Bourne Diary - April 2005

Saturday 2^nd April 2005

There has been a speedy reaction to the designation of the old railway station site in South Road as brownfield land with a potential for 60 new homes because the remains of the red brick Victorian buildings have already been demolished as a prelude to residential development. Contractors moved in last week and within a few days, the facility that served the town for more than a century during the steam age was reduced to so much rubble.

The station was opened in 1860 but by the end of the century, when Bourne had become a four-way rail junction, facilities had been greatly extended and improved with a goods warehouse and footbridge over the line connecting the booking office at the Red Hall. Rail travel had become so popular that between 80 and 100 people worked at the station to keep it running smoothly and it also supported a well-stocked bookstall run by W H Smith. In those days, the train was the accepted form of travelling any distance and the railway companies prided themselves on efficiency and punctuality.

Passengers used the railway for business and pleasure with day and weekend excursions, to London and the east coast seaside resorts, a particular favourite in times past. It was the most popular form of travel and to make it even more appealing, it was utterly reliable. There was a saying in Bourne that you could set your watch by the arrival and departure of every train because they were always on time.

But it was not to last. The popularity of the motor car and a misguided government policy to close small stations and branch lines sounded the death knell for Bourne and the railway station became redundant after the last passenger train to Spalding ran on 28th February 1959 while freight facilities disappeared in 1965. The platforms were demolished in March 1964 and the remaining warehouse buildings sold to Wherry and Sons Ltd, the agricultural merchants associated with the town since the early 19th century, for use as their central depot and offices.

In view of our railway history, it is therefore a pity that what is left of them cannot be retained as a reminder of this important stage in our history. James Wherry, who now runs the firm, told me this week that preservation had been considered by converting it to residential use but it was not economically viable. In addition, the warehouse was not suitable for day-to-day use and could not be rented out because of the poor state of the building, worsened by vandalism and the removal of virtually all of the ground floor and some of the first floor.

“Consequently, and with great sadness, we were left with no alternative other than to proceed with demolition”, he said. “We consequently applied to the South Kesteven District Council for permission and this was promptly given. There has been positive interest for the sale of the site from a small number of developers but all have stated that they would only proceed if the goods warehouse were demolished. Should an application subsequently be put forward for residential use, this would be coupled with an application to SKDC for relocation of both our factory and offices.”

Another of our old buildings has therefore disappeared, the result of financial expediency. Companies, like councils, must look to their balance sheets rather than practice unquestioning philanthropy but it is not always the best way forward for our heritage. In this climate of disregard for the past, we may anticipate the loss of even more in the future.

The station site was included in the Urban Capacity Study, a consultative report from SKDC, identifying brownfield sites suitable for development over the next 17 years. They include a car parking area and unused land in Manor Lane, the bus station, the motor car auction yard in Cherryholt Road, Johnson Brothers agricultural depot in Manning Road, The Croft in North Road and Wherry’s Mill in South Street, together with several others, yielding in total 284 houses. We may be losing some familiar buildings but these changes, together with the pending establishment of a town centre, will combine to create major changes in the street scene and curb the use of farmland for housing that that has been eating up our countryside and causing so much dissatisfaction in recent years.

What the local newspapers are saying: One of the paradoxes of local government is that councils are supposed to provide and protect services but they seem to do just the opposite. Rarely a month goes by without this facility or that being declared at risk yet the council tax continues to soar inexorably upwards and each time we are threatened with the closure of this or that, it is left to the media to rally support and keep it open. It is in this tradition that The Local has launched a campaign to save Wake House, the early 19th century building in North Street which has become one of the town’s most useful amenities, run by the Bourne Arts and Community Trust and home to more than 20 charities and groups who use it regularly (April 1st). Until now, the building has been leased on a peppercorn rent but in future, South Kesteven District Council which owns it, plans to charge the full market rent, probably around £20,000 a year, which would make it prohibitive for its present tenants. No matter that voluntary effort has saved the property from dereliction over the past three years, the council wants its pound of flesh. What a topsy-turvy world this is when the people are penalised by the very local authority that collects their taxes to keep itself in office.

Whenever April 1st comes around I await with dismay the crop of silly stories that will most certainly appear to mark All Fools’ Day but am pleased to report that they are becoming fewer as the years go by. It is a tradition that should be left to die out and many newspapers do now ignore it, perhaps acknowledging the fact that truth is stranger than fiction and that they print sufficiently bizarre stories from everyday life without making up more. I am therefore disappointed to see that the Stamford Mercury has fallen for this old space filling trick with a tale from “our science editor” about the unlikely launching of a space shuttle from the Wellhead at Bourne, a clumsy attempt at the practical jokes of yesteryear and one that failed to raise even a titter in this household.

A couple of pages on, the newspaper carries a photo-feature detailing sightings of a legendary black panther, another hardy annual that has surfaced regularly in the newspapers ever since I started in journalism more than half a century ago and without a single shred of evidence to justify the tale, it has taken on all of the characteristics of the urban myth with plenty of alleged sightings but no substantial materialisation. It also demonstrates the fine line that newspapers tread when they incur a reputation for printing silly stories. They put credibility at risk because I could not decide whether this was a bona fide report or yet another one manufactured specially for April 1st.

The household waste unit that opened at Pinfold Road in May 2002 has proved to be a most popular facility and we wonder why it took our councillors a quarter of a century to realise the essential service it would provide. Seven-day opening followed in September and it now remains open for eight hours a day, longer in the summer months.

No matter when you call in, the depository is always busy with householders dumping a variety of rubbish and unwanted items, a sign that the disposable age has well and truly arrived, and it is an education to take a look at some of the stuff that is being regularly thrown away.

Old furniture is there aplenty followed by broken toys, carpets, curtains, electrical appliances and computers, the latter being high on the list of throwaway items because they date so quickly and two or three can be found abandoned here most days. Books and shelving, broken baskets, chipboard, tools, books, records, cushions and blankets, all have been seen lying forlornly on the pile. White goods such as refrigerators and freezers go into a separate skip, as do soil, grass cuttings and hedgerow greenery, while there are also receptacles for bottles, cardboard, paper and old clothes. The site is a cornucopia of rubbish, trash from the attic, junk from the shed and garage, debris from the garden, litter from the kitchen and clutter from the kid’s rooms. It is a wonderland of the unwanted.

But not everything disappears into the skips to be dumped in some large hole in the Lincolnshire countryside. There is hope for those items that still have a useful life, such as an old vacuum cleaner that I took down a few days ago. It was in good working order and was complete with all of the attachments but was too cumbersome for our house and had been replaced by a smaller model. One of the workmen on duty directed me to leave it at a separate container near the gate that is reserved for those items that are taken once a week by lorry to be distributed among the homeless.

Perhaps this is another public facility that might be considered for the future, a dump where people can call in and check through the unwanted items that have been thrown out by others for something they need themselves. After all, scrap items today have become so varied and often valuable that the old saying has never before had such a truthful ring, that someone’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure.

An email from Massachusetts in the United States asks for information about Tom Cribb, a bare-knuckle fighter who achieved some fame in these parts around 200 years ago.

Cribb was born in Gloucester and after a spell in the navy, took up prize fighting and in 1809 became the British bare-knuckle champion, a title he held until 1822. His most important contest after that took place in a field at Thistleton Gap, near South Witham, a few miles to the west of Bourne, on 28th September 1811, when Cribb’s opponent was the coloured American Tom Molyneaux.

Cribb had already beaten Molyneaux in a previous contest in 1810 when his opponent had to retire after 32 rounds from sheer exhaustion but he agreed to travel all the way from the United States to challenge Cribb for a second time the following year. The contest was arranged by a sportsman named Garfoot who lived at Stretton on the Great North Road. Above the door at the Ram Jam Inn, the local hostelry that became headquarters for the event, was a stone tablet commemorating the contest and showing “the white man fighting the black man”, removed years before from Garfoot’s house.

On the night before the fight, no lodgings could be found for 20 miles around and the event drew a crowd of 20,000, a quarter of them nobility including Lord Yarmouth, the Hon Berkeley Craven, the Marquess of Queensbury, Sir Francis Baynton, Thomas Goddard Esq., Sir Henry Smith, Lord Pomfret and Sir Charles Aston.

The crowd gathered in a stubble field where a 25 ft square stage had been erected. Spectators who came from all parts of the country sat upon fences and trees, on horseback, on farm carts and anything available. It is said that many young oaks had their boughs so forcibly bent by persons sitting on them that the resulting peculiar shapes can still be seen today.

The fight lasted for eleven rounds and Cribb quickly became victorious yet for some reason his personality dampened an enthusiastic response from the crowd despite joining his second, John Gulley, in a Scottish reel after the bout. On the following Sunday, the champion drove to Stamford in a barouche and four, decorated with blue ribands. Modern bedrooms at the Ram Jam Inn were later named to commemorate the fight and included the Cribb and the Lonsdale.

It turned out to be one of the last bare knuckle contests in England and the twelve-acre field where it took place was later named Cribb’s Meadow. In recent years it became a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and in 1999 the land was designated a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and the public are welcome to visit. The new protection recognises its national importance after years of carefully controlled management, making it a fine example of a traditional flower-rich hay meadow. Green-winged and common orchids are among the plants that proliferate in spring and so in addition to its historic connections, it is well worth a visit at this time of the year.

Thought for the week: Ignorance, illusion, wilful blindness and wishful thinking have ever been the guiding principles of British government. – Theodore Dalrymple, writing in The Spectator, Saturday 26th March 2005.

Saturday 9^th April 2005

One of our most attractive village churches can be found at Edenham, three miles north west of Bourne, where the magnificent pinacled 15th century tower stands 84 feet high like a beacon of faith on a plateau alongside the main road. The large and handsome church is noted for this noble Perpendicular west tower and it also contains a wealth of magnificent monuments to the Dukes of Ancaster, the Earls of Lindsey and Lords Willoughby de Eresby whose family seat is at nearby Grimsthorpe Castle.

This is a busy church and passing on Sunday mornings when the village is at prayer you will see witness to their devotions because the roadside is invariably packed with parked cars and the service is usually well attended for this community has a reputation for co-operation and goodwill in all that it does. Opinions, however, are currently divided because moves are afoot to give the building a greater role in village activities and the proposals have not pleased everyone because it may involve moving out some of the pews that have provided seating at services for generations.

The scheme for the re-ordering of the west end is designed to create space for baptisms, for people to gather before and after worship, for children to sit and play, for wheelchairs and prams and for exhibitions and displays and to enable a friendlier method of entry into the church which at the moment presents a rather crowded aspect for the visitor. These are radical proposals in a community that is by definition traditional in its outlook and many believe the removal of pews to be quite unacceptable. It is therefore worthwhile taking a look at their history.

Benches or pews in churches are a fairly modern innovation. Before such facilities were installed, the congregation would stand, even mill about, although sometimes stone seats can be seen around the base of columns or against the walls, for use by the infirm, thus giving rise to the expressions “the weakest to the wall” and “gone to the wall".

Wooden benches were introduced in the 13th and 14th centuries because of the growing popularity of itinerant preachers, mainly friars from Europe, when an emphasis on the importance of sermons developed and, because they were often very lengthy, those in the congregation needed to rest their weary legs. From the 15th century onwards, they can still be found in parts of East Anglia and the West Country but did not become a regular feature in Northern Europe until after the Reformation when most churches had acquired some form of seating, often wooden trestles which could be removed from the nave as required for other purposes.

By the 16th century, most churches had installed permanent long-backed benches with open rails, bench-ends and book rests for the benefit of those sitting behind. Rows of seats such as these are often erroneously referred to as pews whereas these are enclosed and come from a later date. Nevertheless, it is accepted today that wooden seating in modern churches is generally referred to as pews and the term benches or bench-ends to those forms of seating from an earlier period.

One or two of the pews in Edenham church date from the earliest times and a few have traceried ends, a legacy from the mediaeval church, including the most fascinating form known as poppy-head, probably derived from puppis, the figure-head of a ship, while below there are usually carvings of human figures or animals that sometimes surmount small buttresses at the sides of the standards or ends. Others are of a more recent century, probably Victorian, although many have bench ends of antique carved panels from an earlier period, some humorous such as two bearded heads joined together that are given a particular mention by Arthur Mee in his Guide to England - Lincolnshire, first published in 1949. However, it is generally accepted that a church with poppy-head benches, such as Edenham, cannot be surpassed for beauty anywhere so far as its seating is concerned.

History therefore poses a dilemma for present day churchgoers. On the one hand, they are anxious to maintain their church as a conventional place of worship and on the other to meet the challenge of providing new facilities for community meetings and other activities that require the additional space created by the removal of wooden seating. Parochial church councils intent on such drastic changes need a diplomatic approach in order to please all parties, the traditionalists and the modernists.

There is also the added incentive that redundant church furniture such as pews and pulpits command high prices and a PCC that is strapped for cash to renew the central heating or pay some other pressing bill might easily be seduced into selling off their old seating to the highest bidder without really exploring the implications of such a deal and its effect on the congregation. Short-term expediency could easily backfire and turn many people away from the church at a time when every worshipper counts to keep the building alive as a place of prayer as well as of social gatherings and discourse. The wisdom of Solomon may be needed to keep the peace between the two.

In the meantime, parishioners at Edenham are being asked to vote on the matter and the vicar, the Rev Andrew Hawes, has issued a short description of the proposals in the April issue of his parish magazine, dividing the pews up into five sections and asking readers to indicate their preferences in taking out this one or that, removing them all or leaving the church as it is. They have until April 16th to make their views known and as many other churches are likely to face similar problems in the years to come, the voting will prove to be a most interesting exercise.

What the local newspapers are saying: Bourne Town Council is to get new powers to clamp down on litter louts and the owners of dogs who foul our streets, according to The Local which reports that from now on they can issue fixed penalty notices to offenders (April 8th). In view of the present state of the streets in the town this innovation has not come too soon but members of the highways and planning committee who discussed the matter on Tuesday were concerned that they will have to employ someone to do the job and their salary will come out of the council tax. Councillors ought to look on the bright side because imposing a spot fine of £75 a time on those who litter and deface out streets would have a two-fold benefit, that of cleaning the place up and of paying the enforcer a generous salary.

The battle to save Wake House for community use is still a major talking point in the town and the Stamford Mercury reports that the Bourne Arts and Community Trust which leases it is now seeking to buy the property to secure it for the 20 organisations that meet there regularly (April 8th). The Grade II listed building in North Street dates from the early 19th century and is currently valued at £120,000 by the owners, South Kesteven District Council, who are seeking a full market rental instead of the peppercorn £5 a year currently being charged. Why a public authority dedicated to serving the people and funded by their council tax should have created this situation is anyone’s guess yet I fear that the chairman of the trustees, Mrs Jean Joyce, may be whistling in the wind when she says: “They should give it to us”, as indeed they should.

Anyone who visits the countryside regularly will know that many of our native birds are in serious decline and that intensive farming practices are directly to blame. The ploughing up of hedgerows and the persistent use of agro-chemicals over the past forty years has altered the prospects for many species, reducing their natural habitats and creating an alien environment, particularly during the winter months.

Although there are some farmers who adapt their operations to the welfare of wildlife, most put profit first with the result that the numbers of some birds, skylark and yellowhammer specifically, have fallen by more than 50% since 1977 and studies show that changes in farming practices are largely responsible, particularly the adoption of winter crops, meaning that the fields are ploughed in the autumn whereas in the past they were left idle until after the winter.

Farmers are now being urged to help reduce the risk by delaying ploughing until the spring and leaving stubble fields from harvest time intact over the winter, thus creating giant bird tables across the countrywide where they can feed without hindrance. These vast acres that have just produced an annual bounty of corn contain seeds spilled from the crop as it was harvested as well as the weeds that will take advantage of the gap between the herbicide sprays, all providing a valuable food source that was absent in the former speedy rotation favoured by most farmers.

The study by the British Trust for Ornithology over a ten-year period has discovered that populations of threatened native species have recovered faster or declined less rapidly than those areas where stubble fields were left over the winter and a significant difference was seen in the number of tree sparrow, skylark, yellowhammer, lapwing, pied wagtail and mistle thrush while in this part of England, populations of wren, linnet, chaffinch and greenfinch also appeared to benefit.

Dr Juliet Vickery, Head of Terrestrial Ecology for the BTO, said this week that as a result of their recent research, they hoped to see more stubble fields left idle in the future although whether it would be enough was another matter. “Currently around 3% of lowland farmland is left to stubble”, she said. “Increasing that to 10% would be enough to halt the decline of many threatened species and increasing it to 20% could enable populations to recover.”

New regulations have recently come into force enabling more farmers gain financially by taking action to conserve wildlife than in previous years. This is a commendable initiative by government but money should not be the abiding motive for those who choose to describe themselves as custodians of the countryside. The safety and perpetuation of our wildlife ought to be part of their farming year and so here is the perfect chance for those who have made no effort in the past to contribute to the preservation of our environment.

From my study window overlooking the fen to the north of Bourne, out towards Dyke and Morton villages, there are two huge fields currently green with the first sproutings of winter wheat. Both are vast and healthy crops, covering between them a hundred acres or more, and when harvested this summer they will become massive stubble fields that are usually back under the plough within weeks ready for yet another profitable yield. They are owned by different farmers and here is their chance to show that they care for the countryside under their stewardship and the wildlife that depends on this land for its very existence. To share it with birds and other animals demands an altruism that does not always sit comfortably with the profit motive but the alternative is a sterile landscape devoid of birdsong that is already becoming far too familiar in the England of today.

Our window cleaner came last week and on finishing the job, told us that the cost had gone up to £7, an increase of £1 and he seemed quite hurt when my wife suggested that this was a rise of 17%. “No one else has complained”, he said defensively, and indeed her inquiry was not so much a protest about the price as a query about inflation which the government insists is running at below 2.5%.

This figure is either a blatant lie or one that has no bearing whatsoever on the current cost of living because year after year, our bills creep forever upwards with families caught in a spiral of increased prices. No matter what you set out to buy you will find that it has gone up while those in power divest themselves of all blame.

It is a worthwhile exercise to take a look at some of the demands that have been cascading through the letter box in recent weeks and compare them with what you paid last year. Council tax for instance, up by £48 or 5%, water rates up by £23 (5%) and so on. Everything we are required to pay in the interests of a smooth running household and quiet life has gone up and the increase is usually double the rate of inflation. Even a trip to the garden centre, a seasonable outing at this time of the year, will come as a shock because prices have gone up across the board, whether it is for plants or potting compost, seeds or saplings. Servicing the car, MOT, electricity, gas, telephone, house insurance, buildings cover and boiler service have all increased in price, some costs hidden away but a little investigation will reveal that you are paying more for all of these things this year.

The problem is that few people ever complain. They pay up with barely a whimper and so next time round, the providers just slap on another increase knowing that there will be little or no protest. The general public has become one huge milch cow for government, the public utilities and business.

Thought for the week: Tax Freedom Day, the amount of time an individual has to work before he stops paying the government and starts paying himself, is calculated by the Adam Smith Institute to fall this year on May 31st, three days later than last year. – Simon Heffer writing in The Spectator, Saturday 26th March 2005.

Saturday 16^th April 2005

The term gerrymandering is one of those wonderful words for lovers of the English language because it might be described as being onomatopoeic in that its meaning can be gathered from its sound, in this case something rather underhand, to manipulate or adapt a voting system to one’s own advantage.

As one might expect, its origins lie across the pond where in 1812, one Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), a politician, was responsible for the reshaping of election districts in the state of Massachusetts where he was governor, to ensure that his party retained control. His name was subsequently coupled with that of the salamander, the mythical lizard thought capable of withstanding fire and intense heat which resembled the shape of one of the county districts in the new distribution and when this appeared in a local newspaper cartoon the name caught on and the language was given a new expression for such dubious electoral conduct.

The description is now being been used in connection with South Kesteven District Council’s recent proposals to hand over their 6,500 council houses, flats and bungalows to an association in a multi-million pound deal but, in true democratic fashion, the authority insists that the final decision rests entirely with the tenants. To this end, a questionnaire has been circulated asking whether they wish to keep the council as their landlord or agree to the sale of their homes, some for as little as £5,500 each which is 30 times less than the average house price in the United Kingdom.

If residents vote for the housing association it could mean an uncertain future although the council would benefit from the sale with an injection of capital reckoned to be around £36 million. With no apparent advantage in switching to a new landlord, tenants are therefore likely to prefer to remain with the council which charges controlled rents and provides a security of tenure and a reliable maintenance service.

But a straightforward vote in which the tenants merely tick a box rejecting the proposed change, the most honest and sensible way of proceeding, is not the chosen path for SKDC because the voting paper needs to be ticked to indicate their agreement to the sale and, here is the rub, if they take no action at all, each abstention will count as a vote in favour of selling their homes. This is the dubious factor in the poll because council officials are well aware that apathy is widespread when seeking public participation in any consultation procedure but it should not be part of their remit to use this to their own advantage which it would be in this case because it has already been estimated that 90% are likely to abstain even though they have no wish to change. The result will therefore be in their favour.

There are currently 535 council properties in the Bourne area and the iniquity of the voting system has already been attacked by villagers at Aslackby in the latest edition of their newsletter as “a ballot rigging exercise that would only be recognised in North Korea”. Indeed, their contributor Mike Taylor, points out the futility of the sale when he says: “The council properties are currently maintained to a good standard and as a bonus, the income from rents exceeds the cost of maintenance.”

Why then, the need to dispose of them in such a suspect fashion? The answer lies in government guidelines which dictate that local authority landlords need to meet its Decent Homes Standard by 2010 and this could mean high expenditure on refitting sub-standard kitchens and bathrooms and other refurbishments. In other words, rather than fulfil their responsibilities they are preparing to sell them off at knock down prices and pass the problem on to someone else.

But where does this leave the tenants? Obviously disadvantaged because there is little doubt that rents will rise to pay for improvements.

The district council is not a private business that exists to make a profit but it is there to serve the people. Too many times in recent years, the public have been forced to battle with bureaucracy to obtain and retain services which are theirs by right yet local authorities appear to be totally opposed to their wishes. The sad thing is that all such decisions are voted on by councillors and so it is our elected representatives who are acting against the public interest.

They need to exercise their powers to curb over enthusiastic officials and in this particular case, an unequivocal statement that all council properties will be retained and maintained rather than try to push through an unpopular scheme by using a devious system of voting. A final decision will be made by the council on May 26th and it is to be hoped that if it is based on the declared voting system, someone out there will exercise their rights and ask for an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman.

A walk around the streets of Bourne early in the morning, on Saturdays or Sundays especially, will demonstrate the amount of food that is thrown away. Chips, partially consumed pizzas, kebabs and hamburgers, crisps and sweets, can be found littering the streets and pavements because those who bought them lack the civic awareness to use a bin. Unwanted food has become part of the litter of our time and it is also a reminder of how indulgent, wasteful and selfish our society has become.

Figures from the government and food industry issued this week reveal that around one third of food grown for human consumption in this country ends up in the rubbish bin and we know from experience that in this town much of that comes from fast food outlets.

A large per centage of this waste means that a lot of produce does not make the grade and never leaves the farm gate but that is a matter of quality control rather than careless waste and the more worrying aspect of the statistics refers to that food which has been prepared and sold and yet still ends up in the bin or on the street.

People are eating out more and the catering industry throws away one third of all it buys while a lack of time or knowledge to use up leftovers is also blamed for increasing food wastage. In addition, scares over food safety, often groundless, result in people binning items too readily.

The result is that each adult wastes food to the value of £420 each year while national wastage is increasing by 15% every decade. All of this is happening in an advanced country like Britain at a time when large areas of the world are starving. This really is food for thought and worth a moment’s reflection next time you are tempted to throw away a slice of old bread or an uneaten takeaway.

What the local newspapers are saying: The preservation of Wake House in North Street for community use continues to dominate the pages of The Local although South Kesteven District Council now appears to be having second thoughts about upping the rent from £5 a year when the present three-year lease expires to a massive £20,000 which would make it prohibitive for the present tenants, the Bourne Arts and Community Trust (April 15th). The newspaper reports some confusion between what has been told to the trust in writing and what will actually happen because Councillor John Smith (Bourne West), cabinet member with economic responsibilities, said: “There was never any question that the trustees would have to pay £20,000 in rent. They will be charged a minimum and I believe it will be an extremely small figure.”

Twenty organisations use the building for their activities and in the past few years it has proved to be one of the most popular venues in Bourne, a fact illustrated by support for the public petition now being signed around the town. It is therefore gratifying to know from Councillor Smith that its future is reasonably secure but whether this confusion over the future rental has been a genuine mistake or a climb down in the face of public opposition is open to conjecture.

SKDC however now ought to go the final mile and give Wake House to the town in perpetuity, thus removing any uncertainty in the future. A council that is prepared to sell its entire housing stock at knock down prices can afford to hand over a £120,000 building to the very people it represents. The trust has demonstrated its ability to maintain and run Wake House for the benefit of the community and any further talk of leases and rental merely clouds the issue and continues to engender ill will against the council. It would not only be an act of philanthropy to hand it over but also a matter of common sense because, as one signatory to the petition wrote this week, “Wake House belongs to the town anyway.”

Fire badly damaged one of our most impressive country inns this week, the Greyhound at Folkingham, and the Stamford Mercury gives a graphic front page account of the incident (April 15th). The blaze broke out during the early hours of Saturday morning but firemen who were quickly on the scene managed to avert a major disaster. Nevertheless, ancient oak timbers were destroyed and part of the roof caved in before they brought the outbreak under control. The inn was empty at the time and in the process of being sold and the blaze is believed to have been started by a squatter lighting a fire in one of the first floor rooms which then got out of control although the intruder has not been found.

The Greyhound is an imposing hostelry, a familiar sight for anyone travelling north on the A15 out of Bourne, a coaching inn from the time of Queen Anne with a magnificent façade and built in mellowed red brick with stone string courses, window heads, sills and corner stones. There were numerous inns on this road catering for travellers who stopped to change horses and after Sir Gilbert Heathcote, a Member of Parliament, Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England, became Lord of the Manor in the late 18th century, it soon became the most important in Lincolnshire.

Sir Gilbert, who took over the local estate in 1788, did much to transform Folkingham into a charming small market town and his changes included clearing the market place of its various encumbrances and equipping it to cater for the stagecoaches using the main London to Lincoln road. He also rejuvenated many of the town's other inns, including the Green Man, the Red Lion, the Five Bells, the Crown and the New Inn, but it was the Greyhound to which he paid the most attention and it was practically rebuilt in his enthusiasm to make it the perfect stopping place for passing trade, spending £4,000, an enormous sum in those days, on giving it a new brick frontage and an arched stone entrance through which coaches would drive to the stables behind. The assembly room adjoining was also used as a courtroom for the Quarter Sessions, having stairs down to a prisoners' cell, and many distinguished travellers lodged here on their journeys and it soon earned a high reputation for its quality of food and service.

The Greyhound was not used as an inn for many years during the late 20th century when the business failed and after standing empty for a spell, it was soon trading again with a refurbished ballroom, extensive catering facilities and an antiques and crafts centre while the building still commanded the pleasant and leisured air of past centuries. This venture has also recently closed but as the inn is currently being offered for sale, it is hoped that the fire damage can be repaired to bring it back into a useful life for the benefit of the locality and the county.

Thought for the week: Among the greatest evils of our time, I would put pop music, its idols, its drugs and its diabolic possession of tender susceptible youth high on the list, certainly among the top ten. - Paul Johnson, writing in The Spectator, Saturday 9th April 2005.

Saturday 23^rd April 2005

Election candidates for both local and national government have been out and about in Bourne pressing the flesh and trying to drum up the votes needed to put them into office. The hustings today for political candidates are highly organised and mainly financed by their parties but it was not always so and one man in the early years of the last century demonstrated that an ordinary chap with no mighty machine behind him can still make his mark.

He was John Worsdall, a retired farmer, unfettered by learning and motivated by an innate common sense, who earned himself a reputation as Father of the Bourne Urban District Council after winning a remarkable victory in the 1922 elections at the age of 80.

Old John, as he was known in later life, was born in 1842 and had his initial experience of local government when he served the first parish council that existed for only five years from 1894 until 1899 when, because of the size and population of the area covered, the town was granted urban status in May 1898 and Bourne Urban District Council was formed the following year. He had been a member of the original authority, being elected third out of 23 candidates, later serving with the Board of Guardians which administered the workhouse where he was active in improving conditions for older inmates, agitating to get the men over 60 a weekly ounce of tobacco and in providing married couples over 65 double bedrooms with modern facilities.

He gave up public life when he was 70 but ten years later, friends persuaded him to stand for election to BUDC although there were many who did not take his candidature seriously. In the event, there were thirteen nominations for the five available vacancies and Old John, the respectful name he had by then acquired, polled 499 votes, placing him third in the poll and gaining him a seat on the council.

An important although unusual feature of John's campaign was his manifesto. The printing of election literature in those days was an expensive business and so he had the bright idea of producing his own. First of all he bought a book of plain postcards and then laboriously wrote them out in ink one by one accompanied by his election address which was a short poem that he had composed himself. One of these documents survives and is reproduced here as a record of what must be the strangest election campaign in the history of Bourne.

The Lincolnshire Free Press reported the results of the election on 1st April 1922 under the heading "Comments on Victors and Vanquished" and the observation that it had caused more local excitement than any previous contests. Councillor Arthur Wall topped the poll and retained his seat for the fourth successive election while another councillor, Frederick Clarke was similarly successful. But John Worsdall surprised everyone by polling sufficient votes to come third and the result was obviously a popular one. "He is in the region of an octogenarian", commented the newspaper, "and in many quarters was regarded as a dark horse. But even his most optimistic supporters never dreamt of his big score. Several prominent local questions no doubt had an influence on the election and when the names of certain winners were announced, there was some boisterous cheering."

His success caused a sensation in the town because three old and seemingly valued members were defeated in the process but after taking his seat, John soon earned an enviable reputation as Father of the Council, a veteran who, offend or please, always spoke his mind, whether relevant or irreverent, and the council chamber was a richer place for his presence. He abhorred convention, red tape was anathema, and at the very first meeting he attended after the election, he startled everyone by asking if there would be any objections to future meetings being held on licensed premises, one of his little jokes that did not go down well with the more staid members of the authority. At a later meeting, when councillors were discussing seating arrangements and procedures for committee and monthly meetings, Old John admonished them for wasting time. “Don’t make too many regulations or else an old man like me will be breaking them every minute”, he said.

But his familiarity with the locality was invaluable to the council and he was appointed to serve on all of the main committees with special responsibilities for fen drainage, a subject of which he had first hand experience, while he also enjoyed a reputation as a walking encyclopaedia on account of his knowledge of local drains and highways acquired during a spell as the Surveyor of Highways.

Old John was also a stalwart member of Bourne United Provident Association, formed in July 1837 as a mutual self-help group that held its meetings at the Nag’s Head. His father, Mr Edward Worsdall, of Rippingale, had been a member for some 66 years and John almost equalled that with 62 years, and at the time of his death was vice-chairman, while his brother, Matthew Worsdall, of Deeping St. James, had been a member some 60 years and so the trio had an aggregate membership of no less than 188 years.

In politics, he described himself as being “a good old Tory”, a remark he made on the platform during a public meeting at the Corn Exchange. For over half-a-century he had been regarded as true blue and was a former chairman of the Bourne and District Conservative Club. He had also been active in many other aspects of the town’s affairs during his lifetime, being particularly keen on watching football, and by the time he was 79 he had attended every match played by Bourne Town at the Abbey Lawn ground with the exception of one fixture during the 1920-21 season. He was remarkably active for his age and his ready advice and humorous remarks were always a feature at any local gatherings he happened to attend.

John died the year after his election to the council and the passing of this well known and much loved townsman at the age of 81 after an illness lasting three months was marked by the tolling of the tenor bell of the Abbey Church at noon on Sunday 26th August 1923. He was genuinely mourned because few people who lived in the locality did not know of him or of his wise counsel, sound advice and loyal friendship. His death was grieved not only by his fellow council members but also by the public at large

He was interred the following day at Bourne Cemetery after a service in the Abbey Church conducted by the Vicar, Canon John Grinter, and there were many mourners, both friends and family, at the church and at the graveside despite the inclement weather. He was buried alongside his mother, Sarah Worsdall, who had died in October 1900 at the age of 81, and his wife Elizabeth Teresa Worsdall, who survived him, was buried with him when she died in September 1944 at the age of 94.

What the local newspapers are saying: The Church of England has only itself to blame for dwindling congregations when you consider the treatment of Mrs Jenny Cowan, aged 58, as reported by the Stamford Mercury. She has been visiting the grave of her parents in the churchyard at Kirkby Underwood, near Bourne, twice a month for many years and leaving artificial flowers in their memory but on a recent trip arrived to find that they had been removed by a churchwarden (April 22nd). This is a particularly heartless act and one that has shattered her lifelong faith in the church but despite writing letters of protest, one even to the Archbishop of Canterbury, she has received no sympathy. This story was reported by the BBC East Midlands News programme on television earlier in the week when it was mistakenly suggested that the flowers were plastic but Mrs Cowan makes it quite clear that she buys only expensive silk posies that are indistinguishable from the real thing.

Cut flowers soon fade and leave a bedraggled mess on graves and so objections are difficult to understand. Also, the quality of artificial flowers that are obtainable today is quite superb and a far cry from the plastic products of yesteryear and as one successful Bourne industry is devoted to their production, it is difficult to reconcile the reason for removing Mrs Cowan’s offering. The newspaper reports that not only had she become disillusioned with the church she was dedicated to serve, but so had a sister and two sons who were all devout Christians. From one callous act therefore, four people have gone elsewhere for their spiritual comfort and diocesan leaders do nothing but sit on their hands. It is therefore little wonder that the Church of England is in the doldrums when it treats its faithful followers in such a cavalier fashion.

The Round Table organisation has hit a snag over the annual Bourne Festival, due to be held at the Wellhead field for three days over the second weekend in June. The Local says in a front page report that South Kesteven District Council has deferred making a decision on granting the necessary permission because of complaints from people living in the vicinity that the accompanying funfair made too much noise last summer (April 22nd). The festival has been held for the past three years, raising much needed funds for local charities which have benefited by £20,000 and thousands have turned up to enjoy the music. It is therefore undoubtedly a good cause and a most welcome attraction but SKDC does have a duty to monitor public nuisances and it should not be assumed that permission to hold such events is an automatic right. The problem last June was caused mainly by barking dogs belonging to the funfair owners and Round Table officials are taking steps to resolve the dispute in order that the festival can go ahead with assurances that the animals will not be allowed on site this year.

Now that spring is here, many of us have been out and about in the garden preparing the borders and patio pots for another floral display that will see us through the summer months. These few weeks of intensive labour usually mean frequent visits to the garden centres for new plants that we buy without question, often tending to overlook their origins. It was therefore an interesting discovery to learn that the man who gave his name to the buddleia or butterfly bush came from these parts.

The Rev Adam Buddle, a distinguished botanist, was born at Deeping St James, near Bourne, in 1665 and studied theology at St Catherine's Hall, Cambridge, where he took a BA degree in 1681 followed by his MA in 1685. He became friendly with John Ray, also a theologist, who came from Black Notley near Braintree, Essex. Ray had written several books, some religious (The Wisdom of God) and some botanical (A Catalogue of English Plants, published in 1670), and was probably the first English taxonomist, that branch of biology concerned with the classification of organisms based on structure and origin. It was through his friendship with Ray that Buddle started on his quest of studying native mosses, grasses and plant species and soon established a reputation for his subject, frequently being consulted by the experts of the time.

By 1696, he had married and was living at Hadleigh in Suffolk where his two children were baptised and in 1703, he was appointed rector of the parishes of North Farmbridge where he remained for many years. During this period, Buddle wrote and compiled an entirely new and complete reference work called English Flora in 1708, some three years after the death of John Ray. The book was never published but the manuscripts now form part of the Sloane collection at the Natural History Museum in London while the British Museum holds examples of his herbarium specimens.

His work demonstrates accuracy, knowledge and diligence and it is therefore a great pity that his flora was never published. Carolus Linnaeus (1701-78), the Swedish naturalist and founder of modern scientific nomenclature for plants and animals, subsequently named the species Buddleia, commonly known today as the butterfly bush because of its attraction for butterflies, in honour of Buddle's work in taxonomy, notably Buddleia globosa, the first of many Buddleias to follow. Adam Buddle died on 15th April 1715, aged 50, at Gray's Inn, London, where he was a reader, and he is buried at St Andrew's Church, Holborn, London.

Thought for the week: I find it quite unacceptable that we have regulations to make people keep quiet. Britain is supposed to be the home of free speech. - Robin Page, countryside journalist and independent member of South Cambridgeshire District Council, who has been summoned to appear before the Standards Board for England after suggesting that the relationship between some council officials and councillors and a number of developers has become too close, quoted in The Countryman, May 2005.

Saturday 30^th April 2005

A national festival next month will pass us by whereas had events taken a different turn, this town would have been at the centre of the celebrations. I refer to National Watercress Week due to be held from May 15th until the 21st at Winchester in Hampshire where this healthy green crop is grown in some quantity to this day.

Astute marketing has not only made it a popular salad ingredient but the annual event attracts many visitors who turn up to taste the local variety and to travel on the watercress railway line between Alton and Alresford. There is also a watercress tour that takes advantage of the many long distance walks that crisscross the countryside around Winchester, taking in the beds that produce this popular plant that was used long ago by the general Xenophon in ancient Greece as a tonic for his soldiers and is still enjoyed today for its healthy properties.

In times past, the growing of this excellent salad crop was a preoccupation at many places in England where there was an abundant supply of flowing water that was necessary for its production and Bourne, with its natural springs rising at the Wellhead, was the perfect place.

Our own watercress industry was established by Edwin Nathaniel Moody in 1896 on land adjoining St Peter’s Pool and production soon became so prolific that wholesale supplies were regularly sent by rail to markets in London and Leicester. By 1911, production was at its peak and further plantations were established at the rear of Harrington Street, land that is now Baldwin Grove, and at Kate’s Bridge. The cress beds were eventually taken over by Spalding Urban District Council in 1955 who kept them going until 1969 when they were bought by the South Lincolnshire Water Board who continued to run them until April 1974 when they were closed down and filled in and so an important industry was lost to the town.

This is a pity because Bourne might well have become part of these celebrations during May. Certainly, water cress is enjoying a new reputation as one of the healthiest foods you can possibly eat, rich in vitamins and other nutrients, and would therefore be a welcome addition to our diet if the locally grown product were immediately available, bunched and freshly picked, rather than the packaged variety from the supermarkets which, I am advised, is less beneficial.

How much do you notice when you walk down the street? Most people see their surroundings but are actually aware of nothing in particular and so pillars and posts, signs and symbols may suddenly appear without them realising that the scene has changed, often for the worse.

This is what is known as street clutter, installed with fine intentions but without regard for style and good taste and our historic market towns are becoming the worse for it. English Heritage has recognised the problem and is campaigning for a greater awareness from our local authorities and other agencies empowered to install anything they wish on the pavements and at the roadside, hoping that they will not only right some their past wrongs but also take greater care in the future to protect our heritage.

I have been taking a look around Bourne and the picture is not good because some of the worst excesses highlighted by English Heritage are manifest in and around the conservation area that takes in much of the town centre. It will need great effort and a lot of people participation to bring about real change.

My item last week about the countryside journalist and independent councillor Robin Page being reported to the Standards Board for England has brought several inquiries about the role of this organisation and I am happy to provide more details.

Robin has served as a member of South Cambridgeshire District Council for 35 years but he wrote in The Countryman (May 2005) that recent remarks suggesting the relationship between some council officials and councillors and a number of developers had become too close were not well received and as a result he has been summoned to a hearing before the board to explain himself.

As a journalist, and a man with a reputation for speaking his mind, this did not please him and he hit the nail firmly on the head when he wrote: “I find it quite unacceptable that we have regulations to make people keep quiet. Britain is supposed to be the home of free speech. I have done nothing that I haven’t always done but someone has been upset and I am to be brought to book for speaking my mind. The Standards Board, which as far as I can determine, is a body designed by this government to stop free speech in the work of local councils. My crime? I said what countless people say, both with and without reason, up and down the country.”

The Standards Board for England was established by Act of Parliament in March 2001 although completely independent of government, and now operates with a large staff from plush offices in Cottons Lane, London, the perfect example of job provision under New Labour which has created 850,000 new public service posts since it came into power. The board is responsible for promoting high ethical conduct and investigating allegations that the behaviour of members, not salaried staff, of a wide range of public organisations, councils, fire, police and civil defence authorities among them, may have fallen short of the required standards and so its very formation suggests that Whitehall was not happy with the prevailing circumstances.

Unfortunately, its Code of Conduct carries within it a whiff of the school sneak because one of the clauses specifically mentions the responsibility of councillors in reporting any misconduct by their colleagues, which sounds very much like Big Brother, and however well intentioned this organisation might be, it will be difficult to shake off the image of the busybody or nosey parker, especially when consulted by councillors who have an inflated idea of their own importance.

Local authorities ought to be self-regulating and it is regrettable that councillors find it necessary to go cap in hand to some distant quango to look into their domestic affairs and it is to be hoped that our own councils are above such ill-advised measures. Resorting to these tactics, seeking help from a pseudo Grand Inquisition, is to endorse the blame culture of political correctness and demonstrates a lack of self-reliance and an inability to handle their own affairs. Members who think that it will solve any problem ought to consider whether they have sufficient confidence in themselves and the council they are supposed to serve to hold public office.

The publicity generated in these cases is usually far more illuminating about those who make the accusations than the allegations themselves and it therefore takes only a small amount of common sense to contain the problem within the council chamber and not seek to share it with a wider audience. But then, not all councillors are blessed with such wisdom.

Councillors should be above such pettiness that will undoubtedly reflect badly on them and concentrate their activities instead for the good of the community rather than become enmeshed in dubious inquiries that are a distasteful manifestation of power and, as has been proven in the past, unlikely to have a satisfactory outcome.

What the local newspapers are saying: The power of the people has been demonstrated once again with a front-page report in The Local that South Kesteven District Council is to consider handing over Wake House in North Street to the Bourne Arts and Community Trust (April 29th). The early 18th century property is currently being used for a wide range of activities that would be jeopardised if the council went ahead with its proposals to charge the full market rent of around £20,000 a year rather than the very low concessionary rate that now operates but the public outcry that has followed has obviously made officials sit up and listen. A petition to save the building is currently being circulated in the town with the slogan “Wake House – secure the future” and with the vital meeting between the trustees of BACT and council officers fixed for May 12th, the future does appear much rosier for the hundreds of people who get so much pleasure from using the premises. “The people’s voice will be heard”, thunders the front page of The Local and so indeed it should.

Drinkers who cause trouble on licensed premises are now likely to be banned for a year from over 70 public houses in the area under a new scheme launched by the landlords. The Stamford Mercury reports that the initiative by the local branch of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association has the support of the police and the district council after problems in the town centre at Bourne and elsewhere, particularly at weekends when shops have been vandalised and the streets defaced with the detritus of over indulgence (April 29th). Photographs of those who have been excluded will be circulated to all licensees who claim that the scheme will help create a safe and secure environment for the community, staff and customers and curb criminality and anti-social behaviour.

Yet another delay for the long-awaited east-west relief road, according to The Local because it is not now expected to open until the middle of May (April 29th). It had been hoped that the favourable weather which had enabled the project continue at a steady pace would have ensured that by now, traffic between the A15 to the south of Bourne and West Road on the Stamford side would be diverted away from the town centre. But we are now told that work is running behind schedule and it will be several more weeks before completion. This is not a surprise because there have been assorted opening dates in the past that have failed to materialise and so no one should pin their hopes on the latest assessment. Optimism is therefore the keynote and we should be happy in the knowledge that only the final touches need to be added before traffic and the town begins to reap the benefit, sometime during the summer. But don’t count on it.

Artificial flowers, it appears, are big business and the latest products are a far cry from the garish plastic creations of years past. However, this is small comfort for Mrs Jenny Cowan, aged 58, who, I reported last week, found that her small offering of a silk posy which she left on the grave of her parents in the churchyard at Kirkby Underwood, near Bourne, had been removed by a churchwarden on the grounds that only real flowers are allowed.

Not only is there a very reputable company operating in Bourne on the manufacture of silk flowers, quite indistinguishable from the real thing, but I have since heard of the Shirley Leaf and Petal Company which supplies the theatre and the retail trade, including the large volumes of blossom used in the new production of the musical Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre in London. The company is almost 100 years old and provides flowers for many outlets around the world, pursuing an art that has thrived in France since the 19th century and giving pleasure to thousands around the world.

One would have thought that what is good enough for Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House in London and the Munich National Theatre in Germany would be good enough for the churchyard at Kirkby Underwood.

Thought for the week: This election is about fundamental agreement on substantive issues, poorly concealed by the manufacture of artificial differences. This is what has made the election so boring, and such a fraud on the voters. It has become a passionless, shameful, hole-in-the-corner affair about which all of us – political parties, the media, the nation as a whole – should feel thoroughly ashamed. – Peter Oborne, political commentator, writing in the Spectator, Saturday 23rd April 2005.

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