Shopping at Morrisons supermarket in Stamford continues to be
a daunting experience because of the lengthening wait at the checkouts, even at
off-peak times. Monday mornings were once a quiet time to pick up the weekly
shopping but six months ago I complained to the company headquarters at
Wakefield, Yorkshire, about the long delays (Diary 19th June 2004) after some
customers reported that they had collected what they wanted in two minutes and
then had to hang around for another twenty minutes to pay. On Monday this week
at around midday, there were hordes of hassled shoppers again queuing up with
overflowing trolleys for between fifteen and twenty minutes yet half a dozen of
the checkouts were closed. While my wife waited in the queue I spotted the
manager Gary Pearce and pointed out these shortcomings in the service to which
he replied: “I am dealing with it.” The lengthening lines of impatient customers
should not have needed a complaint before action was taken to remedy the
situation.
Message from abroad: You are a brave fighter for the welfare of your
town. An open eye and a critical web site are certainly important. But I imagine
that your mayor and councillors are not always happy about it and can you
convince them? – email from Ester Ronen, Ein Dor, Israel, Sunday 16th January
2005.
Message from home: I have spent some time this morning browsing your
wonderful web site. I am surprised that no one has suggested renovating the
chapel in the town cemetery as a project for the Len Pick Charitable Trust. I
feel sure Len Pick would have approved. – email from former Bourne resident Mary
Pearson (née Kelly), Nottingham, England, Tuesday 18th January 2005.
Thought for the week: Thirty-five miles an hour! I cannot imagine why
anyone would ever want or need to travel faster. - J B Priestley, British
novelist and dramatist (1894-1984), after taking a bus from London to
Southampton in 1935.
Saturday 29th January 2005
It is a privilege to serve as a councillor but the office
is one that carries with it duties and responsibilities and foremost among these
is the requirement to attend meetings. The commitment to serve must not
therefore be taken lightly and only those who have the time and dedication for
the task should put themselves forward, whether it be at the hustings or for
nomination when the seat is uncontested.
Unfortunately, there is no great interest in the community in becoming a
councillor and so elections for the town council are practically unknown and
those who seek to stand and fulfil the legal requirements find themselves
returned unopposed. This currently applies to all of our fifteen
representatives, eight members in Bourne West and seven in Bourne East, but the
ease of their elevation should not mean a relaxation of their obligations.
It is therefore a cause for concern that recent meetings have been poorly
attended and in some cases only a mere half a dozen have made an appearance and
as the existing system enables all councillors to be members of all committees,
this means that the majority have stayed away.
Sickness and holidays play their part but the main reason for absence is a
commitment elsewhere because many councillors are also members of other
authorities and organisations and this brings into question their ability to
serve the town. The situation is also concerning those members who do turn up
regularly and at a recent poorly attended meeting of the highways and planning
committee, Councillor Shirley Cliffe made her dissatisfaction plain. “Our
district and county councillors prefer to go to their meetings instead of ours”,
she said. “We are just as important. We have five district councillors and I am
beginning to think that they should not be on other councils.”
Her criticism is a valid one. Town councillors have a duty to Bourne and if they
decide that their attendance elsewhere is more important then they should stand
down and make way for others who would be prepared to dedicate themselves to the
welfare of this town.
Those who put themselves in this situation are also condemned out of their own
mouths. A year ago, town councillor John Kirkman, who is also a member of
Lincolnshire County Council, publicly claimed that he was carrying out an
average of 150 hours a month on county council work alone, a total of 1,800
hours a year. He is also vice-chairman of South Kesteven District Council and a
holder of many other community posts, some as chairman. Other councillors are
similarly stretched and so it is little wonder that their input to the town
council is likely to be limited if not ineffectual through non-attendance.
There is no legal reason why one person should not hold so many appointments and
there are precedents. The record is undoubtedly held by Alderman William Wherry
(1841-1915) who was so dedicated to serving the community that shortly before he
died at the age of 74 his numerous public offices and positions of
responsibility numbered almost 100 but the strain of these duties may well have
hastened his end. Too many responsibilities are also likely to create tensions
in relationships because the partner is too often away from home.
The decision to take on the burdens of office is a personal one but if duty to
the community suffers, then that must be reviewed. The good of this town is
paramount to those who sit on the town council and absence from meetings is not
in its best interests, particularly at this time of change and when momentous
decisions are imminent. Anyone who chooses to miss meetings for whatever reason
should think again whether they are the best person to serve.
What the local newspapers are saying: The new town centre
currently being planned for Bourne will cost £27 million, according to a front
page report in the Stamford Mercury which says that work is likely to
start next year for completion by the end of 2007 (January 28th). Well known
retailers are already showing an interest in taking space, among them Boots and
Woolworths but as both already have a presence in the town, the problem will be
letting their existing premises to new outlets and so the unsightly boarded up
shops that have been such a blight on North Street for so long may well proliferate.
But these are early days and no doubt the Town Centre Management Partnership has
anticipated such a situation and will not allow it to jeopardise the project.
This will be the acid test.
The scheme does not however meet with everyone’s approval. Inveterate letter
writer to the newspapers, Joyce Stephenson of Thurlby, near Bourne, pens another
contribution to The Local suggesting that South Kesteven District
Council, which had the final say over the chosen developer for the town centre
design, had given insufficient time during the public exhibition in December for
people to select which of the three schemes they preferred (January 28th). “The
council stacked the odds in their own favour by giving just four days during the
busiest trading month of the year for us to choose and none of the plans were
ideal”, she writes. “The council is now selling the heart of Bourne and
essential services, homes and small family businesses are under threat from
development and increased rent and rates.”
We in Bourne are so impressed by the international reputation of Charles
Worth that it comes as a surprise to discover that he treated his customers in
an extremely haughty and arrogant manner when they visited his salon at the Rue
de la Paix in Paris during the middle years of the 19th century.
For those not familiar with the story of the great man, he was born at Wake
House in North Street in 1825, son of a local solicitor who deserted the family
and so they had to fend for themselves. Young Charles was therefore forced to
leave school at the age of 11 and after a spell as a printer’s apprentice in the
town, left for London to seek his fortune, working first for Swan and Edgar in
Piccadilly and Regent Street and later the royal silk mercers Lewis and Allenby.
Here his interest was aroused in the sumptuous French fabrics of the time and
when he was 20, he quit his job and boarded a cross channel ferry for France
before heading for Paris. Success soon came his way and within a few years he
was the toast of the town, and indeed the world, as a fashion designer and
founder of haute couture. By 1858, his salon was internationally famous and
sought out by the most eminent clientele, including royalty, and an important
call for wealthy American women doing the Grand Tour.
Worth's personality became part of his success and this did not always make him
particularly likeable. For instance, he insisted that a letter of introduction
was needed before he would see a client and he then exploited their vanity but
women endured his arrogance gladly so long as they got to wear his unmistakable
styles. In former ages, the fashion designer had been a comparatively humble
person, visiting ladies in their homes. But within ten years, Worth had made
himself a dictator of the mode in Paris, requiring ladies to come to him and I
have just discovered this revealing account of the way he worked, written by the
French historian Hippolyte Taine who describes the scene as ladies, anxious to
be dressed by Worth, waited upon him in his salon:
This little dry, black, nervous creature
sees them in a velvet coat, carelessly stretched out on a divan, a cigar between
his lips. He says to them, "Walk! Turn! Good! Come back in a week and I will
compose you a toilette which will suit you." It is not they who choose it, it is
he. They are only too happy to let him do it and even for that need an
introduction. Madame B, an important social personage and elegant to boot, went
to him last month to order a dress. "Madame", he said, "by whom are you
presented?" "I don't understand", she said to which Worth replied: "I'm afraid
you must be presented to be dressed by me." She went away, suffocated with rage.
But others stayed, saying: "I don't care how rude he is so long as he dresses
me." Worth soon had innumerable imitators but few or none equalled his panache
or his success.
At the height of his fame, he was earning £40,000 a year and his
personal fortune made him one of the richest men in France, almost equal to the
emperor himself. He was a man of obvious enterprise but also of great energy and
every day until the end of his life he went to his business from the magnificent
house he had built for himself in the Rue de Berri or from his villa at Suresnes.
But he also gained a reputation as a good employer, always benevolent to his
large staff and liberal in his help for French charities and he also joined the
French Reformed Church and was awarded the Legion of Honour.
It was in France that his life's work had been celebrated and it was there that
he died from pneumonia on 10th March 1895 at the age of 69 when his funeral was
an extraordinary testimonial to the reputation he had achieved and the affection
in which he was held. The 2,000 mourners included not only the mayor and civic
officials from Paris but also many deputies and senators from the French
Assembly and the President of the Republic himself. Worth was buried at Suresnes
and his wife was placed in the same grave three years later but his name remains
as a byword in world fashion which he did so much to modernise and where his
influence is still evident.
Worth is remembered in Bourne today by a blue plaque erected on the front wall
of Wake House by English Heritage in December 2002 as a mark of the eminence he
achieved in his profession.
From the archives: William Edward Matthews, of Yarmouth, Norfolk, was
charged on remand at a special sitting of the Bourne Police Court on Thursday
9th September with breaking open an offertory box in Bourne Abbey Church the
previous Sunday, and stealing therefrom 11s. (£22 by today's values).
Superintendent Arthur Duffin informed the court that a further 13s. 9d. had been
recovered as a result of the prisoner indicating where the money had been
placed. Prisoner was found at the casual ward of the workhouse and a jack knife
was found in his possession, the spike of which fitted the marks on the box.
Prisoner elected to be dealt with summarily and had nothing to say. Many
previous convictions were mentioned by Superintendent Duffin, several of which
were for breaking into churches and stealing from alms boxes. In sentencing the
prisoner to three months' hard labour, the chairman (Alderman Thomas Atkinson)
said that the punishment was too good for such a man. It was a dastardly thing
to break into churches and rob the sick and needy. Had it been possible, they
would have ordered corporal punishment [birching]. Canon John Grinter, Vicar of
Bourne, warmly commended the police for their work. – news report from the
Stamford Mercury, Friday 17th September1926.
Thought for the week: Small service is true service, while it lasts.
-
William Wordsworth, British poet (1770-1850).
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